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George Perez, born June 9, 1954, is a writer and illustrator of comic books known for his work on various titles, including The Avengers, Teen Titans, and Wonder Woman.
Source: Wikipedia
Photo taken April 28, 2012 at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, BMO Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
British postcard with Polish imprint by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 22.. Photo: publicity still for The House of Rothschild (Alfred L. Werker, 1934).
George Arliss (1868-1946) was the first British actor to win an Academy Award. He was also an author, playwright and film maker.
George Arliss began his stage career in 1887 in the British provinces. By 1900, he was playing London's West End in supporting roles. He embarked for a tour of America in 1901 in Mrs. Patrick Campbell's troupe. Intending to remain in the USA only for the length of the tour, he stayed for twenty years eventually becoming a star on Broadway in 1908 with the satiric drama The Devil, by Ferenc Molnar. Producer George Tyler commissioned a play specifically tailored for Arliss in 1911 and the actor toured in Disraeli for five years, eventually becoming closely identified with the 19th century British prime minister. He began his film career with The Devil (1921, James Young), followed by Disraeli (1921, Henry Kolker) and four other silent films. Today, only The Devil and The Green Goddess (1923, Sidney Olcott), based on William Archer’s stage play, are known to have survived. He remade Disraeli (1929, Alfred E. Green) in sound and won the Academy Award for Best Actor. At 61, he converted successfully from a star of the legitimate theater, then silent films, to the talkies.
George Arliss made ten sound films exclusively for Warner Bros. under a contract that gave the star an unusual amount of creative control over his films. Curiously, his casting of actors and rewriting of scripts were privileges granted him by the studio that are not even mentioned in his contract. After his first three films, Arliss approved an undistinguished director, John Adolfi, to direct each of his films from that point on. Adolfi soon found himself regarded as a successful director of the critically and financially acclaimed Arliss films. Arliss preferred to use the same reliable actors from film to film such as Ivan Simpson and Charles Evans. Yet he had an eye for discovering newcomers like James Cagney, Randolph Scott, and Dick Powell. The Man Who Played God (1932, John G. Adolfi) was Bette Davis' first leading role. Until the end of Davis' life, she would credit Arliss for personally insisting upon her as his leading lady and giving her a chance to show her mettle. The two also co-starred in The Working Man (1933, John G. Adolfi). Despite his extensive involvement in the planning and production of his films, Arliss claimed credit only for acting. Working closely with Warners production chief, Darryl Zanuck, Arliss left the studio when Zanuck resigned in April 1933. Zanuck quickly signed him to make new films at Zanuck's fledgling studio, 20th Century Pictures, prompting Warners to bitterly complain to the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences that Zanuck had ‘stolen’ their star. Arliss is remembered primarily for his witty series of historical biographies such as Alexander Hamilton (1931, John G. Adolfi), Voltaire (1933, John G. Adolfi), The House of Rothschild (1934, Alfred L. Werker) and Cardinal Richelieu (1935, Rowland V. Lee). However, he had a second string to his bow, domestic comedies such as The Millionaire (1931, John G. Adolfi), A Successful Calamity (1932, John G. Adolfi) and The Last Gentleman (1934, Sidney Lanfield). In these films he often appeared with his wife, Florence Arliss. He was approaching 70 when he completed the British-made Doctor Syn (1937, Roy William Neill). He and Flo returned to America later that year to visit old friends. Returning to their home in London in 1939, the onset of World War II prevented their return to America. Braving the German aerial bombing of London throughout the war, Arliss remained in his native city where he died in 1946.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
Dutch postcard by P.F. Cladder, Amsterdam, no. 49-62 kk. Photo: HABÉ Film.
George Formby (1904–1961) was Britain's most popular film comedian between 1934 and 1945, and one of the highest-paid stars. He appeared in 21 hit films, cut over 230 records, and entertained an estimated three million Allied Servicemen during World War II. His trademark was the ukulele - along with his buck-toothed grin.
