Maxime Le Forestier

Maxime Le Forestier

Born: February 10, 1949
in Paris, France
Maxime Le Forestier (born 10 February 1949 as Bruno Le Forestier) is a French singer-songwriter.

Bruno Le Forestier was born on 10 February 1949 in Paris to father Robert Le Forestier and mother Genevieve (née Lili 1917—2010) who had lived in England. He had two older sisters, Annette (born 1943) and Catherine (born 1946).

His musical training started on the violin. He attended the Lycée Condorcet, where he studied literature.

In 1965, he formed a duo (Cat et Maxime) with his sister Catherine. Playing at cabaret venues on Paris' Left Bank, the pair met and formed a friendship with Georges Moustaki. They were amongst the first artists to cover a number of songs by Moustaki – including Ma Liberté and Ma Solitude. In 1968, Catherine joined Moustaki as a backing singer. Le Forestier began to focus on songwriting and composed Ballade pour un traître which was recorded and released by the French/Italian singer and actor, Serge Reggiani.

Le Forestier continued as part-time singer/songwriter during his military service (beginning 1969) with a parachute regiment (the inspiration for the song Parachutiste). He recorded two songs: Cœur de Pierre, Face de Lune, and La Petite Fugue.

His military service ending September 1970, Le Forestier refocused on his musical career. He developed a folksy style which was enormously popular in the 1970s and 1980s. He and his sister spent the summer of 1971 living in the Castro District of San Francisco at the invitation of his friend, Luc Alexandre. The experience, and meeting Allen Ginsberg, was the inspiration of a popular song, San Francisco.

His first album Mon Frère, released in 1973, contains several pieces that have entered French folklore, including the title song Mon frère, San Francisco, Comme un arbre and Education sentimentale. He toured extensively, both in France and abroad. In 1976, he toured in 14 cities in the USSR. Recently he has gained particular acclaim for his reworkings of the songs of Georges Brassens.

"San Francisco", one of his best known songs, begins with the line: "C'est une maison bleue adossée à la colline" (meaning "It's a blue house with its back to the hill"). In 1971, a young Le Forestier was living in a hippie commune, called "Hunga Dunga", in a blue house situated at 3841 18th Street in San Francisco. The anthemic song was written as a fond tribute to Le Forestier’s housemates and hippie friends, and the names mentioned in the song refer to real people. These include Phil Polizatto, who recalls with great affection Le Forestier’s stay in the blue house, in a critically acclaimed book entitled “Hunga Dunga: Confessions of an Unapologetic Hippie”. In the summer of 2011, the house was repainted from light green to its original blue, and a plaque dedicated to Le Forestier was unveiled by the French Consul, pointing to the cultural importance of the song in French popular culture.

Maxime Le Forestier has participated in Les Enfoirés, the annual concert to raise money for the charity Restaurants du Cœur, since 1995.

Source: Article "Maxime Le Forestier" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Maxime Le Forestier...

