Charles Aznavour obit

French singer and actor Charles Aznavour dies at age 94

 

He was not on the list.

Charles Aznavour, the French crooner and actor whose performing career spanned eight decades and who seduced fans around the world with his versatile tenor, lush lyrics and kinetic stage presence, has died. He was 94.

One of France’s most recognized faces, Aznavour sang to sold-out concert halls until the end, resorting to a prompter only after having written upwards of 1,000 songs by his own estimate, including the classic “La Boheme.”

His death was confirmed by the singer’s producer, Gerard Drouout Productions, and the French Culture Ministry. “Thank you, M. Aznavour,” government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux tweeted.

Often compared to Frank Sinatra, Aznavour started his career as a songwriter for Edith Piaf. The French chanteuse took him under her wing. Like her, his fame ultimately reached well outside France: Aznavour was named entertainer of the century in an online poll by CNN and Time magazine in 1999.

In a career that spanned 80 years, Aznavour sold more than 180 million records, according to his official biography.

He broke an arm last May but was set to start a new tour in November in France, starting in Paris.

BFMTV, the French news station, said he had just returned from a tour of Japan.

Aznavour was one of the Armenian diaspora’s most recognized voices and vocal defenders, but he sang in numerous languages, particularly English. His reputation in the United States spanned generations.

In a 2013 interview Aznavour suggested he would sing until the age of 100.

Throughout his career, Aznavour wrote for Piaf and other popular French singers. The love ballad “She” topped British charts for four weeks in 1974 and was covered by Elvis Costello for the film Notting Hill.

Liza Minnelli, who met Aznavour when she was a teenager and he was in his 40s, described following him to Paris. “He really taught me everything I know about singing — how each song is a different movie,” she said in a 2013 interview. The two remained close through the decades, often performing together.

He resisted description as a crooner, despite decades of torch songs that are now firmly fixed in the French lexicon. “I’m a songwriter who sometimes performs his own songs,” was his preferred self-description.

“What were my faults? My voice, my size, my gestures, my lack of culture and education, my honesty, or my lack of personality,” the 5 foot 3 inch (1.6-meter) performer wrote in his autobiography. “My voice? I cannot change it. The teachers I consulted all agreed I shouldn’t sing, but nevertheless I continued to sing until my throat was sore.”

Shanoun Varenagh Aznavourian was born in Paris on May 22, 1924, to Armenian parents who fled to Paris in the 1920s and opened a restaurant. His singer father — whose own father was a chef to Russian Czar Nicholas II — and actress mother exposed him to the performing arts early on, and he acted in his first play when he was 9.

Aznavour, who cut the Armenian suffix from his stage name, decided to switch to music but still acted in films throughout his career. His movie credits include Francois Truffaut’s 1960 “Tirez sur le Pianiste” (Shoot the Pianist), Volker Schloendorff’s 1979 “Die Blechtrommel” (The Tin Drum), and Atom Egoyan’s 2002 “Ararat.”

That last film dealt with the 1915 massacres of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, an event that has strained relations between Turkey and Armenia for a century. Aznavour campaigned internationally to get the killings formally deemed a genocide.

Aznavour became a piano player, and toured in New York after World War II with Piaf, who encouraged him to perform his own songs. There, he performed on stage with Minnelli. In 1963, he performed in a sold-out Carnegie Hall.

In addition to the English-language “She,” other best-selling songs included “La Boheme,” ’'For me, Formidable” and “La Mamma.” Other songs gained fame by their notoriety, including the seductive “Apres l’Amour,"(After Love) which was banned by French radio in 1965 as an affront to public morals, and the 1972 “Comme Ils Disent” (As They Say) — a first-person narrative of a gay man’s heartache.

His style varied little over the decades, his lyrics sticking to traditional structures, his melodies catchy and smooth with a swelling orchestra in the background — and lacking in imagination, some critics said. But in live performances, his small, lithe frame exuded an energy and emotion that made his songs something more. He had a ready grin, but his expressive brows overhung eyes that often seemed tinged with sadness.

The singer never forgot his Armenian roots. He founded Aznavour and Armenia, a nonprofit organization created after the devastating earthquake that hit Soviet Armenia in 1988.

After it earned independence from the Soviet Union, Aznavour traveled regularly to Armenia. He was named itinerant ambassador for humanitarian action in 1993 by President Levon Ter-Petrossian, served as Armenia’s ambassador to U.N. cultural agency UNESCO and was named Armenia’s ambassador to Switzerland in 2009.

In 2001, the singer was awarded France’s prestigious National Order of Merit. In April 2002, along with other French celebrities, he urged people to sing France’s national anthem in a campaign to defeat far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, known for his anti-immigrant stance.