George Formby was born in Wigan, Lancashire, as George Hoy Booth , the eldest of seven children. His father, George Formby Senior (real name James Booth), was a famous stage actor and comedian. He never wanted any of his family to enter show business and so George, Jr., was apprenticed as a jockey when he was seven and rode his first professional race at ten. On the death of his father in 1921, Formby abandoned his career as a jockey and started his own music hall career using his father's material. In 1924 he married dancer Beryl Ingham, who managed his career until her death in 1960. He allegedly took up the ukulele, for which he was later famous, as a hobby; he first played it on stage for a bet. In film and on stage, he generally adopted the character of an honest, good-hearted but accident-prone innocent who used the phrases: "It's turned out nice again!" as an opening line; "Ooh, mother!" when escaping from trouble; and a timid "Never touched me!" after losing a fistfight. What made him stand out, however, was his unique and often mimicked musical style. He sang comic songs, full of double entendre, to his own accompaniment on the ukelele. Some of his songs were considered too rude for broadcasting. His 1937 song, With my little stick of Blackpool Rock was banned by the BBC because of the lyrics, but Formby's cheerful, innocent demeanor and nasal, high-pitched Lancashire accent neutralized the shock value of the lyrics.
George Formby appeared in a sole silent film, By the Shortest of Heads (1915, Bert Haldane), and in 1934 he made his first sound film Boots! Boots! (1934, Bert Tracy). The film was successful and he signed a contract to make a further 11 with Associated Talking Pictures, which earned him a then-astronomical income of £100,000 per year. In his films he played essentially gormless incompetents, aspiring to various kinds of professional success (as cyclist or jockey) and even more improbably to a middle-class girlfriend, usually in the clutches of some caddish type with a moustache. Invariably he scored on both counts, in such films as No Limit (1935, Monty Banks), Keep Fit (1937, Anthony Kimmins), and Trouble Brewing (1939, Anthony Kimmins). Between 1934 and 1945 Formby was the top comedian in British cinema, and at the height of his film popularity, Let George Do It (1940, Marcel Varnel) with Phyllis Calvert, was exported to America.. This espionage comedy is still regarded as probably his best. He is a member of a concert party, who takes the wrong ship by mistake during a blackout, and finds himself in Norway (mistaking Bergen for Blackpool) as a secret agent. A dream sequence in which he punches Hitler on the nose and addresses him as a ”windbag" is one of the most enduring moments in film comedy. In the post-war years, the Formbys toured Australia and New Zealand, Scandinavia and Canada, and in 1951 George took the West End by storm in the new musical Zip Goes A Million. A weak heart led to his official retirement in 1952 although he had since occasionally appeared on the stage and in pantomimes. His final heart attack occurred at the home of his fiancée, Patricia Howson, 36. The announcement of their engagement was a surprise to many, coming as it did just two months after the death of Beryl. An estimated 100,000 mourners lined the route as his coffin was driven to the cemetary.
Sources: Brian McFarlane (Encyclopedia of British Film), Wikipedia, BBC On This Day, The George Formby Society, and IMDb.
From: Crown Studios' New South Wales officers and men of the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) and the Australian Naval Forces : portrait collection, 1919
Date of Birth: 5.1.[no year]
Date of Enlistment: [no year]
Trade or Calling:
Born in or near what Town: Wallarabba NSW
Address prior to Enlistment: Wallarabba NSW
Rank, Number, Battalion, Distinctions:
Casualties and where:
Name & Address of Next of Kin: Mr J. Killner Wallarabba NSW
Name and last address of Father: John Killner
acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemI...
French postcard by Agfa. Photo: Studio Harcourt.
Handsome and athletic Georges Marchal (1920-1997) was one of the main lead actors in the French cinema of the 1950s, together with Jean Marais. He starred in several costume dramas and Swashbucklers and later appeared in films of Luis Buñuel.
