Line Renaud

Line Renaud
Line Renaud at the 2011 NRJ Music Awards
Born	Jacqueline Ente (1928-07-02) 2 July 1928 (age 88) Nieppe, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Singer, Actress
Years active	1945–present
Spouse(s)	Loulou Gasté (1950–1995, his death)

Line Renaud (born 2 July 1928) is a popular French singer, actress and AIDS activist.

Line Renaud was born as Jacqueline Ente in Pont-de-Nieppe on 2 July 1928. Her mother Simone was a shorthand typist; her father was a truck driver during the week, but he played the trumpet on weekends, in a local brass band. Line showed the first signs of her talent in primary school, when at the age of seven she won an amateur competition.

During the Second World War, Jacqueline's father was mobilised, spending five years away from the family. During this time, Jacqueline was brought up by her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her grandmother had a café in Armentières, where she used to sing for passing soldiers.

She auditioned at Conservatoire de Lille, singing songs written by Loulou Gasté "Sainte-Madeleine" and "Mon âme au diable". Louis Gasté was at that time a well known French composer. At the end of the audition, she was approached by the director of Radio Lille who was looking for a singer. She took the pseudonym of Jacqueline Ray and joined the station singing a repertoire based on the songs by Loulou Gasté. In 1945, she moved to Paris and got her first gig in Folies Belleville, where she was introduced to Gasté. She was 16, and Gasté was 37. He became her mentor, changing her image and her name.

Line Renaud made her national debut on Radio Luxembourg, singing on a Sunday morning program. After signing a contract with Pathe Marconi, she recorded "Ma Cabane au Canada", written by Loulou Gasté, which won le Grand Prix du Disque. She also sang with Yves Montand in the Théâtre de l'Etoile. She did a big tour of Europe and Africa, came back to Paris to star at the ABC and recorded numerous adaptations of American songs such as "Ma petite folie", "Etoile des neiges" and "Le chien dans la vitrine".

In 1954, whilst performing at Moulin Rouge she met Bob Hope and consequently appeared in five episodes of The Bob Hope Show in the US. During this trip, she also sang in the Waldorf Astoria (New York) and the Cocoanut Grove (Los Angeles), appeared on Johnny Carson, Dinah Shore and Ed Sullivan shows and recorded with Dean Martin the song ‘Relax ay voo’.