Alys Robi
| Alys Robi | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alice Robitaille |
| Born |
February 3, 1923 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | May 28, 2011 (aged 88) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | Latin American music |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1930–2011 |
Alice Robitaille (February 3, 1923 – May 28, 2011), from Quebec City, "petite Alys" (little Alys), was a French Canadian singer mainly remembered for her later French interpretations of Latin American songs, who performed under the stage name Alys Robi.
Born in 1923 in the Quebec City neighbourhood of Saint-Sauveur, Robitaille displayed talent for singing and acting at a very young age. She first performed on-stage at the Capitol Theatre at 7. At the time, she had already sung on-air with the CHRC radio station and was a real phenomenon in the whole city.
At 13 she moved to the Théâtre National, on Montreal's Saint Catherine Street. Under the direction of Rose Ouellette, she learned acting and singing during a 75-week engagement. She continued her career in the Montreal cabarets, making radio appearances. For a time during the war, she also hosted a French radio show named Tambour battant ("Rumbling drum"). Touring Canadian military bases propelled her career across Canada.
During the 1940s, she started producing 78s and she became renowned far beyond Canada. She captured popular imagination with Latin titles like Besame Mucho and Tico tico, after translating herself the Spanish or Brazilian songs into French. She sang in chic New York City cabarets by the mid forties and in 1947, she travelled to England where she made an appearance on the first regular BBC television programme.
In 1948, while traveling by car to Hollywood, she was injured in an accident, and entered a period of depression. After a series of unfortunate diagnoses, and a failed romance, she suffered a mental breakdown and was interned for several years in a Quebec City asylum. She was at some point subjected to a lobotomy against her will. She credited the operation with her recovery:
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