Georges Marchal was born as Georges Louis Lucot in Nancy, France, in 1920. In Paris, he followed secondary school, and then took classes in ballet and acrobatics. Many odd jobs followed, like courier, docker at the Les Halles market, and assistant at the Medrano circus. He enrolled in the course of Ms. Calvi, and was hired at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal for the play 'Permission de détente' (Permission to relax) by Yves Mirande. At 20, he joined the Comédie-Française to play in 'Iphigénie et Psyché' (Iphigenia and Psyche). He soon also played in boulevard comedies. His film career started with the comedy Fausse alerte/The French Way (Jacques de Baroncelli, Bernard Dalban, 1940) starring Josephine Baker, which was only released in 1945. During the Occupation days, he was noted in Lumière d'été/Summer Light (Jean Grémillon, 1943) opposite Madeleine Renaud, Vautrin/Vautrin The Thief (Pierre Billon, 1943) with Michel Simon, and after the war, in Au grand balcon/The Grand Terrace (Henri Decoin, 1949) with Pierre Fresnay, about the heroic pilots who struggled, suffered and often died to carry the mail. He became the typical Jeune Premier of the French post-war cinema and posed as a rival of Jean Marais although he didn’t reach the same level. In 1951, he assumed the title role in Il naufrago del Pacifico/Robinson Crusoe (Jeff Musso, 1951), and for Sacha Guitry, he played the young Louis XIV in the star-studded Si Versailles m'était conté/Affairs of Versailles (Sacha Guitry, 1953). In 1951, he married actress Dany Robin. They were both young, beautiful, adored, and preserved their privacy in a house of Montfort l'Amaury. They made six films together, including La Voyageuse Inattendue/The Unexpected Voyager (Jean Stelli, 1949), based on an old script by Billy Wilder, and the comedy Jupiter (Gilles Grangier, 1952). Georges’ talent as a stuntman did wonders for his parts in costume films and swashbucklers such as Messalina (Carmine Gallone, 1952) with Maria Félix, Teodora, imperatrice di Bisanzio/Theodora, Slave Empress (Riccardo Freda, 1954) with Gianna Maria Canale, and Les trois mousquetaires/The Three Musketeers (André Hunebelle, 1953) in which he featured as D'Artagnan.
The arrival of the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) sounded like the death knell for Georges Marchal. He moved to Italy to continue his career. With his muscular body, he was an ideal hero for the Peplum films (the Italian sword and sandal epics). He appeared in a dozen of them, including Nel Segno Di Roma/Sheba and the Gladiator (Guido Brignone - and uncredited Riccardo Freda and Michelangelo Antonioni, 1958) with Anita Ekberg, Le legioni di Cleopatra/Legions of the Nile (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1959) with Linda Cristal, and Sergio Leone's first solo directorial effort, Il colosso di Rodi/The Colossus of Rhodes (Sergio Leone, 1961) with Rory Calhoun. Marchal was a close friend of Luis Buñuel and also one of his preferred actors. Marchal starred in four of his films: Cela s'appelle l'aurore/That is the Dawn (1955) with Lucia Bosé, La mort en ce jardin/Death in the Garden (1956) with Simone Signoret, Belle de jour/Beauty of the Day (1967) with Catherine Deneuve, and La voie lactee/The Milky Way (1969) with Laurent Terzieff. Other interesting films he appeared in were the anthology film Guerre secrète/The Dirty Game (Terence Young, Christian Jaque, Carlo Lizzani, Werner Klinger, 1965) with Robert Ryan, the Romanian historical epic Dacii/The Dacians (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1967) with Pierre Brice, Faustine et le bel été/Faustine and the Beautiful Summer (Nina Companeez, 1972) and Les Enfants du placard/The Closet Children (Benoît Jacquot, 1977) with Lou Castel. During the 1970s, he focussed on television and appeared in Quentin Durward (Gilles Grangier, 1971), as Philip IV the Fair in Les rois maudits/The Accursed Kings (Claude Barma, 1972), Gaston Phébus (Bernard Borderie, 1977), and Les grandes familles/The Great Families (Edouard Molinaro, 1988) with Michel Piccoli. He played a seductive older man in three TV-films based on the legendary Claudine novels by Colette, Claudine à Paris/Claudine in Paris (1978), Claudine en ménage/Pauline Engaged (1978) and Claudine s'en va/Claudine Goes (1978), all starring Marie-Hélène Breillat and directed by Edouard Molinaro. He also played Claude Jade's father in the fine TV Mini-series L'Île aux trente cercueils/The Island of Thirty Coffins (Marcel Cravenne, 1979). He retired in 1989. His last film appearance had been as General Keller in L'Honneur d'un capitaine/A Captain’s Honour (Pierre Schoendoerffer, 1982) about the French army's behaviour in Algeria. Georges Marchal died in 1997 in Maurens, France, following a long illness. He was married to Dany Robin from 1951 till their much-publicised divorce in 1969. He remarried in 1983 to Michele Heyberger.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Pablo Montoya (IMDb), Ciné-Ressources, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
is a Red rat snake, more commonly known as a corn snake (Pantherophis guttata). He closely resembles many corn snakes seen in the wild (southeastern United States) though he was bred and hatched in captivity. in 2003. Photo by Frank. .
