Nancy Holloway

Nancy Holloway

Born: December 11, 1932
Died: August 28, 2019
in Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Nancy Holloway (née Brown, December 11, 1932 – August 28, 2019) was an American jazz, pop and soul singer and actress who was popular during the 1960s in France, where she continued to perform and live.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, one of ten children of African American heritage, Nancy Brown attended East Technical High School and married when in her teens. The marriage was brief, but she retained her husband's surname of Holloway. She moved to New York City and took menial jobs before working as a dancer as part of the Beige Beauties troupe. In 1954, she traveled to Paris, France, and was persuaded to sing on stage at the Mars Club. Her performance was well received, and she became a regular performer, touring around Europe before returning to Paris. She began singing at the Moulin Rouge nightclub in 1959.

Encouraged by actor André Pousse, she made her debut appearance on French television in 1961 and released her first single, "Le Boogie du bébé" (a French cover of Buzz Clifford's "Baby Sittin' Boogie"). That year she opened her own nightclub, Chez Nancy Holloway, and appeared in her first film, Ballade pour un voyou. She became successful as a yé-yé style pop singer, uniquely attractive in France as "an American singer singing American songs specifically for the French market... with a distinctly American accent [that] only added to her charm." Further successful singles followed through the early and mid-1960s, including "Quand un garçon me plaît" (based on "Big Noise from Winnetka"), "Dernier baiser" (a version of "Sealed with a Kiss"), "Dum dum", "T'en vas pas comme ça" (an adaptation of "Don't Make Me Over"), "Fich’ le camp Jack" (a version of "Hit the Road Jack"), "Bye Bye" ("My Guy"), "Elle t’aime" ("She Loves You"), "Est-ce que tu m’aimes" ("Do You Love Me"), and "Dis-lui que je ne suis pas là", a duet with Nino Ferrer.

She appeared in several films in the early 1960s, including Le bluffeur, Cherchez l'idole, and Le gentleman de Cocody, and for a time her acting work overshadowed her singing career though she continued to record. She became a respected nightclub performer and appeared with such stars as Sammy Davis Jr., Quincy Jones, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1969, her album Hello Dolly marked a shift towards show tunes. The death of her daughter led to a period of retirement, but she returned as a concert performer in the 1980s.

In later life she became an active supporter of AIDS charities. She retired from performing in 2008, and died in Paris in 2019, aged 86.

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

Movies for Nancy Holloway...

