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PEOPLE & ARTS Tuesday 2 OcTOber 2018
French singer and actor Charles Aznavour dies at age 94

By LORI HINNANT ing earthquake that hit So-
PARIS (AP) — Charles Azna- viet Armenia in 1988.
vour, the French crooner After it earned indepen-
and actor whose per- dence from the Soviet
forming career spanned Union, Aznavour traveled
eight decades and who regularly to Armenia. He
endeared himself to fans was named itinerant am-
around the world with his bassador for humanitar-
versatile tenor, lush lyrics ian action in 1993 by Presi-
and kinetic stage pres- dent Levon Ter-Petrossian,
ence, has died. He was 94. served as Armenia's am-
One of France's most rec- bassador to U.N. cultural
ognized faces, Aznavour agency UNESCO and was
sang to sold-out concert named Armenia's ambas-
halls until the end, resort- sador to Switzerland in 2009.
ing to a prompter only after "I am not trying to boast,
having written upwards of but I have to admit that
1,000 songs by his own esti- for an uneducated son of
mate, including the classic an immigrant I could have
"La Boheme." done far worse," Aznavour
French President Emman- said.
uel Macron paid tribute to In 2001, the singer was
Aznavour's "masterpieces, awarded France's pres-
voice tone" and "unique ra- tigious National Order of
diance." In this Aug.24, 2017 file photo, singer and songwriter Charles Aznavour appears at a ceremony Merit. In April 2002, along
"Deeply French, viscerally honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. with other French celebri-
attached to his Armenian Associated Press ties, he urged people to
roots, recognized through- sing France's national an-
out the world, Charles live beyond 100 years old. Shanoun Varenagh Azna- Piaf, who encouraged him them in a campaign to
Aznavour will have accom- Throughout his career, vourian was born in Paris on to perform his own songs. defeat far-right politician
panied the joys and sor- Aznavour wrote for Piaf and May 22, 1924, to Armenian There, he performed on Jean-Marie Le Pen, known
rows of three generations," other popular French sing- parents who fled to Paris in stage with Minnelli. In 1963, for his anti-immigrant
Macron said in a message ers. The love ballad "She" the 1920s and opened a he performed in a sold-out stance.
posted on Twitter. topped British charts for restaurant. His singer father Carnegie Hall. "If Le Pen had existed (in my
Often compared to Frank four weeks in 1974 and was — whose own father was a In addition to the English- parents' time), I wouldn't
Sinatra, Aznavour started covered by Elvis Costello chef to Russian Czar Nicho- language "She," other best- have been born in France,"
his career as a songwriter for the film "Notting Hill." las II — and actress mother selling songs included "La Aznavour said at the time.
for Edith Piaf. The French Liza Minnelli, who met exposed him to the per- Boheme," ''For me, Formi- In 2002, he opened La Bo-
chanteuse took him under Aznavour when she was forming arts early on, and dable" and "La Mamma." heme restaurant in Aix-en-
her wing. Like her, his fame a teenager and he was in he acted in his first play Other songs gained fame Provence, southeastern
ultimately reached well his 40s, described following when he was 9. by their notoriety, includ- France. The following year,
outside France. him to Paris. Aznavour, who cut the Ar- ing the seductive "Apres he published a second
In a career that spanned 80 "He really taught me every- menian suffix from his stage l'Amour,"(After Love) which memoir titled "Le Temps des
years, Aznavour sold more thing I know about singing name, decided to switch to was banned by French ra- Avants" (The Times Before);
than 180 million records, — how each song is a dif- music but still acted in films dio in 1965 as an affront to his first memoir, in 1973, had
according to his official bi- ferent movie," she said in a throughout his career. His public morals, and the 1972 been called "Aznavour by
ography. He broke an arm 2013 interview. The two re- movie credits include Fran- "Comme Ils Disent" (As They Aznavour." In 2009, he re-
last May but was set to start mained close through the cois Truffaut's 1960 "Tirez sur Say) — a first-person narra- ceived the National Order
a new tour in November in decades, often performing le Pianiste" (Shoot the Pia- tive of a gay man's heart- of Quebec, a first for a sing-
France, starting in Paris. together. nist), Volker Schloendorff's ache. er.
BFMTV, the French news He resisted description as a 1979 "Die Blechtrommel" His style varied little over For his 80th birthday, Azna-
station, said he had just crooner, despite decades (The Tin Drum), and Atom the decades, his lyrics stick- vour sang at the renowned
returned from a tour of Ja- of torch songs that are now Egoyan's 2002 "Ararat." ing to traditional structures, Palais des Congres in Paris
pan. firmly fixed in the French That last film dealt with the his melodies catchy and and then went on a tour
Aznavour was one of the lexicon. 1915 massacres of up to smooth with a swelling or- of France and Belgium. He
Armenian diaspora's most "I'm a songwriter who some- 1.5 million Armenians under chestra in the background celebrated his 90th birth-
recognized voices and vo- times performs his own the Ottoman Empire, an — and lacking in imagina- day with a concert in Berlin.
cal defenders, but he sang songs," was his preferred event that has strained re- tion, some critics said. But Married three times, Azna-
in numerous languages, self-description. lations between Turkey and in live performances, his vour had six children and is
particularly English. His rep- "What were my faults? My Armenia for a century. small, lithe frame exuded survived by his third wife.q
utation in the U.S. spanned voice, my size, my gestures, Aznavour campaigned an energy and emotion
generations. my lack of culture and ed- internationally to get the that made his songs some-
Macron said he had invit- ucation, my honesty, or my killings formally deemed thing more. He had a ready
ed Aznavour to attend the lack of personality," the 5 a genocide. Turkey ve- grin, but his expressive
upcoming Francophonie foot 3 inch (1.6-meter) per- hemently denies that the brows overhung eyes that
summit from Oct. 10-12 in former wrote in his autobi- massacre was genocide often seemed tinged with
Yerevan, Armenia, where ography. "My voice? I can- and insists it was part of the sadness.
he was expected to sing. not change it. The teach- violence during World War The singer never forgot his
In a recent TV interview ers I consulted all agreed I. Armenian roots. He found-
Aznavour said he felt "alive," I shouldn't sing, but never- Aznavour became a piano ed Aznavour and Armenia,
joking that he and his sister theless I continued to sing player, and toured in New a nonprofit organization
had made the decision to until my throat was sore." York after World War II with created after the devastat-