George Frederic Watts, 1865, by Julia Margaret Cameron
This photograph is included in a Royal Collection book and touring exhibition Roger Fenton • Julia Margaret Cameron: Early British Photographs from the Royal Collection at the Aberdeen Art Gallery, 12 June - 21 August 2010 and Blackwell, Bowness-on-Windermere, 31 January - 25 April 2011.
The Royal Collection © 2010, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Original Caption: President George W. Bush and Harriet Miers Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, aboard Air Force One.
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: P7089-14
Created By: President (2001-2009 : Bush). Office of Management and Administration. Office of White House Management. Photography Office. (01/20/2001 - 01/20/2009)
From:: Photographs Related to the George W. Bush Administration, compiled 01/20/2001 - 01/20/2009
Production Date: 09/11/2001
Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=5997234
Repository: George W. Bush Library (Lewisville, TX)
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Use Restrictions: Unrestricted
By William Dyce
Guildhall Art Gallery, London
George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was a Welsh-born poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotional lyricists."
He was born into an artistic and wealthy family and largely raised in England. He received a good education that led to his admission to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1609. He went there with the intention of becoming a priest, but he became the University's Public Orator and attracted the attention of King James I. He served in the Parliament of England in 1624 and briefly in 1625.
After the death of King James, Herbert renewed his interest in ordination. He gave up his secular ambitions in his mid-thirties and took holy orders in the Church of England, spending the rest of his life as the rector of the little parish of St Andrew's Church, Lower Bemerton, Salisbury. He was noted for unfailing care for his parishioners, bringing the sacraments to them when they were ill and providing food and clothing for those in need. Henry Vaughan called him "a most glorious saint and seer."
He was never a healthy man and died of consumption at the age of 39.
George Knelson scrambles from the bull at the Harrow Rock'N Horse Fest Ram Rodeo at Harrow, Ontario, Canada, on Aug. 19, 2012. . This image is Copyright of Rob Skeoch, any publication, uploads or usage requires a writen release from Rob Skeoch at 905-335-6031.
Overhead view from Stockport Viaduct of Georges Road Viaduct in Heaton Mersey courtesy of Gregory Fox's Scenes From The Past 13 - Stockport Tiviot Dale
British Real Photograph postcard.
American actor George O'Brien (1899-1985) was a muscular, barrel-chested, yet sensitively talented leading man of classic silent films, like John Ford's The Iron Horse (1924) and F. W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927). He became a different kind of star as a cowboy in B-Westerns during the sound era.
One of the principal dancers in upcoming musical movie, "Perfectly Frank".
Seen here taking a well earned rest on a break between takes on location shoot, in the ballroom of Southport's "Prince of Wales" hotel.
Regimental number - 1031
Place of birth - Bairnsdale, Victoria
School - Hindmarsh Public School
Religion - Church of England
Occupation - Farm hand
Address - ...
