Lucienne Boyer

Lucienne Boyer (1901-1983) was a popular French singer, in particular for her song 'Parlez-moi d'amour', often used in film soundtracks. The cabaret singer reigned as the queen of Paris nightlife during the 1930s. She was the mother of singer Jacqueline Boyer, who won the Eurovision contest in 1960.


French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 98. Photo: Teddy Piaz.


French promotion card by Columbia. Photo: Studio Piaz, Paris.


French postcard by P.C., Paris, no. 98. Photo: Ruben Sobol, Paris.

Dominating the cabaret scene in Montparnasse and Montmartre

Lucienne Boyer was born Émilienne Henriette Boyer in 1901 in Paris, France. She was the daughter of Henri Jules Boyer, a plumber, and Eugénie Antoinette Elia Carpentier. Boyer's father died while he served as a soldier in World War I. Due to the loss, she worked in a munitions factory to help provide for her family. She soon began working in her mother's trade: millinery.

Her beauty led her to meet Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, and Foujita, for whom she became a model. A position as a typist at the Théâtre de l'Athénée, a prominent Parisian theatre, opened more doors for her.

She made her stage debut at the Théâtre de l'Athénée, and from 1916 to 1917, she began her singing career there under the name Lucienne Boyer. Within a few years, she began singing at the Théâtre Michel, the Concordia, the Eldorado, Chez Fisher, and later at the Concert Mayol, all major Parisian music halls.

She came to dominate the cabaret scene in Montparnasse and Montmartre with an intimate style that became her trademark. She received the nickname 'La Dame en bleu' (The Lady in Blue) because of the dress she wore during her performances.

In 1927, Boyer sang at a concert featuring Félix Mayol, where she was seen by the American impresario Lee Shubert, who immediately offered her a contract to work on Broadway. Boyer spent nine months in New York City, returning to perform there and to South America numerous times throughout the 1930s.


French songtext postcard by P-C, Paris, no. 47. Lucienne Boyer sings 'Parlez-moi d'amour' (Tell Me About Love) with words and music by Jean Lenoir. Published by Smyth éditeur, Paris, 1930.



French songtext postcard by Éditions Salabert, Paris, 1932. Lucienne Boyer sings the waltz 'Viens dans mes bras' (Come in my arms) with words by Marc-Hély and music by M. Monnot.


French songtext postcard by PC, Paris, no. 32. Photo: Columbia. Songtext: Editions Fedlman / Ed. Salabert (1932) Lucienne Boyer sings the tango 'Viens' (Come) with words by Camille François and music by Wal-Berg.

Evergreen

Back in Paris in 1928, Lucienne Boyer opened the cabaret 'Les Borgias' and recorded her first records, including 'Tu me demande si je t'aime' (You Ask Me If I Love You). She posed nude for the first time in the summer of 1929. In 1930, she premiered 'Parlez-moi d'amour' (Tell Me About Love), written by Jean Lenoir in 1923. It became her signature song. The song won the first Grand Prix du Disque from the Charles Cros Academy that same year.

She then followed up with several hits such as 'Si petite' (So Small) and 'Un amour comme le nôtre' (A Love Like Ours). 1934 was a dark year for her. She was the victim of slander and had to defend herself in the press. In March, after a performance in Rennes, she was injured in a car accident when the road was slippery. She recorded a few songs with the popular musical duo Pills and Tabet. In 1939, she married Jacques Pills. Their daughter, Jacqueline, was born in 1941.

Throughout World War II, Boyer continued to perform in France, but for her Jewish husband, it was a very difficult time. From the very beginning of the Occupation, Lucienne Boyer reopened her cabaret 'Chez elle' (renamed Le Doge in 1943). She also participated in programs on Radio-Paris, including André Claveau's 'Cette heure est à vous'. Following the Allied Forces' liberation of France, her cabaret career flourished. For another thirty years, she maintained a loyal following.

During the 1970s, she appeared in the films Le Clair de Terre / Earth Light (Guy Gilles, 1970), where she performed two songs, Ils / Them (Jean-Daniel Simon, 1970) with Michel Duchaussoy and Charles Vanel, and the TV film Le Passe-muraille / The Passer-Through-Walls (Pierre Tchernia, 1977) starring Michel Serrault and Andréa Ferréol. In 1976, she sang with her daughter at the famous Paris Olympia and appeared on the French television show La Bande à Cloclo. She continued singing until a month before her death, always in her blue dress.

Lucienne Boyer died of a stroke in 1983 in Paris, France, at the age of 82. She was interred in the Cimetière de Bagneux in Montrouge. She was married to Joseph Durriere (1926-1931) and Jacques Pills (1939-1951). Her daughter Jacqueline Boyer won the Eurovision contest in 1960 with the song 'Tom Pillibi'. Through the years, Boyer's evergreen 'Parlez moi d'amour' appeared on the soundtracks of such films as Violette Nozière (Claude Chabrol, 1978), Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1981), The Moderns (Alan Rudolph, 1988), Devil in a Blue Dress (Carl Franklin, 1995), The Impostors (Stanley Tucci, 1998) and the TV series The Sopranos (2001).


French postcard by Greff Editeur, Paris, no. 127. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by EC, no. 63.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 98. Photo: Studio Carlet Ainé.

Sources: The New York Times, Wikipedia (Dutch, French and English) and IMDb.