homeMarion plays French singer Édith Piaf in the film La Môme or La Vie En Rose. The film recounts Édith Piaf's life story. Marion Cotillard won an Oscar for best actress in 2008 for this film and, boy, did she deserve it. It is uncanny how Marion resembled Édith Piaf, frightening how she took on her persona.
Édith on the left, Marion on the right.
Do you recognize Marion Cotillard anywhere in this person in this picture?
The real life Marion Cotillard
Édith was born in 1915. Her mother was a cafe singer and her father a street acrobat. They abandoned her when she was 3 and she was sent to live with her grandmother who ran a brothel. She went blind between the ages of 3 and 7, and was healed when the prostitutes raised enough money to send her on a pilgrimage to Sainte Thérèse de Lisieux. When she was 14, she joined her father in the street, singing while he performed his acrobatics. She was discovered on the street in 1936 and began her music career. Her professional life was peppered with as much strife and heartache as her childhood had been: she lost a child to meningitis when she was 19, her best friend was murdered, and she had ties with mobsters.
Her new manager cut off all ties with her past and she became an international star. In the 40's and 50's she enjoyed great success: her song "La Vie En Rose" received a grammy hall of fame award and she appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and in Carnegie Hall.
In 1951, she had a horrible car crash and became addicted to morphine as well as alcohol. Two more near fatal crashes worsened her health and exacerbated the addictions. She died of liver cancer at age 47. She is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Here is a trailer for the film. Bien sur, Gerard Depardieu is in it--he is in every French film, nest ce pas?
A beautiful, beautiful film.
Gros bisous de belle musique et a demain!
Love, Charley
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