Marital status - Single
Age at embarkation - 19
Next of kin - Father, Harry Sandford Davis, William Street, Beverly, South Australia
Previous military service - Served in the Cadets
Enlistment date - 11 September 1914
Rank on enlistment - Private
Unit name - 16th Battalion, F Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number - 23/33/1
Embarkation details - Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board Troopship A40 Ceramic on 22 December 1914
Rank from Nominal Roll - Private
Unit from Nominal Roll - 16th Battalion
Fate - Killed in Action 2 May 1915
Place of death or wounding - Gallipoli, Turkey
Date of death - 2 May 1915
Age at death - 18
Age at death from cemetery records - 18
Place of burial - No known grave
Commemoration details - The Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 52), Gallipoli, Turkey
The Lone Pine Memorial, situated in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac, is the main Australian Memorial on Gallipoli, and one of four memorials to men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Designed by Sir John Burnet, the principal architect of the Gallipoli cemeteries, it is a thick tapering pylon 14.3 metres high on a square base 12.98 metres wide. It is constructed from limestone mined at Ilgardere in Turkey.
The Memorial commemorates the 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who were buried at sea after evacuation through wounds or disease. The names of New Zealanders commemorated are inscribed on stone panels mounted on the south and north sides of the pylon, while those of the Australians are listed on a long wall of panels in front of the pylon and to either side. Names are arranged by unit and rank.
The Memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. Most cemeteries on Gallipoli contain relatively few marked graves, and the majority of Australians killed on Gallipoli are commemorated here.
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
Australian War Memorial - 79
Miscellaneous information from
cemetery records - Parents: Henry Sandford and Fanny DAVIS, South Esplanade, Semaphore, South Australia. Native of Victoria, Australia. 52
Family/military connections - Brother: 1032 Pte Harry Herbert DAVIS, 16th Bn, died of wounds, 5 June 1915.
Other details -
War service: Egypt, Gallipoli
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
(found on ebay)
This took me about 4 hours? But I don't mind :D, I love to draw and hopefully it will be worth it, I hope you like it (:
Hand drawn and added text on computer.
Looking south down the Hudson with the towers of southern Manhattan visible beneath the bridge.
As seen frm the Circle Line tour boat
9/23/2017 Prince George (Courthouse) Volunteer Fire Department 60th Anniversary Celebration. Open house, lunch, in-service and antique apparatus judging, & parade.
Photos by Tom Herman - www.odhfs.org
George Centre, Grantham at night. The grade 2* listed George Hotel (dating from 1780) was transformed into a shopping mall, which despite its attractiveness has failed to attact business and has recently been sold.
Grantham, Lincolnshire, High Street, George Centre
May 2017
Vintage Austrian postcard. Fox. Iris Verlag, 5879. George O'Brien in the early sound film Rough Romance (A.F. Erickson, 1920).
American actor George O'Brien (1899-1985) was a muscular, barrel-chested, yet sensitively talented leading man of classic silent films, like John Ford's The Iron Horse (1924) and F. W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927). He became a different kind of star as a cowboy in B-Westerns during the sound era.
Horribly blurred, but I rather liked this quick snap.
I also rather like the half-assed attempt at soffit-painting. Maybe they've finished it now.
GEORGE ANSON
GBR
Owners: Dominion Nav Co Ltd
Port of Registry: GBR Liverpool
IDNo:5128481
Year:1948
Name:NEWFOUNDLAND
Keel:
Type:Passenger/cargo (rf)
Launch Date:22.5.47
Flag:GBR
Date of completion:2.48
Tons:7437
Link:1490
DWT:6140
Yard No:102
Length overall:134.3
Ship Design:
LPP:126.7
Country of build:GBR
Beam:18.6
Builder:Vickers-Armstrongs
Material of build:
Location of yard:High Walker
Number of
screws/Mchy/
Speed(kn):1ST-15
Naval or paramilitary marking :
A:*
End:1971
Subsequent History:
62 GEORGE ANSON
Disposal Data:
BU Kaohsiung 15.2.71 [Great China Steel Development Corp]
Details: Mirimar Index
Photo credits: Supplied by the late Don Ross Collection
Georges Leygues , name ship of a class of French warships , completed in 1979 . By 2001 , when this was taken , she was in use as a training ship .
French postcard by Editions du Globe, Paris, no. 760. Photo: Studio Harcourt.
