Dalida
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Dalida (Born Yolande Christina Gigliotti) (January 17, 1933 – May 3, 1987) was an Egyptian singer of Italian origin, who made her career in France. She received 55 golden records and was the first singer to receive a diamond disc.
Early life
Born of Italian parents in Shoubra, a district of Cairo, Egypt, she was the child of an opera violinist and was given singing lessons at an early age. In 1954 she won the Miss Egypt beauty contest and immediately left for Paris, France, to pursue a career in motion pictures.
Career
Despite her looks, her first films were less than successful, but she began performing in music halls and cabarets, singing in French, Italian, Arabic in which she was fluent, and other languages. She recorded songs under the stage name, "Dalida", and her second single titled "Bambino" brought early fame. In 1957, she appeared at the Paris Olympia as the opening act for Charles Aznavour and later the same year supporting Gilbert Bécaud. She would go on to record in several languages, touring the globe with sold-out performances, including an appearance in late-1978 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
During her career, Dalida recorded 500 French songs, 200 of which were translated into Italian, and 300 into other languages. She sold more than 150 million albums world-wide, winning numerous awards, scoring more than 70 gold records. Yet, despite her fame and fortune, her personal life was difficult and filled with much drama and tragedy. In 1961 she married her mentor Lucien Morisse, but the marriage lasted only a few months before she left him for the painter Jean Sobieski (later the father of American actress Leelee Sobieski). A few years later, her still distraught ex-husband died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In 1967 her new lover, the Italian singer, Luigi Tenco also committed suicide and Dalida attempted it as well. She was living with the flamboyant and less than reputable Richard Chanfray (referred to as the Comte de St Germain) when he committed suicide in July 1983. She recovered from these tragedies and continued to perform but, by her own accounts, life had little meaning and she spent years searching for personal fulfillment, including traveling to Nepal to study the Hindu religion.
Death
On May 3, 1987 Dalida died as a result of an overdose of sleeping pills leaving a suicide note that said: "Life has become unbearable ... forgive me."
Dalida is buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris, and a life-size statue of the singer stands outside her tomb.
In 1997, the corner of the rues Girardon and Abreuvoir in the Butte Montmartre in Paris was inaugurated as "Place Dalida" and a life-size bust to her memory was erected at that location. In 2001, the French government honored her memory with a postage stamp.
Filmography
- Joseph and his brothers - (1954) with Omar Sharif
- The mask of Toutankhamon - (1954)
- A glass and a cigarette - (1954)
- Brigade des moeurs - (1957)
- Rapt au deuxième bureau - (1958)
- Parlez-moi d'amour - (1960)
- L'inconnue de Hong Kong - (1963) with Serge Gainsbourg
- Ménage à l'Italienne - (1965)
- Io to amo - (1968)
- Comme sur des roulettes - (1977)
- Dalida pour toujours - (documentary, 1977)
- The Sixth Day - (1986) - Youssef Chahine
See also
- Dalida Discography Since 1956
- Best selling music artists — World's top-selling music artists chart.