“If Le Pen had existed (in my parents’ time) I wouldn’t have been born in France,” Aznavour said at the time.

In 2002, he opened La Boheme restaurant in Aix-en-Provence, southeastern France. The following year, he published a second memoir titled “Le Temps des Avants” (The Times Before); his first memoir, in 1973, had been called “Aznavour by Aznavour.” In 2009, he received the National Order of Quebec, a first for a singer.

For his 80th birthday, Aznavour sang at the renowned Palais des Congres in Paris and then went on a tour of France and Belgium. He celebrated his 90th birthday with a concert in Berlin.

Married three times, Aznavour had six children.

Actor

Charles Aznavour in Une revanche à prendre (2023)

Une revanche à prendre

Mohamed Benaïd

2023

 

Jeanne Moreau and Sandrine Veysset in Le tourbillon de Jeanne (2013)

Le tourbillon de Jeanne

5.0

TV Series

Léon

2013

1 episode

 

Mon colonel (2006)

Mon colonel

7.0

Le Père Rossi

2006

 

A.S.I.E: Et puis la terre

Music Video

2005

 

Ennemis publics (2005)

Ennemis publics

7.7

2005

 

Emmenez-moi (2005)

Emmenez-moi

6.2

Charles Aznavour

2005

 

Charles Aznavour in Old Goriot (2004)

Old Goriot

6.7

TV Movie

Jean-Joachim Goriot

2004

 

The Truth About Charlie (2002)

The Truth About Charlie

4.7

Charles Aznavour

2002

 

Passage du bac

4.8

TV Movie

Popeye

2002

 

Ararat (2002)

Ararat

6.3

Edward Saroyan

2002

 

Angelina

3.8

TV Movie

Lucien

2002

 

Joe Mantegna, Charles Aznavour, Sergio Castellitto, and Emmanuelle Seigner in Vendetta (2001)

Vendetta

5.1

Tony Castellano

2001

 

Judicaël

6.6

TV Movie

Raphaël Perlman

2001

 

Charles Aznavour and Annie Cordy in Baldi (1995)

Baldi

5.7

TV Series

Baldipata

1995–2000

6 episodes

 

Les mômes

4.6

TV Movie

Gaspard

1999

 

Le comédien (1997)

Le comédien

5.2

Monsieur Maillard

1997

 

Charles Aznavour, Annie Cordy, and Jean-Claude de Goros in Sans cérémonie (1997)

Sans cérémonie

4.3

TV Movie

Darius Torrès

1997

 

Charles Aznavour, Richard Bohringer, Frédéric Gorny, and Vanessa Lhoste in Pondichéry, dernier comptoir des Indes (1997)

Pondichéry, dernier comptoir des Indes

4.0

Léo Bauman

1997

 

Police Secrets

TV Series

Bastien Navarre

1994

1 episode

 

Mireille Darc in Prigioniera di una vendetta (1993)

Prigioniera di una vendetta

5.4

TV Mini Series

Pietro Bianco

1993

4 episodes

 

Charles Aznavour in Le chinois (1992)

Le chinois

7.8

TV Mini Series

Charles Cotrel

1992

6 episodes

 

Les années campagne (1992)

Les années campagne

5.5

Le Grand-Père

1992

 

Il ritorno di Ribot

4.4

TV Mini Series

Vannier

1991

3 episodes

 

Il maestro (1990)

Il maestro

5.7

Romualdi

1990

 

Mangeclous (1988)

Mangeclous

5.0

Jérémie

1988

 

Yiddish Connection (1986)

Yiddish Connection

5.6

Aaron Rapoport

1986

 

Charles Aznavour in Le paria (1985)

Le paria

4.2

TV Mini Series

Julien Mauriès

1985

3 episodes

 

Anouk Aimée, Charlotte Rampling, Charles Aznavour, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Evelyne Bouix, Charles Gérard, Laurent Malet, and Michel Piccoli in Viva la vie (1984)

Viva la vie

6.1

Edouard Takvorian

1984

 

Hermann Prey in Die Fledermaus (1983)

Die Fledermaus

8.7

TV Movie

Prince Orlofsky's Guests

1983

 

Charles Aznavour, Michael Lonsdale, Jacques Dutronc, Ariane Lartéguy, and Patrick Norbert in Une jeunesse (1983)

Une jeunesse

6.2

Bellune

1983

 

The Hatter's Ghost (1982)

The Hatter's Ghost

7.1

Kachoudas

1982

 

Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David? (1982)

Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David?