On dirait Nino Ferrer
Title: On dirait Nino Ferrer
Character: Self
Released: December 1, 2004
Type: Movie
Nino Ferrer has had several lives: hits that made him famous; a dark but artistically fruitful period; a hidden life -of his own making- breaking away from showbiz. All these facets are concentrated in a brilliant, complex, skinned character. "It looks like Nino Ferrer" is a film rich in international archives (TSR, RTSI, Rai...), rare documents (Super 8 films of the Ferrer family) and even unpublished films (Nino Ferrer as an actor in an advertisement for Italian cheese). The film is also punctuated by the memories of famous musicians such as Manu Dibango as well as by the singer's successes and his live performances (L'Olympia, L'Arche de Noé).
bee
The Bitterness of the Singer in Front of the Utility of Barbed Wire
Title: The Bitterness of the Singer in Front of the Utility of Barbed Wire
Released: April 7, 2002
Type: Movie
Chantal is employed one summer to look after Paul, 16. He is suffering from an incurable illness that contributes to his violent, aggressive temperament. With Nelly, the family cook, to help, Chantal tries to befriend the young patient. To escape the oppressive reality of her job, Chantal dreams. She dreams of her favorite singers and other popular idols who reassure her the time it takes to sing a few songs.
bee
Title: Le monde est à vous
Character: Self
Released: February 8, 1987
Type: TV
bee
Title: Télématin
Character: Self
Released: January 10, 1985
Type: TV
Télématin is a French breakfast television news show, broadcast on France 2 since January 7, 1985. It is broadcast in Metropolitan France weekdays from 6:30 to 9:00 am CET. TV5 broadcast the show in Canada in its entirety until September 2011: it now shows a 90 minute version between 6:30 and 8:00 am Eastern Time, when the French original version is now 2h30 long. Télématin is hosted by William Leymergie. The show is daily seen by around 40% of the French morning audience, a very high percentage for French TV. In Metropolitan France, the newscasts are presented at 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00, with newsflashes at 6:30 and 8:50, and two press reviews at 7:20 and 8:30. The 6:30, 7:30 and 8:50 newscasts are usually presented by a female reader and the hourly newscasts by a male. The usual readers are Nathanaël de Rinquesen, Sophie Le Saint, Julien Benedetto, Sophie Gastrain, Patrice Romedenne and Frédéric Vion.
bee
Title: La Chance aux chansons
Character: Self
Released: March 26, 1984
Type: TV
bee
la femme rompue
Title: la femme rompue
Released: January 1, 1978
Type: Movie
bee
Flash Love
Title: Flash Love
Character: Nancy Holloway
Released: October 4, 1972
Type: Movie
Jeanne, a little secretary dreaming of love, meets Alain, a reporter-photographer with a major daily newspaper. He takes her along on his professional nocturnal activities, during which she meets a host of celebrities. One evening, Alain takes photos of the kidnapping of a diplomat, and is followed by a mysterious individual who wants the film back. Alain falls in love with Jeanne. Their embrace is passionate. During the night, he manages to get rid of the follower, then receives a new assignment: to leave for Colombia as soon as possible. He sacrifices his love for Jeanne to his ambition, and she waits in vain for him before returning to her dull life.
bee
Le Cri du cormoran, le soir au-dessus des jonques
Title: Le Cri du cormoran, le soir au-dessus des jonques
Released: February 10, 1971
Type: Movie
Alfred Mullanet, an unlucky player who lives on his wife's income, becomes in a few moments the object of interest of two thugs, Kruger and Mister K.
bee
Title: Samedi soir
Character: Self
Released: January 9, 1971
Type: TV
bee
The Killing Game
Title: The Killing Game
Character: Brigitte
Released: April 29, 1967
Type: Movie
Two cartoonists meet a playboy who lives out the fantasies created in their cartoons. He hires them to create a new comic strip. As they work on the new strip, the playboy begins to live it out. Unfortunately, the new strip deals with murder.
bee
Ivory Coast Adventure
Title: Ivory Coast Adventure
Character: Nancy
Released: April 1, 1965
Type: Movie
An Embassy attache and a butterfly hunter become involved in a treasure hunt between two rival gangs.
bee
For a Yellow Jersey
Title: For a Yellow Jersey
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1965
Type: Movie
Tour de France 1965 in colour
bee
Le bluffeur
Title: Le bluffeur
Released: May 6, 1964
Type: Movie
Fredo, a former gangster nicknamed "The Bluffer", has just been released from prison and is now thinking of going into the legal world with a friend. But his ex-partners are desperate to find him, to punish him for operating without their cooperation. His fortune is stolen and he is accused of a diamond robbery perpetrated by the old gang.
bee
Cherchez l'idole
Title: Cherchez l'idole
Character: Nancy Holloway
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...
bee
Paris Ooh-La-La!
Title: Paris Ooh-La-La!
Released: December 1, 1963
Type: Movie
A "documentary" that purports to show the history of women through the ages, but is mainly an excuse for various female historical figures to take off their clothes. There are stripping cavewomen, stripping vampires, strippers during the French Revolution and strippers in a nightclub act. Several of the scenes from this film found their way into other movies, among them The Wild World of Jayne Mansfield.
bee
Nudi per vivere
Title: Nudi per vivere
Character: Self
Released: December 1, 1963
Type: Movie
A collection of varieties numbers from various night clubs.
bee
Blague dans le coin
Title: Blague dans le coin
Released: November 13, 1963
Type: Movie
A Las Perlass, ville de jeu du Névada, bandes rivales de Lippy et de Steinberg tiennent les plus beaux établissements de l'endroit. Franck Bradford has hired Jeff Burlington as a comedian, who, to cheer up a difficult audience, launches nightly verbal attacks on Lippy's casino where, he says - the games are rigged. Each of the two gangs sends a henchman to either stop the sarcasm or get in trouble if they don't leave their act as it is. Un certain "Main d'or" qui est autre que Bradford fait attaquer casinos. C'est Jeff, après avoir été kidnappé par les deux bandes devenues amies, quiasquera coupable.