Serge Gainsbourg
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 2, 1928
- Died
- March 2, 1991 (aged 62)
- Birthplace
- Paris, France
Biography
Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative releases which caused uproar in France, dividing public opinion. His artistic output ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorise, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians. Gainsbourg wrote over 550 songs, which have been covered more than 1,000 times by diverse artists. His lyrical works incorporated wordplay, with humorous, bizarre, provocative, sexual, satirical or subversive overtones. Since his death from a second heart attack in 1991, Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France. While controversial in his lifetime, he has become one of France's best-loved public figures. He has also gained a cult following across the world with chart success in the United Kingdom and Belgium with "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde", respectively. Serge Gainsbourg was born in Paris on 2 April 1928, in the maternity ward of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris on the Île de la Cité. He was the son of Jewish immigrants from modern Ukraine, Joseph and Olga Ginsburg. Born Brucha Goda Besman (nicknamed Olia/Olga) in Feodosiya in 1894, Serge's mother was a mezzo-soprano singer. Serge's father Joseph was born in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire of Ukrainian Jewish heritage in 1896. Originally interested in painting, he entered the Petrograd Conservatory and then the Moscow Conservatory to study music, becoming a classically trained pianist. He came to Crimea, where he met and married Olga in 1918. The couple fled Odesa for Paris via Georgia and then Istanbul in the years following the Russian Revolution. The couple arrived in Marseille in 1921, settling in Paris near Olga's brother, who worked for the Louis Dreyfus Bank. Joseph became a piano performer at bars, casinos, and cabarets, while Olga sang at the Conservatoire Rachmaninoff. Serge and his twin sister Liliane had an elder brother Marcel, born in 1922, who died at sixteen months of pneumonia. They also had an older sister Jacqueline, born in 1926. The family lived in the working-class districts of Paris, first at 35 Rue de la Chine in the 20th arrondissement, and then at 11 Rue Chaptal in the 9th arrondissement. They obtained French nationality in 1932. Joseph taught Serge and Liliane to play the piano. At age 12, Serge enrolled at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Gainsbourg's childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Germany during World War II. The identifying yellow star that Jews were required to wear haunted Gainsbourg; in later years he was able to transmute this memory into creative inspiration. Early in the summer of 1941, the family temporarily sought refuge in the commune of Courgenard in the Sarthe department, at a place called "La Bassetière," with Baptiste and Irma Dumur. ... Source: Article "Serge Gainsbourg" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Bardot
Movie · as archive footage
L'Âge d'or de la pub
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Jane by Charlotte
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Deneuve, la reine Catherine
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Brigitte Bardot confidentiel
Movie
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
TV · as Self (archive footage) · 2 eps
La Story de Serge Gainsbourg : Le Punchliner
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Serge Gainsbourg, les meilleures chansons
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Gainsbourg, toute une vie
Movie
Samedi Sébastien
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Archives secrètes
TV · as Self (archive footage) · 1 ep
L'affaire Matzneff
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Anna Karina, Remember
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
La semaine des 4 Julie
TV · as Self - Guest (archive footage) · 1 ep
Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Jane Birkin: Simply an Icon
Movie · as Self - Singer (archive footage)
Oh Les Filles!
Movie
Les années Bouvard : le rire et l’impertinence
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Serge Gainsbourg, entre les murs
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Gainsbourg, art(s) et essai(s)
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Whitney: Can I Be Me
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jane Birkin - Alcaline le Concert
Movie · as Self
Bardot Amoureuse
Movie
Birkin, Hardy, Sanson, une vie à aimer
Movie · as Self
The Discreet Françoise Hardy
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The truth about Brigitte Bardot
Movie
Bardot, The Misunderstanding
Movie
Les Enfants de la Pop 80's
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Gainsbourg by Gainsbourg: An Intimate Self Portrait
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Public Speaking
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Souvenirs of Serge
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Catherine Deneuve, belle et bien là
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Gainsbourg and His Girls
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The World of Gaston Rébuffat
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
Movie
The Beaches of Agnès
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Serge Gainsbourg – D'autres nouvelles des étoiles
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Brigitte Bardot : Divine B.B.
Movie · as self
Jane Birkin... Mother of All Babes
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
De Serge Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre 1958-1991
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Vivement dimanche
TV · as Self (archive footage) · 1 ep
Stan the Flasher
Movie · as Un ami de David (uncredited)
Le Zenith de Gainsbourg
Movie · as Self
Jane B. by Agnès V.
Movie · as Self
Fréquenstar
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Nulle part ailleurs
TV · as Self · 2 eps
40° à l'ombre
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Sacrée soirée
TV · as Self, Self (archive footage) · 6 eps
Charlotte for Ever
Movie · as Stan
Gainsbourg... Casino de Paris 1986
Movie · as Self
Victoires de la musique
TV · as Self · 2 eps
The Big Pardon
Movie · as Self (uncredited)
Champs-Elysées
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Droit de Réponse
Movie · as Self
Reporters
Movie · as Self
I Love You All
Movie · as Simon
Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment
Movie · as Self
Ciné regards
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Please Turn the Page
TV · as Self · 1 ep
30 millions d'amis
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Serious as Pleasure
Movie · as L'inconnu du lac
Numéro un
TV · as Self · 13 eps
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
TV · as Self · 5 eps
Midi Première
TV · as Self · 8 eps
Apostrophes
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Spécial cinéma
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye
Movie · as Police Inspector
Seduction Squad
Movie · as Albert
Le Grand Échiquier
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Midi trente
TV · as Self · 3 eps
The Rage of War
Movie · as Mornar
Romance of a Horsethief
Movie · as Sigmund
Melody
Movie · as L'homme
Cadet Rousselle
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Samedi soir
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Film '72
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Cannabis
Movie · as Serge Morgan
Mr. Freedom
Movie · as Mr. Drugstore
Paris Does Not Exist
Movie · as Laurent
Katmandu
Movie · as Ted
Slogan
Movie · as Serge Fabergé
Erotissimo
Movie · as l'individu dragueur au cinéma
Anna
Movie · as L'ami de Serge
Pasha
Movie · as Serge Gainsbourg (uncredited)
Love in the Night
Movie · as Mathieu
Spécial Bardot
Movie · as Self
The Marriage Came Tumbling Down
Movie · as Rémy
Les Dossiers de l'Agence O
TV · as Dassonville · 1 ep
À bout portant
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Looters
Movie · as Clyde
The Unknown Man of Shandigor
Movie · as le chef des Chauves
All Mad About Him
Movie · as Self
Vidocq
TV · as Un fou · 1 ep
The Gardener of Argenteuil
Movie · as Patrick Gérard
Four Queens for an Ace
Movie · as Man Asking for a Lighter (uncredited)
Christmas at Vaugirard
Movie · as Joseph
Dim Dam Dom
TV · as Self, Joseph · 4 eps
Die Drehscheibe
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Seize millions de jeunes
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Strip-Tease
Movie · as Le pianiste (uncredited)
L'inconnue de Hong Kong
Movie · as Jean le pianiste
Teuf-teuf
Movie · as Self
The Fury of Hercules
Movie · as Menistus
Samson
Movie · as Warkalla
Le Trésor des treize maisons
TV · as Le chanteur · 13 eps
The Revolt of the Slaves
Movie · as Corvino
Come Dance with Me!
Movie · as Léon
Discorama
TV · as Self · 11 eps