5.3

Léon, le Père de David

1982

 

Rod Steiger, Christoph Eichhorn, and Marie-France Pisier in The Magic Mountain (1982)

The Magic Mountain

6.4

Naphta

1982

 

Ciao, les mecs (1979)

Ciao, les mecs

5.0

L'amnésique

1979

 

David Bennent in The Tin Drum (1979)

The Tin Drum

7.5

Sigismund Markus

1979

 

The Twist (1976)

The Twist

4.3

Dr. Lartigue

1976

 

James Coburn, Charles Aznavour, Robert Culp, and Susannah York in Sky Riders (1976)

Sky Riders

5.9

Inspector Nikolidis

1976

 

Ten Little Indians (1974)

Ten Little Indians

5.7

Raven

1974

 

The Blockhouse (1973)

The Blockhouse

5.8

Visconti

1973

 

Charles Aznavour, Marie-Christine Barrault, Albert Minski, Raymond Pellegrin, and Katia Aznavour in Les intrus (1972)

Les intrus

5.7

Charles Bernard

1972

 

The Selfish Giant (1971)

The Selfish Giant

7.2

Short

Récitant

Narrator (French Version)

1971

 

La part des lions (1971)

La part des lions

6.0

Éric Chambon

1971

 

Helmut Berger, Charles Aznavour, and Virna Lisi in Love Me Strangely (1971)

Love Me Strangely

5.5

L'inspecteur Leroy

1971

 

The Games (1970)

The Games

6.1

Pavel Vendek

1970

 

The Adventurers (1970)

The Adventurers

5.2

Marcel Campion

1970

 

Charles Aznavour, Robert Hossein, and Virna Lisi in Carbon Copy (1970)

Carbon Copy

5.7

Le Commissaire Kramer

1970

 

Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, Walter Matthau, John Huston, Charles Aznavour, John Astin, Ewa Aulin, and Ringo Starr in Candy (1968)

Candy

5.1

Hunchback Juggler

1968

 

Caroline chérie (1968)

Caroline chérie

5.1

Jules, le Postillon

1968

 

Denise Filiatrault and Dominique Michel in Moi et l'autre (1966)

Moi et l'autre

6.9

TV Series

Charles Aznavour

1968

1 episode

 

Charles Aznavour and Libertad Leblanc in La perra (1967)

La perra

5.7

(voice)

1967

 

Les fables de La Fontaine

6.8

TV Series

Charles

1966

1 episode

 

Le facteur s'en va-t-en guerre (1966)

Le facteur s'en va-t-en guerre

4.7

Thibon

1966

 

Charles Aznavour and Susan Hampshire in Paris au mois d'août (1966)

Paris au mois d'août

6.9

Henri Plantin

1966

 

Le faiseur de rires

Short

1965

 

Cloportes (1965)

Cloportes

6.6

Edmond dit Le Naïf

1965

 

Jacques Brel in Vedettes en coulisses (1964)

Vedettes en coulisses

TV Series

Charles Aznavour

1964

 

Pourquoi Paris? (1964)

Pourquoi Paris?

4.9

Charles Aznavour

1964

 

Cherchez l'idole (1964)

Cherchez l'idole

6.2

Charles Aznavour

1964

 

High Infidelity (1964)

High Infidelity

6.5

Giulio (segment "Peccato nel pomeriggio")

1964

 

Danny Kaye in The Danny Kaye Show (1963)

The Danny Kaye Show

7.8

TV Series

Minor Role

1963

1 episode

 

Teuf-teuf

7.5

TV Movie

1963

 

Les vierges (1963)

Les vierges

6.3

Berthet

1963

 

Rat Trap (1963)

Rat Trap

5.4

Charles

1963

 

Arletty and Charles Aznavour in Destination Rome (1963)

Destination Rome

3.9

Marcello

1963

 

Three Fables of Love (1962)

Three Fables of Love

5.8

Charles (segment "Les deux pigeons")

1962

 

Louis de Funès, Alain Delon, Charles Aznavour, Françoise Arnoul, Jean-Claude Brialy, Danielle Darrieux, Fernandel, Micheline Presle, Michel Simon, and Lino Ventura in The Devil and the Ten Commandments (1962)

The Devil and the Ten Commandments

6.7

Denis Mayeux (segment "Homicide point ne seras")

1962

 

The Fabiani Affair (1962)

The Fabiani Affair

5.8

Horace Fabiani

1962

 

Gosse de Paris

1961

 

The Lions Are Loose (1961)

The Lions Are Loose

5.7

Charles - un convive de Marie-Laure (uncredited)

1961

 

Taxi for Tobruk (1961)

Taxi for Tobruk

7.2

Samuel Goldmann

1961

 

Shoot the Piano Player (1960)

Shoot the Piano Player

7.4

Charlie Koller

Edouard Saroyan

1960

 

