Zizi Jeanmaire

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Zizi Jeanmaire
Vaud
, Switzerland
Occupation(s)Dancer, actress, singer
Years active1949–1982
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1954; died 2011)​
Children1
Jeanmaire in a publicity photograph

Renée Marcelle "Zizi" Jeanmaire (29 April 1924 – 17 July 2020) was a French

Hollywood films and Paris revues. She was the wife of dancer and choreographer Roland Petit
, who created ballets and revues for her.

Career

Jeanmaire was born in Paris to Olga Renée (

née Brunus) and Marcel Jeanmaire. She later wrote in her autobiography: "When I was little my mother called me 'mon Jésus' which transformed into 'mon Zizi'."[1]

She met her future husband and long-time collaborator

Prince's Theatre in London on 21 February 1949, and the obituary in The Guardian noted: "Nothing as sensual as the duets that Petit created for the lovers had been seen on the London stage before."[1] The performance was taken to an extended tour on Broadway, repeated the following season.[1]

Jeanmaire first appeared as a chanson singer in Petit's Croqueuse de diamants in 1950.

Grand Prix du disque.[3] In Hollywood, she appeared in the musical film Hans Christian Andersen in 1952, with Danny Kaye and Farley Granger. In 1954, she starred on Broadway again, in the musical The Girl in Pink Tights.[1] She returned to Paris and married Petit that year. Their daughter Valentine was born the following year,[1] and would become a dancer and actress.[4]

Jeanmaire appeared in film again in 1956, in Cole Porter's

Alhambra Theatre, with hits such as "Mon truc en plumes".[3][1][5] She performed the song in a dress by Yves Saint Laurent, who became her chief designer for stage and private clothes, and a friend. The number, with twelve young men carrying pink feather fans, became a signature tune and was repeated in other revues by Petit,[1] who produced more than 60 shows with her.[3]

Her fame garnered her press attention, and preferred seating at fashion shows, for example in a

Yves Saint Laurent show in 1967, next to Elsa Martinelli, Françoise Hardy and Catherine Deneuve. Almost 50 years later, Vogue magazine viewed Jeanmaire and her peers as representing a guidepost of fashion week celebrity culture.[6]

Jeanmaire died in Switzerland[3] on 17 July 2020.[1][7]

Cultural references

Jeanmaire is mentioned in the lyrics of the song by Peter Sarstedt, "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?": "You talk like Marlene Dietrich, and you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire".[8] She is also mentioned in the Steve Harley song "Nothing Is Sacred": the fourth verse contains the lyrics, "Zizi Jeanmaire wouldn't take this and neither will we".[citation needed]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cruickshank, Judith (17 July 2020). "Zizi Jeanmaire obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  2. ^ "E' morta Zizi Jeanmaire danzatrice e showgirl, moglie di Roland Petit". giornaledelladanza.com (in Italian). 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Brug, Manuel (18 July 2020). "Eine wie sie wird es nie mehr geben". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  4. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (20 March 2014). "Obituary for Roland Petit". The New York Times. p. B8.
  5. ^ "Obituary for Roland Petit". The Daily Telegraph. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  6. ^ Yotka, Steff (9 February 2016). "Barbra Streisand, Sofia Coppola, Catherine Deneuve, and More Throwback Front Row Snaps From Fashion Week". Vogue.
  7. ^ Sulcas, Roslyn (21 July 2020). "Zizi Jeanmaire, French Star of Ballet, Cabaret and Film, Dies at 96". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Roslyn Sulcas (21 July 2020). "Zizi Jeanmaire, French Star of Ballet, Cabaret and Film, Dies at 96". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Weickmann, Dorion (17 July 2020). "Ohne sie ist Paris nicht mehr Paris". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  10. ^ Charmants Garçons (1957) senscritique.com
  11. ^ Guinguette (1959) senscritique.com

Bibliography

  • Zizi. Zizi Jeanmaire with Gérard Mannoni (2002), Paris: Assouline, 2002, 147 pages (French);
    ISBN 2-84323-389-5

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zizi Jeanmaire.
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