Sylvie Vartan

Sylvie Vartan

Born: August 15, 1944
in Iskretz, Bulgaria
Sylvie Vartan (born Sylvie Georges Vartanian; 15 August 1944) is a Armenian-Bulgarian-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. With 50 million records and CD's sold worldwide, 2000 magazine covers (number one French female artist before Bardot and Deneuve) and being the number one French female singer with concerts and audience worldwide, Sylvie Vartan is considered a true Legend and icon.

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.

Sylvie Vartan was born in Iskrets, Sofia Province, in the then Kingdom of Bulgaria. Her father, Georges Vartanian (1912—1970), was born in France to a Bulgarian mother named Slavka and an Armenian father. He worked as an attaché at the French embassy in Sofia. The family shortened the name Vartanian to Vartan. Her mother, Ilona (née Mayer 1914–2007), daughter of prominent architect Rudolf Mayer, was of Hungarian-Jewish descent.

When the Soviet Army invaded Bulgaria in September 1944, the Vartanian family house was nationalised and they moved to Sofia. In 1952, a friend of Sylvie's father, 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 come true.

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.

In 1961, Eddie offered Sylvie the chance to record the song "Panne d'essence" with French rocker Frankie Jordan. The Decca Records EP was a surprise hit. Although she was not credited on the sleeve, "Panne d'essence" provided Vartan her first appearance on French television. The journalists gave her the nickname la collégienne du twist. After the "twisting schoolgirl" had finished the Victor Hugo High School, she was free to sign a contract with Decca Records to start recording her own EP; carrying the title song "Quand le film est triste", a cover of Sue Thompson's "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)", the EP was on sale by the beginning of December 1961. ...

Source: Article "Sylvie Vartan" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Sylvie Vartan...

