It's December 19th. On this day in Paris in 1915 the greatest chanteuse the world has ever seen was born – Édith Piaf. She was better known in her native France by her promotional name, "La Môme Piaf," which carries a clever double meaning – "The Kid Piaf" and "The Little Sparrow," since "Piaf," her stage name, means "Sparrow" in French. She was little. Her adult height was only 4' 8" (142.24 cm). But her voice was big.
Édith had an unusual childhood, to say the least. Her parents abandoned her at birth, so her maternal grandmother raised her in the brothel she ran in Bernay, Normandy. When Edith was 14, her father took her to help him with his acrobatic street performances all over France. This is when she first began to sing in public.
In 1935, while singing in the streets of Paris, the teenager was discovered by nightclub owner Louis Leplée, who gave Édith her stage name. Maurice Chevalier attended her debut performance, which drew rave reviews, and her career took off like a rocket. Édith soon became the most popular entertainer in France, and became well-known in the rest of Europe, North America, and South America, too. She appeared eight times on the 📺 Ed Sullivan Show.
Édith was taken from us too soon – on October 10th, 1963, at the age of 47. She died of a ruptured aneurysm due to liver failure, brought about by her long addictions to alcohol and morphine, which themselves, were largely a result of injuries suffered in three car accidents. Since her death, many biographies and films have attempted to capture her essence and magic, like 2007's "La Vie en Rose." There's nothing like the real thing, though. We miss you, Édith. ☮️ R.I.P…. Jamiese of Pixoplanet
