Nicole Croisille, whose six-decade career spanned music, dance, film and theatre, was best known internationally for the soundtrack of the 1966 film A Man and a Woman inscribing the refrain "chabadabada"into the pantheon of French song. "All I like is a good laugh," she said, as she continued to work well into her 80s.
Croisille died in Paris on Tuesday night, "following a long illness" her agent Jacques Metges announced on Wednesday.
The unforgettable voice on the film soundtrack of Claude Lelouch'sA Man and a Woman, she won the prize for "most beautiful voice" in 1975.
She was also loved in France for other hits during the 1970s, including Telephone-moi, Parlez-moi de luiand Une femme avec toi.
"I have only sung love songs and I know what I have brought to people," she told Paris Match in 2017.
"She was the voice of my life, a friend, a confidante, a muse,"Lelouch saidon Wednesday. "She was a wonderful woman, behind the microphone and in life. She knew how to do everything! Singing, dancing, bouncing around all the time, an incredible sense of improvisation... I feel widowed."
Multi-talented
Croisille often said she had achieved everything she ever wanted in her career hardly surprising given the breadth of her accomplishments.
Born in 1936, she was just eight when she began dancing on stage at the Paris Opera School. She would later join the company's corps de ballet.
In the mid-1950s, after auditioning for Marcel Marceaus mime school, she joined him on a tour of the Americas. She discovered a passion for jazz while in Chicago and began singing in local clubs.
On her return toFrance, she immersed herself in the jazz scene of Pariss Saint-Germain-des-Prs, performing in the citys famed cellars.
She continued dancing, performing notably inParis mes Amours a revue led byJosephine Bakerand appearing in 1957 alongside Jean Marais in the musicalLApprenti Fakir.
Chabadabada
Her recording career kicked off in the early 1960s, with a series of jazz-influenced singles and an album featuring a cover of Ray CharlessHallelujah I Love Her So.
However, she struggled to compete with the rise of the y-y pop movement and while she opened forJacques Brelat the Olympia inParisin 1961, she remained relatively unknown to the general public.
Passionate about American musicals, she returned to the United States in 1964 to perform as a lead showgirl, appearing in Broadway numbers adapted from the Folies Bergre.
1966 marked a turning point when she recorded the soundtrack of Un homme et une femme (A man and a woman)with singer-songwriter Pierre Barouh for Claude Lelouchs eponymous Oscar-winning film. Composed by Francis Lai, the song with its breathy "chabadabada" refrain, became a global hit and was the first French single to be certified gold in the US.
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Chart success
Mainstream success came in the 1970s, after signing with Philips Records.
Collaborations with prominent lyricists like Pierre Delano and Claude Lemesle, allowed her to develop a more contemporary chanson-pop style. She released a string of successful singles includingParlez-moi de lui,Une femme avec toiandTlphone-moiandJai besoin de toi, jai besoin de lui.Her version ofLe Blues du businessman, from the musicalStarmania, became a radio hit in 1985.
Croisille performed to sold-out audiences at major French venues including the Olympia, the Bataclan and the Casino de Paris.
Despite embracing pop, she continued in jazz. In 1987, she worked alongside violinist Didier Lockwood and saxophonistsManu Dibangoand Steve Grossman on the albumJazzille, culminating in a national tour with 180 concerts.
In 2008, she released the albumBossa dhiver, inspired by her love of Brazilian music.
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'Time of my life'
In addition to her music career, Croisille was a respected actress. She appeared in several of Claude Lelouch's films, includingLes Uns et les Autres(1981),Il y a des jours et des lunes(1990), andLes Misrables(1995), as well in numerous television productions.In 1992, she realised her dream, playing the lead role in the American musical Hello, Dolly!.
In 2006, two years after the death of fellow French artist Claude Nougaro, she paid tribute to him with the stage show and albumNougaro, le jazz et moi.
Croisille remained active on stage into her 80s.
After playing, in her own words, a "wanton old lady" in aplay about the porn industryin 2018, she acted the role of ex-mistress of a rich antique dealer in Sacha Guitry's gritty comedy N'coutez pas, Mesdames! in 2019.
"I'm having the time of my life! At my age, all I like is a good laugh", she told AFP just before her 83rd birthday.
Originally published on RFI
