Montand Yves, real name Ivo Livi, *13 October 1921 Monsumano Alto (near Florence), †9 November 1991 Senlis (near Paris), French singer and actor of Italian origin. In 1924, he settled with his family in Marseille. He began singing country and western songs (Dans les plaines du Far-West) and songs from the repertoire of M. Chevalier, Ch. Trenet and Fernandel as an amateur in 1938. Montand made his official debut in 1944 in Paris at the ABC and Moulin Rouge theatres; with a changed repertoire, following the advice of Edith Piaf, he achieved his first success at the Théâtre de l’Etoile (1945). That same year, he made his acting debut in the film Etoile sans lumière (dir. by M. Blistène). Over the next few years, he returned to the stage with carefully crafted recitals, which included monologues and sketches in addition to songs. In 1950, his first LP (Chansons populaires de France) was released. Montand’s repertoire included jazz songs (Il fait des…), retro songs (La fête à Loulou) and political songs (Actualités); songs were written for him by J. Kosma, L. Ferré, F. Lemarque, H. Crolla, B. Castella, Philippe-Gérard and others. Montand appeared in the theatre productions Les sorcières de Salem (The Crucible, dir. by R. Rouleau, 1954) and Des clowns par milliers (dir. by R. Rouleau, 1963); and appeared in films such as Le salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear, dir. by H.-G. Clouzot, 1953), Let’s Make Love (dir. by G. Cukor, 1960), Vivre pour vivre (Live for Life, dir. by C. Lelouch, 1967), L’aveu (The Confession dir. by Costa-Gavras, 1969), César et Rosalie (dir. by C. Sautet, 1972), I… comme Icare (I as in Icarus dir. by H. Verneuil, 1979). In 1968, he gave recitals at the Olympia in Paris for six months, where he presented songs to poetic texts by G. Apollinaire, L. Aragon, R. Desnos and P. Eluard. It was not until 1980 that he recorded a new album, in 1981 he returned to the Olympia stage with recitals, and in 1982 he went on a concert tour, including the United States and Brazil. Montand’s most popular songs include Les Feuilles mortes, A Paris, Les Grands Boulevards, Barbara, Quand un soldat, Rendez-vous de Paname, La Chanson des rues, C’est si bon, Le Musicien, Luna Park, Matilda, La Ballade de Paris, and Le Carrosse. He recorded for the Odéon and Philips record labels. In 1956, he published his autobiography Du soleil plein la tête (Polish edition entitled Moje życie, translated by A. Gostyńska and J. Olęcka, Warsaw 1957). He performed twice in Warsaw (1957, 1989).
