Sylvie Vartan
| Sylvie Vartan | |
|---|---|
Sylvie Vartan in 2011
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| Background information | |
| Native name | Силви Жорж Вартанян |
| Birth name | Sylvie Georges Vartanian |
| Born |
15 August 1944 Iskrets, Sofia Province, Kingdom of Bulgaria |
| Origin | Paris, France |
| Genres | Yé-yé, rock'n'roll, pop, disco, soul, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Labels | Decca, RCA, Universal |
| Website | sylvie-vartan.com |
Sylvie Vartan (born Sylvie Georges Vartanian; 15 August 1944) is a French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. Her performances often featured elaborate show-dance choreography, and she made many appearances on French and Italian TV. Yearly shows with then-husband Johnny Hallyday attracted full houses at the Olympia and the Palais des congrès de Paris throughout the 1960s and mid-1970s. In 2004, after a break in performances, she began recording and giving concerts of jazz ballads in francophone countries.
Vartan was born in Iskrets, Sofia Province, Bulgaria. Her father, Georges Vartanian (1912-1970), was born in France to a Bulgarian mother and an Armenian father. He worked as an attaché at the French embassy in Sofia. The family shortened the name to Vartan. Her mother, Ilona (née Mayer), daughter of prominent architect Rudolf Mayer, was of Hungarian Jewish background.. When the Soviet Army occupied Bulgaria in September 1944, the Vartan family house was nationalised and they moved to Sofia. In 1952, Sylvie's father's friend, film director Dako Dakovski, offered her the role of a schoolgirl in the movie Pod Igoto, a film about Bulgarian rebels against the Ottoman occupation. Participating in the film made her dream of becoming an entertainer.
The hardships of postwar Bulgaria made the family emigrate to Paris in December 1952. At first they stayed in the Lion d'Argent hotel near Les Halles, where Georges found a job, then for the next four years they stayed in a single room at the Angleterre Hotel. Young Sylvie had to work hard to keep up at school and blend in with her schoolmates. She spent two years learning French. In 1960, her family moved to an apartment in Michel Bizot Avenue. Thanks to the influence of her music producer brother Eddie, music became teenage Sylvie's main interest. Her most influential genres were jazz and, out of spite toward her strict high school, rock 'n' roll. Her favourite artists included Brenda Lee, Bill Haley, and Elvis Presley.
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