Singer-songwriter and poet Georges Brassens (1921-1981) is an iconic figure in France. He wrote and sang, with his guitar, more than a hundred of his poems, as well as texts from many others such as Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, or Louis Aragon. Between 1952 and 1976, he recorded fourteen albums that include several popular French Chansons. Most of his texts are black humour-tinged and often anarchist-minded. His most famous film is Porte des Lilas/Gates of Paris (René Clair, 1957).
Georges Charles Brassens was born in 1921 in the town of Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier. Brassens grew up in the family home in Sète with his mother, Elvira Dagrosa, father, Jean-Louis, half-sister, Simone, and paternal grandfather, Jules. His mother was a devout Roman Catholic, while his father was an easy-going, generous, openminded, anticlerical man. Brassens grew up between these two starkly contrasting personalities, who nonetheless shared a love for music. His mother, Simone and Jules, were always singing. This environment imparted to Brassens a passion for singing that would come to define his life. A poor student, Brassens performed badly in school. Alphonse Bonnafé, his literature teacher strongly encouraged the 15-years-old Braassens’s apparent gift for poetry and creativity. Bonnafé would later write the first Brassens biography in 1963. Georges listened constantly to his early idols: Charles Trenet, Tino Rossi, and Ray Ventura. At age seventeen, Georges and his gang started to steal from their families and others. Georges stole a ring and a bracelet from his sister. The police found and caught him, which caused a scandal. The young men were publicly characterized as ‘voyous’ (high school scum). Brassens was expelled from school. Following a short trial as an apprentice mason in his father's business, he moved to Paris in 1940 to live with his aunt and work at the Renault car factory. In the meantime, he learned piano and wrote some of his first original compositions. He stayed there after World War II had broken out while he felt that this was where his future lay and wrote his first collection of poems. Brassens published two short poetry collections in 1942, thanks to the money of his family and friends. In 1943, he was forced by the Germans to work in a labor camp at a BMW aircraft engine plant in Basdorf near Berlin in Germany. Here Brassens met some of his future friends, such as Pierre Onténiente, whom he called Gibraltar because he was "steady as a rock." Onténiente later became his right-hand man and his private secretary. After being given ten days' leave in France, he took refuge in a small cul-de-sac called "Impasse Florimont," in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. Without much else to occupy him, Brassens spent his days composing songs and writing music, eventually teaching himself the guitar based on his prior experience with the mandolin. There he lived for several years with its owner, Jeanne Planche and her husband Marcel in relative poverty: without gas, running water, or electricity. Brassens remained hidden there until the end of the war five months later, but ended up staying for 22 years. Planche was the inspiration for Brassens's song Jeanne.
In 1946, after the war had ended, Georges Brassens published the first of a series of virulent, black humour-tinged articles in the anarchist journal Le Libertaire. The following year, he also published his first novel, La Lune Écoute Aux Portes, and met Joha Heiman, the woman he would love -- and write about -- for the remainder of his life. His friends who heard and liked his songs urged him to go and try them out in a cabaret, café or concert hall. He was shy and had difficulty performing in front of people. At first, he wanted to sell his songs to well-known singers such as "les frères Jacques". In 1952 he met the singer Patachou, owner of a very well known cafe, Les Trois Baudets. Though Brassens had never considered himself a singer, Patachou convinced him to try his hand at performing himself. A bass player present at the audition, Pierre Nicolas, quickly joined Brassens in support, and would serve in that capacity for the remainder of the singer's career. Jacques Brel and Léo Ferré came also into the music industry with the help of Patachou. With her help, Brassens met Polydor exec Jacques Canetti, and landed a record deal. His first single, Le Gorille, was released later in 1952, and stirred up controversy with its strong anti-death penalty stance; in fact, it was banned from French radio until 1955. In these years, Brassens achieved fame with his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and articulate, diverse lyrics. He won the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque de l'Academie Charles Cros in 1954 for his EP Le Parapluie, and spent much of the year touring Europe and northern Africa. In 1957, he made his film debut in Porte des Lilas/Gates of Paris (René Clair, 1957). An old bum (Pierre Brassens) becomes infatuated with a pretty young girl (Dany Carrel) who gets entangled with a young gangster (Henri Vidal). Brassens played an important part as an the bum’s friend, L'Artiste, a taciturn, solitary bard, whose character seems to have been based on Brassens himself. Peter Beagle at IMDb: “The film turned out to be a delightful, warmhearted work, holding up