L'Âge d'or de la pub
Title: L'Âge d'or de la pub
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: June 2, 2023
Type: Movie
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Sheila, toutes ces vies-là
Title: Sheila, toutes ces vies-là
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: December 24, 2022
Type: Movie
The portrait of a woman who remembers. Sheila tells the story of Sheila, without concessions or evasions. Her childhood, her parents, her beginnings, the rumors, her love affairs, her marriage, her son, her successes, her farewells, her return, her mourning. The journey of an extraordinary popular icon who never stopped fighting. The courage of an artist who never gives up. "Sheila, toutes ces vies-là" is also a journey through time. 60 years of pop music, punctuated by numerous archives, personal films, timeless hits and illustrations by Marc-Antoine Coulon. But also 60 years of fashion, through a legendary wardrobe (her TV show outfits) that Sheila invites us to rediscover.
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Title: Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: December 21, 2022
Type: TV
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La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Title: La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 7, 2022
Type: Movie
In May 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became President of the Republic and wanted to bring about a new era of modernity. One of his first decisions was to break up the ORTF with the creation of three new television channels: TF1, Antenne 2 and FR3. Three new public channels but autonomous and competing. It is a race for the audience which is engaged then, and from now on the channels will make the war! This competition will give birth to a real golden age for television programs, with variety shows in the forefront. The stars of the song are going to invade the living rooms of the French for their biggest pleasure. This unedited documentary tells the story of the metamorphosis of this television of the early 1970s, between freedom of tone, scandals, political intrigues and programs that have become mythical.
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Sylvie Vartan : le récital
Title: Sylvie Vartan : le récital
Released: October 12, 2021
Type: Movie
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Michel Sardou une vie en chantant
Title: Michel Sardou une vie en chantant
Released: September 19, 2021
Type: Movie
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Title: Archives secrètes
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: September 9, 2021
Type: TV
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Title: La Boîte à secrets
Character: Self
Released: October 18, 2019
Type: TV
La Boîte à secrets: confidences, emotion and entertainment. Faustine Bollaert takes over the helm of this new show on France 3. She will receive 3 guests who will relive their greatest personal and professional secrets.
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Title: The secret song
Character: Self
Released: December 29, 2018
Type: TV
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Roger Kasparian, l'oeil des 60's
Title: Roger Kasparian, l'oeil des 60's
Character: Self
Released: November 2, 2014
Type: Movie
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It Happened in Saint-Tropez
Title: It Happened in Saint-Tropez
Character: Une people à Cannes soirée Melko
Released: January 13, 2013
Type: Movie
Zef’s stormy relationship with his brother Roni is further aggravated when Roni marries his daughter just as he is attending to his wife’s funeral. The two brothers have never got on with each other. One is faithful to his religion, the other lives only for the present. Between London, Paris, Saint-Tropez and New York, a series of confrontations and betrayals threatens to drive the family further apart, but out of this confusion will come a great love story, perhaps even two...
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L'Amour, la mort, les fringues
Title: L'Amour, la mort, les fringues
Released: February 26, 2011
Type: Movie
They stick to our skin and soul, our clothes. We believe we buy them, they own us. Warning ! these rags are traitors: far from dressing us they expose our complexes, our moods ... Clinging to their hangers, to our memories too, they exercise an underhand dictatorship. Snuggled up, huddled together, they build a bulwark against oblivion in our closets. Often stained for eternity with ink or redcurrant, impregnated with perfume, tears sometimes, piled up or messed up on our shelves, they remain forever linked to the happy or unhappy chapters of our life. It is through the evocation of their wardrobe that Gigi, Eve, Marie, Nora, Françoise, Amanda, Lisa and the others evoke the past, missed appointments and those that changed their lives, the joys and childhood revolts, giggles, disappointments, dramas, parties and hopes too…
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Johnny Hallyday : Tour 66 - Stade de France
Title: Johnny Hallyday : Tour 66 - Stade de France
Character: Self
Released: November 16, 2009
Type: Movie
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Title: C à vous
Character: Self
Released: September 7, 2009
Type: TV
Every day live on FRANCE 5, Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine and her team receive those who make the news. In the second part, the program welcomes, around a meal prepared by a qualified chef, artists in promotion.
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L’ange et la femme: le cinéma de Jean-Claude Brisseau
Title: L’ange et la femme: le cinéma de Jean-Claude Brisseau
Character: Self
Released: October 1, 2008
Type: Movie
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Rare and Unseen: The Beatles
Title: Rare and Unseen: The Beatles
Character: Self
Released: April 8, 2008
Type: Movie