Title: Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: December 21, 2022
Type: TV
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M. Eddy & sa tribu
Title: M. Eddy & sa tribu
Character: Self
Released: May 30, 2018
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 2017 - Mission Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés 2017 - Mission Enfoirés
Released: March 3, 2017
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 2016 - Au rendez-vous des Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés 2016 - Au rendez-vous des Enfoirés
Released: March 11, 2016
Type: Movie
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Cavanna, jusqu'à l'ultime seconde j'écrirai
Title: Cavanna, jusqu'à l'ultime seconde j'écrirai
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: June 17, 2015
Type: Movie
The life and career of French novelist and journalist François Cavanna, his leading role in the invention of satirical press in France and foundation of 'Hara Kiri' and 'Charlie hedbo' newspapers.
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Les Enfoirés 2015 - Sur la route des Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés 2015 - Sur la route des Enfoirés
Released: March 13, 2015
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
Title: Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
Released: December 13, 2014
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 2014 - Bon anniversaire Les Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés 2014 - Bon anniversaire Les Enfoirés
Released: March 14, 2014
Type: Movie
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Maxime Le Forestier - Olympia 2014
Title: Maxime Le Forestier - Olympia 2014
Released: January 1, 2014
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 2013 - La Boîte à Musique des Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés 2013 - La Boîte à Musique des Enfoirés
Released: March 15, 2013
Type: Movie
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Départ immédiat
Title: Départ immédiat
Character: Self
Released: December 23, 2012
Type: Movie
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Les Enfants de la Pop 80's
Title: Les Enfants de la Pop 80's
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: October 22, 2012
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 2010 - Les Enfoirés... la Crise de Nerfs
Title: Les Enfoirés 2010 - Les Enfoirés... la Crise de Nerfs
Released: March 12, 2010
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 2008 - Les secrets des Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés 2008 - Les secrets des Enfoirés
Released: March 7, 2008
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés, 15 ans d'Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés, 15 ans d'Enfoirés
Released: November 25, 2005
Type: Movie
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Maxime Le Forestier - Master Serie
Title: Maxime Le Forestier - Master Serie
Released: January 1, 2005
Type: Movie
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The Car Keys
Title: The Car Keys
Character: Le chanteur au coin du feu
Released: December 10, 2003
Type: Movie
Who would think losing car keys could lead us that far ? Be careful, adventure is on every street corner...
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Les Enfoirés 2002 - Tous dans le même bateau
Title: Les Enfoirés 2002 - Tous dans le même bateau
Released: February 22, 2002
Type: Movie
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Autour de la guitare, Olympia 2000
Title: Autour de la guitare, Olympia 2000
Character: Self
Released: December 4, 2001
Type: Movie
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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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Les Enfoirés 2001 - L'odyssée des Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés 2001 - L'odyssée des Enfoirés
Released: March 9, 2001
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 2000 - Enfoirés en 2000
Title: Les Enfoirés 2000 - Enfoirés en 2000
Released: February 26, 2000
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 1999 - Dernière édition avant l'an 2000
Title: Les Enfoirés 1999 - Dernière édition avant l'an 2000
Released: February 13, 1999
Type: Movie
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Title: Vivement dimanche
Character: Self
Released: September 20, 1998
Type: TV
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Les Enfoirés 1998 - Enfoirés en cœur
Title: Les Enfoirés 1998 - Enfoirés en cœur
Released: February 7, 1998
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 1997 - Le Zénith des Enfoirés
Title: Les Enfoirés 1997 - Le Zénith des Enfoirés
Released: February 8, 1997
Type: Movie
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Les Enfoirés 1995 - Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra-Comique
Title: Les Enfoirés 1995 - Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra-Comique
Released: March 8, 1995
Type: Movie
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Title: Stars 90
Character: self
Released: September 3, 1990
Type: TV
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Title: Nulle part ailleurs
Character: Self
Released: August 31, 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: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self (Male Artist of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self (Song of the Year)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: (Honorary Award)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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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.
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Title: Champs-Elysées
Character: Self
Released: January 16, 1982
Type: TV
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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
Released: April 5, 1975
Type: TV
A French variety show.
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La chaise vide
Title: La chaise vide
Character: Maxime
Released: January 29, 1975
Type: Movie
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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: Apostrophes
Character: Self
Released: January 10, 1975
Type: TV
Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and hosted by Bernard Pivot. It ran for fifteen years (724 episodes) from January 10, 1975, to June 22, 1990, and was one of the most watched shows on French television (around 6 million regular viewers). It was broadcast on Friday nights on the channel France 2 (which was called "Antenne 2" from 1975 to 1992). The hourlong show was devoted to books, authors and literature. The format varied between one-on-one interviews with a single author and open discussions between four or five authors.
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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: Samedi soir
Character: Self
Released: January 9, 1971
Type: TV
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Title: À bout portant
Character: Self
Released: December 16, 1968
Type: TV
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Title: Discorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1959
Type: TV