remarkably well on repeated viewings, and Brassens makes an excellent deadpan foil for the great Pierre Brasseur. And the songs he wrote for the film remain among the best of his classic repertoire.” Brassens performed his songs in several other films, but his main focus was live performing. He later on made several appearances at the Paris Olympia and at the Bobino music hall theater. He toured with Pierre Louki, who wrote a book of recollections entitled Avec Brassens. During these performances he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. Most of the time the only other accompaniment came from his friend Pierre Nicolas with a double bass, and sometimes a second guitar (Barthélémy Rosso, Joël Favreau). He released several more LPs over the remainder of the 1950s, during which time chronic kidney ailments began to affect his health, resulting in periodic hospitalizations. In the following decades he continued to tour. His songs often decry hypocrisy and self-righteousness in the conservative French society of the time, especially among the religious, the well-to-do, and those in law enforcement. The criticism is often indirect, focusing on the good deeds or innocence of others in contrast. His elegant use of florid language and dark humor, along with bouncy rhythms, often give a rather jocular feel to even the grimmest lyrics. Brassens’s lyrics are difficult to translate, though his work is translated in more than 20 languages. Georges Brassens died of cancer in 1981, in Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, having suffered health problems for many years. He was 60. Brassens rests at the Cimetière le Py in Sète.Steve Huey at AllMusic: “Along with Jacques Brel, he became one of the most unique voices on the French cabaret circuit, and exerted a tremendous influence on many other singers and songwriters of the postwar era. His poetry and lyrics are still studied as part of France's standard educational curriculum.”
Sources: Peter Beagle (IMDb), Steve Huey (AllMusic), Wikipedia and IMDb.
French postcard by Editions Cap Theojac, Toulouse. Sent by mail in 1986. Photos: Jimmy Rague.
Singer-songwriter and poet Georges Brassens (1921-1981) is an iconic figure in France. He wrote and sang, with his guitar, more than a hundred of his poems, as well as texts from many others such as Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, or Louis Aragon. Between 1952 and 1976, he recorded fourteen albums that include several popular French Chansons. Most of his texts are black humour-tinged and often anarchist-minded. His most famous film is Porte des Lilas/Gates of Paris (René Clair, 1957).
Georges Charles Brassens was born in 1921 in the town of Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier. Brassens grew up in the family home in Sète with his mother, Elvira Dagrosa, father, Jean-Louis, half-sister, Simone, and paternal grandfather, Jules. His mother was a devout Roman Catholic, while his father was an easy-going, generous, openminded, anticlerical man. Brassens grew up between these two starkly contrasting personalities, who nonetheless shared a love for music. His mother, Simone and Jules, were always singing. This environment imparted to Brassens a passion for singing that would come to define his life. A poor student, Brassens performed badly in school. Alphonse Bonnafé, his literature teacher strongly encouraged the 15-years-old Braassens’s apparent gift for poetry and creativity. Bonnafé would later write the first Brassens biography in 1963. Georges listened constantly to his early idols: Charles Trenet, Tino Rossi, and Ray Ventura. At age seventeen, Georges and his gang started to steal from their families and others. Georges stole a ring and a bracelet from his sister. The police found and caught him, which caused a scandal. The young men were publicly characterized as ‘voyous’ (high school scum). Brassens was expelled from school. Following a short trial as an apprentice mason in his father's business, he moved to Paris in 1940 to live with his aunt and work at the Renault car factory. In the meantime, he learned piano and wrote some of his first original compositions. He stayed there after World War II had broken out while he felt that this was where his future lay and wrote his first collection of poems. Brassens published two short poetry collections in 1942, thanks to the money of his family and friends. In 1943, he was forced by the Germans to work in a labor camp at a BMW aircraft engine plant in Basdorf near Berlin in Germany. Here Brassens met some of his future friends, such as Pierre Onténiente, whom he called Gibraltar because he was "steady as a rock." Onténiente later became his right-hand man and his private secretary. After being given ten days' leave in France, he took refuge in a small cul-de-sac called "Impasse Florimont," in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. Without much else to occupy him, Brassens spent his days composing songs and writing music, eventually teaching himself the guitar based on his prior experience with the mandolin. There he lived for several years with its owner, Jeanne Planche and her husband Marcel in relative poverty: without gas, running water, or electricity. Brassens remained hidden there until the end of the war five months later, but ended up staying for 22 years. Planche was the inspiration for Brassens's song Jeanne.