Charles Aznavour, Nicole Courcel, Georges Rivière, and Cordula Trantow in Tomorrow Is My Turn (1960)

Tomorrow Is My Turn

6.8

Roger

1960

 

Testament of Orpheus (1960)

Testament of Orpheus

7.2

Le Curieux (uncredited)

1960

 

Oh! Qué mambo (1959)

Oh! Qué mambo

6.0

Un Spectateur au Cabaret (uncredited)

1959

 

Too Late to Love (1959)

Too Late to Love

6.0

Un danseur (uncredited)

1959

 

The Chasers (1959)

The Chasers

6.8

Joseph Bouvier

1959

 

Head Against the Wall (1959)

Head Against the Wall

7.0

Heurtevent

1959

 

Paris Music Hall (1957)

Paris Music Hall

Charles

1957

 

Une gosse 'sensass' (1957)

Une gosse 'sensass'

4.9

Charles Aznavour, le Chanteur

1957

 

Dans la vie tout s'arrange (1952)

Dans la vie tout s'arrange

6.1

1952

 

Adieu... Chérie (1946)

Adieu... Chérie

6.8

Le duettiste (uncredited)

1946

 

Les disparus de St. Agil (1938)

Les disparus de St. Agil

7.3

Un élève (uncredited)

1938

 

La guerre des gosses (1936)

La guerre des gosses

6.7

Minor Role (uncredited)

1936

 

Music Department

Charles Aznavour: She (2023)

Charles Aznavour: She

Music Video

Music Department

2023

 

Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, and Emmanuel Macron in 100 Jours (2022)

100 Jours

TV Movie

music: soundtrack

2022

 

One Child at a Time (2022)

One Child at a Time

Short

Music Department

2022

 

Clichés de Stars (2015)

Clichés de Stars

pre-recorded music

2015

 

Diaspora (2005)

Diaspora

Short

song

2005

 

Julie Peasgood in Seven Faces of Woman (1974)

Seven Faces of Woman

8.2

TV Series

composer: theme

1974–1977

13 episodes

 

Sapho ou La fureur d'aimer (1971)

Sapho ou La fureur d'aimer

4.0

lyricist: "Rien que pour nous", "Peut-être", "Sapho"

1971

 

L'amour (1969)

L'amour

4.6

lyrics: "L'amour"

singer: "L'amour"

1969

 

S.O.S. Operation Bikini (1967)

S.O.S. Operation Bikini

5.3

composer: song "Venecia sin tí"

1967

 

Too Late to Love (1959)

Too Late to Love

6.0

composer: song "Pourquoi Viens-tu si Tard ?", and theme

1959

 

Composer

Un été 44 (2016)

Un été 44

Video

Composer

2016

 

Around Charles Aznavour...

Video

Composer

2010

 

Blu Cantrell in Blu Cantrell Feat. Sean Paul: Breathe (2003)

Blu Cantrell Feat. Sean Paul: Breathe

5.6

Music Video

Composer

2003

 

Charles Aznavour 2000 (2000)

Charles Aznavour 2000

TV Special

Composer

2000

 

¡Formidable!

Short

Composer (music by)

1989

 

Les fables de La Fontaine

6.8

TV Series

Composer

1966

1 episode

 

Jean-Claude Brialy, Sophie Daumier, Marie Laforêt, and Jean-Pierre Marielle in How Not to Rob a Department Store (1965)

How Not to Rob a Department Store

5.1

Composer

1965

 

Pourquoi Paris? (1964)

Pourquoi Paris?

4.9

Composer

1964

 

Du mouron pour les petits oiseaux (1963)

Du mouron pour les petits oiseaux

5.9

Composer

1963

 

La salamandre d'or (1962)

La salamandre d'or

3.8

Composer

1962

 

Three Fables of Love (1962)

Three Fables of Love

5.8

Composer

1962

 

C'est pas moi, c'est l'autre (1962)

C'est pas moi, c'est l'autre

5.5

Composer

1962

 

Gosse de Paris

Composer

1961

 

Daniella by Night (1961)

Daniella by Night

4.9

Composer

1961

 

Le cercle vicieux (1960)

Le cercle vicieux

4.6

Composer

1960

 

Soupe au lait (1959)

Soupe au lait

Composer

1959

 

Too Late to Love (1959)

Too Late to Love

6.0

Composer

1959

 

Délit de fuite (1959)

Délit de fuite

5.2

Composer

1959

 

Temptation (1959)

Temptation

6.9

Composer

1959

 

Ces fleurs qui sont les nôtres

Short

Composer

1957

 

Dishonorable Discharge (1957)

Dishonorable Discharge

5.2

Composer

1957

 

Une gosse 'sensass' (1957)

Une gosse 'sensass'

4.9

Composer

1957