European Film Star Postcards: Henri Salvador

French Caribbean comedian, singer and cabaret artist Henri Salvador (1917-2008) was the first to sing Rock and Roll songs in France and was honoured for helping create the Bossa Nova. He appeared in several films but peaked in the 1960s when he had his own TV shows.

French postcard by Editions P.I. Photo: * Star, Paris.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 398. Photo: Teddy Piaz, Paris.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 174. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

Popular as a singer and funnyman

Henri Gabriel Salvador was born in 1917 in Cayenne, French Guyana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of an Indigenous Carib, were both from Guadeloupe, French West Indies. Salvador had a brother, André, and a sister, Alice. At 12, Henri (sometimes written as Henry) and his family moved to France.

Salvador performed as a musician and comedian in Parisian cabarets from 1933. He learned to play guitar by imitating Django Reinhardt's recordings and collaborated with him in the 1930s. He began his musical career as a guitarist accompanying other singers.

After years of cabarets, little jobs and military service, he got a real chance to aim for fame when he got hired by orchestra leader Ray Ventura. When Ventura and his band went to play in Brazil during World War II, Henri Salvador became popular over there as a singer and funnyman. Back in France after the war ended, Salvador left Ray Ventura behind and started his own career.

His first record, which included 'Clopin-Clopant' and 'Maladie d'Amour' (covered by the Ames Brothers as 'Mélodie d'Amour') became an instant hit. Salvador recorded several songs written by Boris Vian with Quincy Jones as the arranger.

Henri Salvador made his film debut in Le moulin des Andes / The Andes Mill (Jacques Rémy, 1945) with Nora Gregor. In the following years, he appeared with Ray Ventura in the comedies Mademoiselle s'amuse / Mademoiselle Has Fun (Jean Boyer, 1948), Nous irons à Paris / We Will All Go to Paris (Jean Boyer, 1949) with the Peters Sisters and Nous irons à Monte-Carlo / We Will All Go to Monte Carlo (Jean Boyer, 1950) with the young Audrey Hepburn. His later films include the musical comedy Bonjour sourire! / Hello Smile! (Claude Sautet, 1956) with Jimmy Gaillard and Un clair de lune à Maubeuge / Moonlight in Maubeuge (Jean Chérasse, 1962) with Claude Brasseur.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 2. Photo: Star, Paris.

French postcard by Editions du Globe, no. 398. Photo: Teddy Piaz, Paris.

Belgian postcard by Ets. Dagneaux & Cie, Lodelinsart, for Star, Chewing Gum.

Influencing the Brazilian Bossa Nova style

Henri Salvador is known to have recorded the first French Rock and Roll songs in 1957 written by Boris Vian and Michel Legrand — 'Rock'n Roll Mops', 'Rock hoquet, Va t'faire cuire un oeuf, man' and 'Dis-moi qu'tu m'aimes rock' — under the artist name of Henry Cording (a play on the word Recording). Despite this historical aspect, he never ceased claiming that he disliked Rock and Roll and even refused to talk about this subject later.

Henri Salvador influenced Antônio Carlos Jobim in formulating the Brazilian Bossa Nova style. In 1957, Salvador composed the song ‘Dans mon île' and performed it on guitar, in the form of a samba with a very slow tempo and rich harmonies. He played this song in the Italian documentary film Europa di notte / European Nights (Alessandro Blasetti, 1959), a tour of the nightlife in Rome, Paris, London, and other cities presenting famous artists and people performing. The film was screened in Brazil in the spring of 1959 and seen by several musicians who warned Antônio Carlos Jobim.

The song went on to become popular in Brazil. In 2023, the TV documentary Face B comme bossa, l'autre histoire d'Henri Salvador / Face B for Bossa, the Other Story of Henri Salvador (Stéphanie Elbaz, 2023) confirmed that this song was indeed one of the influences of this musical style in the late 1950s. In the 1960s, Salvador was the host of several popular television variety shows on French TV. In 1964, he scored a hit with 'Zorro est arrivé', which was adapted from The Coasters' U.S. hit 'Along Came Jones'.

Henri Salvador is also famous for his rich, catchy laugh, which is a theme in many of his humorous songs. In 1969, he recorded a variation of 'Mah Nà Mah Nà' entitled 'Mais non, mais non' with lyrics he had written in French to Piero Umiliani's music. Salvador had many hits, including humorous songs ('Faut rigoler', 'Je peux pas travailler', 'Blouse du dentiste') and sweet ballads ('Le loup, la biche et le chevalier', 'Syracuse', 'Jardin d'hiver'). At the age of 70, Salvador was the voice-over of the crab Sebastian in the French dubbing of Disney's The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements, John Musker, 1989) and sang the song 'Embrasse-la' ('Kiss the Girl'). After a period of relative obscurity towards the end of his life, he enjoyed considerable success, with new shows and tours, thanks to the album 'Chambre avec vue', in the early 2000s.

His last performance took place at the age of 90, a few months before his death. Henri Salvador was married four times. His wives were Lyly Susini (1941-?), Jacqueline Salvador (1950-1976; her death), Sabine de Ricou (1986-1995) and Catherine Salvador (2001-2008; his death). His son is writer-director Jean-Marie Périer. Salvador received the French Legion of Honor in 2004. Brazil honoured him with the Order of Cultural Merit, partly for helping create the Bossa Nova. Salvador himself insisted that Brazilian jazz musician Antonio Carlos invented that musical genre. In 2008, Henri Salvador died of a ruptured aneurysm at his home. He was 90 years of age. He was buried next to his wife Jacqueline in Père-Lachaise Cemetery.