The Beatles. Their story is told for the very first time using original rare film and video of the band, including home movies, concert footage, newsreels and photographs from private collections. There are also interviews with those who surrounded the band, and those who were there from the very start. Also included is an exclusive interview with fan and star in his own right, Phil Collins. For the first time we can see The Beatles relaxed, at play, on and off stage, on film and is a rare glimpse inside the lives of four musicians who shook the world.
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Mausolée pour une garce
Title: Mausolée pour une garce
Character: Agnès Taride
Released: November 17, 2001
Type: Movie
Adapted from a best-selling novel by Frédéric Dard. Agnès Taride has a closet full of skeletons. A beautiful woman, accustomed to using her body to get what she wants, she persuades her lover to murder her ex-husband for the life insurance money that will otherwise go to her daughter when she reaches her upcoming 18th birthday. The murder attempt goes awry, and not only does the ex survive, but a witness calls on his underworld connections to avenge the attack on his friend. From here, the plot and counter-plot become ever more complicated, with blackmail, kidnap, murder, seduction and suicide on the agenda, and a surprise twist in the ending.
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Title: Star Academy
Character: Self
Released: October 20, 2001
Type: TV
Star Academy is a French reality television show produced by the Dutch company Endemol. It consists of a contest of young singers. It spawned an equally successful show in Quebec called Star Académie. It is broadcast on TF1. At the end of each season, selected contestants would go on tour around France, Morocco, Switzerland, Belgium, Tunisia, and other French-speaking countries.
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Title: Vivement dimanche
Character: Self
Released: September 20, 1998
Type: TV
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The Black Angel
Title: The Black Angel
Character: Stéphane Feuvrier
Released: November 11, 1994
Type: Movie
Stephane, the wife of a prominent magistrate, shoots and kills a man in her home and claims he tried to rape her. While investigating her case, her lawyer becomes hopelessly enmeshed in a web of lies and subterfuges concerning her past.
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Johnny Hallyday : Parc des Princes 93
Title: Johnny Hallyday : Parc des Princes 93
Character: Self
Released: September 1, 1993
Type: Movie
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Title: Stars 90
Character: self
Released: September 3, 1990
Type: TV
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Title: Le monde est à vous
Character: Self
Released: February 8, 1987
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Champs-Elysées
Character: Self
Released: January 16, 1982
Type: TV
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Title: The Big Show
Character: Self
Released: March 4, 1980
Type: TV
The Big Show is an American comedy-variety-musical television series produced and broadcast by NBC for several months in 1980. The series aimed to revitalize the moribund variety television genre, which had been in a downward spiral since the cancellations of The Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol Burnett Show a few years earlier. The Big Show took its title seriously, using a huge stage set and filling a 90-minute time-slot, with at least one two-hour installment broadcast. Although the first broadcast received high ratings, poor reviews and low ratings of succeeding episodes resulted in the program being cancelled after only a few months. The series nonetheless was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning for Outstanding Costume Design. Regular performers included Joe Baker, Graham Chapman, Mimi Kennedy, Shabba-Doo and Pamela Myers. Guest hosts included Steve Allen, Nell Carter, David Copperfield, Geoffrey Holder, Gary Coleman, and Sid Caesar. Skaters who performed in the show included Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, and Toller Cranston.
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Carlos Numéro 1
Title: Carlos Numéro 1
Released: June 20, 1979
Type: Movie
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Title: Bio’s Bahnhof
Character: Self
Released: February 9, 1978
Type: TV
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Title: Fan School
Character: Self
Released: January 30, 1977
Type: TV
Host Jacques Martin invites different talented children from various backgrounds to showcase their beautiful voices. The participants entertain and wow the audience with their lovely performances.
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Title: 30 millions d'amis
Character: Self
Released: January 6, 1976
Type: TV
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Title: Numéro un
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: April 5, 1975
Type: TV
A French variety show.
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Title: Numéro un
Character: Self
Released: April 5, 1975
Type: TV
A French variety show.
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Title: Numéro un
Character: Self - Host
Released: April 5, 1975
Type: TV
A French variety show.
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Title: Système 2
Character: Self
Released: January 19, 1975
Type: TV
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Title: Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Character: Self
Released: January 12, 1975
Type: TV
A talk show presented by Michel Drucker
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Title: Midi Première
Character: Self
Released: January 6, 1975
Type: TV