In 1946, after the war had ended, Georges Brassens published the first of a series of virulent, black humour-tinged articles in the anarchist journal Le Libertaire. The following year, he also published his first novel, La Lune Écoute Aux Portes, and met Joha Heiman, the woman he would love -- and write about -- for the remainder of his life. His friends who heard and liked his songs urged him to go and try them out in a cabaret, café or concert hall. He was shy and had difficulty performing in front of people. At first, he wanted to sell his songs to well-known singers such as "les frères Jacques". In 1952 he met the singer Patachou, owner of a very well known cafe, Les Trois Baudets. Though Brassens had never considered himself a singer, Patachou convinced him to try his hand at performing himself. A bass player present at the audition, Pierre Nicolas, quickly joined Brassens in support, and would serve in that capacity for the remainder of the singer's career. Jacques Brel and Léo Ferré came also into the music industry with the help of Patachou. With her help, Brassens met Polydor exec Jacques Canetti, and landed a record deal. His first single, Le Gorille, was released later in 1952, and stirred up controversy with its strong anti-death penalty stance; in fact, it was banned from French radio until 1955. In these years, Brassens achieved fame with his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and articulate, diverse lyrics. He won the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque de l'Academie Charles Cros in 1954 for his EP Le Parapluie, and spent much of the year touring Europe and northern Africa. In 1957, he made his film debut in Porte des Lilas/Gates of Paris (René Clair, 1957). An old bum (Pierre Brassens) becomes infatuated with a pretty young girl (Dany Carrel) who gets entangled with a young gangster (Henri Vidal). Brassens played an important part as an the bum’s friend, L'Artiste, a taciturn, solitary bard, whose character seems to have been based on Brassens himself. Peter Beagle at IMDb: “The film turned out to be a delightful, warmhearted work, holding up remarkably well on repeated viewings, and Brassens makes an excellent deadpan foil for the great Pierre Brasseur. And the songs he wrote for the film remain among the best of his classic repertoire.” Brassens performed his songs in several other films, but his main focus was live performing. He later on made several appearances at the Paris Olympia and at the Bobino music hall theater. He toured with Pierre Louki, who wrote a book of recollections entitled Avec Brassens. During these performances he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. Most of the time the only other accompaniment came from his friend Pierre Nicolas with a double bass, and sometimes a second guitar (Barthélémy Rosso, Joël Favreau). He released several more LPs over the remainder of the 1950s, during which time chronic kidney ailments began to affect his health, resulting in periodic hospitalizations. In the following decades he continued to tour. His songs often decry hypocrisy and self-righteousness in the conservative French society of the time, especially among the religious, the well-to-do, and those in law enforcement. The criticism is often indirect, focusing on the good deeds or innocence of others in contrast. His elegant use of florid language and dark humor, along with bouncy rhythms, often give a rather jocular feel to even the grimmest lyrics. Brassens’s lyrics are difficult to translate, though his work is translated in more than 20 languages. Georges Brassens died of cancer in 1981, in Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, having suffered health problems for many years. He was 60. Brassens rests at the Cimetière le Py in Sète.Steve Huey at AllMusic: “Along with Jacques Brel, he became one of the most unique voices on the French cabaret circuit, and exerted a tremendous influence on many other singers and songwriters of the postwar era. His poetry and lyrics are still studied as part of France's standard educational curriculum.”
Sources: Peter Beagle (IMDb), Steve Huey (AllMusic), Wikipedia and IMDb.