# Charles Aznavour (1924-2018) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315 "2018-10-02T13:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/1 "2018-10-02T13:27:58Z")
[https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45709214](https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45709214) I thought he’d be remebered here, if only for being a guest star on [The Muppet Show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d605d29_HHo). More seriously, he was probably the last of the great [_chanson_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanson#Nouvelle_chanson) singers that came to the fore in the '50s and '60s and that included **Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Barbara, Léo Ferré, Jean Ferrat, Serge Reggiani** and arguably, **Serge Gainsbourg** , right before rock, and English pop in general, changed the French musical landscape. He wrote dozens of songs that are now part of the standard chanson repertoire, with [La Bohème](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmrUeGogRbI) probably the best-loved one. Coincidentally, I started practicing a piano solo version of it this Summer. Bummer. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/2 "2018-10-02T14:11:05Z")
I had no idea he was still alive. I mean, 94 is nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/3 "2018-10-02T14:15:31Z")
94 is nuts? 😕 It’s not particularly high for dying of “old age”. One thing I’m finding real strange is that I’m getting more Aznavour, Aznavour, Aznavour from my Spanish streams than I’m seeing in French newspapers. Maybe his family simply isn’t as, ahem, pictoresque as that of Johnny Hallyday? He was very popular in Spain (had Spanish versions of many of his songs, including the aforementioned [La Bohemia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyF9W-OovnY)), but still, the differential is surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/4 "2018-10-02T14:29:20Z")
I don’t know, it’s been all over the newspapers here in Belgium since yesterday. Regarding the version you linked to, I don’t really understand Spanish much, but aren’t the lyrics quite different from the original thematically ? And doesn’t he have a hell of a French accent ? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/5 "2018-10-02T15:53:02Z")
Sad to hear. I loved listening to him; emotion in everything he sang. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/6 "2018-10-02T16:43:51Z")
I thought he was an actor in a bunch of stuff I saw, but checking [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002198/) doesn’t show as much. I mean, I saw _Sky Riders_, but it’s not worth remembering. The 1974 _Ten Little Indians_ might be one of his better non-singing roles in an English language film. The Truffaut film _Shoot the Piano Player_ is a good thing to have in your bio. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/7 "2018-10-02T17:57:16Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I thought he was an actor in a bunch of stuff I saw, but checking [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002198/) doesn’t show as much. I mean, I saw _Sky Riders_, but it’s not worth remembering. > > The 1974 _Ten Little Indians_ might be one of his better non-singing roles in an English language film. > > The Truffaut film _Shoot the Piano Player_ is a good thing to have in your bio. Huh? He has 79 acting credits on IMDB, and that’s an impressive score for someone who was mainly known as a singer. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/8 "2018-10-02T18:22:17Z")
I discovered his music ten or so years ago. Love his voice, love his style. Since I heard the news of his death, I’ve been listening to my favorite songs again. What a fortunate individual, to live to 94 and still be able to engage in meaningful work, to perform even with failing hearing, even relying on a teleprompter to remind him of the words to his songs. Someone sent me a video of one of his last performances. He still had that compelling stage presence, his voice was still as expressive as ever, with a tremor here and there but still beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/9 "2018-10-02T21:56:04Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Huh? He has 79 acting credits on IMDB, and that’s an impressive score for someone who was mainly known as a singer. Note the complete phrase: “I thought he was an actor in a bunch of stuff I saw…” All further comments in my post are about films he was in that I saw. To say the least, I have not seen all 79 things he was in. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/10 "2018-10-02T22:04:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Note the complete phrase: “I thought he was an actor in a bunch of stuff I saw…” > > All further comments in my post are about films he was in that I saw. > > To say the least, I have not seen all 79 things he was in. Oh, I’m sorry, the “I saw” was exactly what I overread. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-aznavour-1924-2018/822315/11 "2018-10-02T22:05:52Z")
I know who he is because my mother was a huge fan. He had a beautiful voice.