Parolier edith piaf biography

Edith Piaf* (19 December 1915-10 October 1963**), the ‘little sparrow’ with the cavernous throat, sang herself from the streets of Paris to world stardom.

Always waiflike, by the time she died aged just 47, she seemed even smaller than her 4ft 10inch frame.

At the time of her final filmed concert at Nimegue in Holland in December 1962 her famous hands, which had fluttered about on stage like moths, were stiff with arthritis, her liver was destroyed, her hair had thinned to the point that her scalp was visible.

Parolier edith piaf biography

The mask-like face beneath the pencilled eyebrows was swollen, drawn and yellowed with drugs. For 30 years Piaf had represented France to the French. At her funeral, less than one year later, 40,000 mourners joined the funeral procession.

Abandoned by her young mother, Piaf’s childhood was one of destitution and hardship.

Her father encouraged her to belt out ballads on street corners, where she was discovered one day in 1935 by a night club owner, Louis Leplee