Midi Première is a French variety show presented by Danièle Gilbert, directed by Jacques Pierre and broadcast from January 6, 1975 until January 1, 1982 on TF1. The program was generally broadcast between 12:15 p.m. and 12:55 p.m., then giving way to the 1:00 p.m. TV news. However, the broadcast schedule could change, depending on the guests, and the setting where the recording of the program was shot. Certain performances by artists who have become cult like the one where Ringo jostles with a demonstrator in interpretation (1977), that of Dalida with the title There is always a song with the soundtrack that does not start, twice, at the right speed (1978), Claude François and his Clodettes, who, in the provinces, are unable to join "the set" in order to interpret his song, the latter being taken by the crowd of delirious fans (summer 1977) . The group Supertramp performed there with the title "Dreamer" on March 8, 1975.
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Title: Klimbim
Character: Self
Released: July 24, 1973
Type: TV
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Repeated Absences
Title: Repeated Absences
Character: Une femme à la soirée mondaine
Released: November 1, 1972
Type: Movie
François Naulet turns his bedroom into an island of drugs, loneliness and despair.
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J'ai tout donné
Title: J'ai tout donné
Released: June 21, 1972
Type: Movie
An intimate cinéma vérité style documentary following french mega star Johnny Hallyday's summer tour.
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Title: Midi trente
Character: Self
Released: March 6, 1972
Type: TV
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Title: Le Grand Échiquier
Character: Self
Released: January 12, 1972
Type: TV
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Title: Cadet Rousselle
Character: Self
Released: November 4, 1971
Type: TV
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Title: Baden-Badener Roulette
Character: Self
Released: October 30, 1971
Type: TV
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Title: Samedi soir
Character: Self
Released: January 9, 1971
Type: TV
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Malpertuis
Title: Malpertuis
Character: Bets
Released: January 1, 1971
Type: Movie
Malpertuis is the name of an old, rambling mansion which is in reality a labyrinth where characters from Greek mythology are imprisoned by the bedridden Cassavius. He manages to keep them, as well as his nephew and niece, prisoners even after his death, through a binding testament. As Jan, the nephew, unravels the mystery, he discovers that he cannot escape the house because Malpertuis is far more significant than he was led to believe.
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Title: À bout portant
Character: Self
Released: December 16, 1968
Type: TV
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The Ponies
Title: The Ponies
Character: Sylvie Vartan
Released: June 12, 1967
Type: Movie
The rise and fall of a journalist, named Max Torp, who runs a youth magazine, a private club, a tour agency and a pirate radio.
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Title: Europarty
Character: Self
Released: June 4, 1967
Type: TV
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Title: Dim Dam Dom
Character: Self
Released: March 7, 1965
Type: TV
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Friends of the family
Title: Friends of the family
Character: Alexa Rollo
Released: October 20, 1964
Type: Movie
Leon Rollo whose nickname is "Patate" is an inventor adored by his wife and is daughter. He is mostly happy but his best friend Noël seems to succeed in everything he undertakes... Patate become increasingly jealous of this incredible luck.
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Cherchez l'idole
Title: Cherchez l'idole
Character: Sylvie Vartan
Released: February 26, 1964
Type: Movie
After stealing a diamond from Mylène Demongeot, Richard hides it inside a guitar. But on returning to the music shop he discovers that the precious instrument has just been sold! The problem is complicated by the fact that five stars all bought the same model that morning...
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Where Are You From, Johnny?
Title: Where Are You From, Johnny?
Character: Gigi
Released: October 29, 1963
Type: Movie
Without knowing it, Johnny, a young rock musician, finds himself involved with a Parisian drug gang. Realising he is being set up, he throws the drugs into the Seine and takes refuge in the Camargue with his family and his fiancée, Gigi. Meanwhile, the dealers are hot on their heels.
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Just for Fun
Title: Just for Fun
Character: Self
Released: February 1, 1963
Type: Movie
When the government cuts the quota of musical programs permitted on television, teenagers Mark and Cherry lead others youngsters in forming their own political party.
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Un clair de lune à Maubeuge
Title: Un clair de lune à Maubeuge
Character: La chanteuse yéyé
Released: December 19, 1962
Type: Movie
Paul, a friendly Parisian cab driver, has two loves: music and his fiancée Virginie. After graduating from the Conservatoire with a first prize, he lives on hope, offering his classical works to publishers. One day, while driving customers to the races, he plays a "toquard": Maubeuge, who wins. With his friends, he celebrates the event and, for dessert, composes a song for the occasion: "Tout ça ne vaut pas un clair de lune à Maubeuge". Monique, a secretary at the radio station and one of the guests, had a record made of the tape recording. And this record, following a mistake, was broadcast on a religious music program. It's a runaway success: for Paul, it's fame and fortune. which he had obviously coveted, but more with his symphonies, opera and sonatas. No matter, the "Clair de lune à Maubeuge" (Moonlight in Maubeuge) allows two happily engaged couples to become happily married.
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Title: Discorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1959
Type: TV
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Ma mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan
Title: Ma mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan
Character: Self
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie