She was and remains even after
her death France's most popular singer. The legends about Edith's life are
fascinating because most of her early life is shrouded in mystery. She
allegedly was born on the pavement of a Paris street. Her mother was a 17-
year- old cafe singer and her father was a street acrobat. Her mother
abandoned Edith shortly after she was born and, after her father
enlisted in the army in World War One, she was given to her paternal
grandmother who operated a whorehouse, and little Edith was raised by
prostitutes, She went blind for a few years when she was very young
but the prayers of the prostitutes allegedly resulted in a miracle and
Edith's vision was restored.
When her father retuned at the end of the
war, Edith joined his street performance act as a singer. She soon left the
act, and went out on her own as a street singer and was soon
"discovered" by the the Paris impresario, Louis Leplee, who offered the
starving street urchin a contract. Louis changed her name from Edith Gassion
to "La Mome Piaf" ( Little Sparrow). and soon Edith was wowing the patrons
on Paris's most elegant cafes and cabarets.
The great love of Edith's life was the former world middleweight boxing
champion Marcel Cerdan who died in a plane crash in October 1949. Marcel was
married at the time and their affair and their relationship often made
international headlines. After his death, Edith married Jacques Pills, a
French singer/actor, which ended in divorce. Then when Edith was 46, she met
and fell in love with Theo Lamboukas a Greek singer/actor 20 years younger
then her, when the scored a hit in 1962 with the song À quoi ça sert
l'amour? (What Good Is Love?). After paying off all of his debts, they
were married and continued performing together. Edith and Theo are
buried with her daughter Marcelle (who died at age two from meningitis) in a
tomb in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris with a motto over the tomb
which translates as "Love Conquers All."
But is was her singing that captured the heart of millions with more than a
hundred recordings, especially La Vie En Rose, Non Je ne
Regrette Rien, Hymne à L’Amour, Milord. Padam, Padam. Mon légionnaire, Les
Trois Cloches, and La Goualante du Pauvre . There was renewed global
interest in and affection for her songs by a new generation after the
release of. La Vie en rose (2007), a film about her life staring
Marion Cotillard who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her
portrayal as Piaf.
So for Edith's birthday celebration, what
could be more appropriate than enjoying a slice or two of Sparrow Pie while
watching a DVD of La Vie en rose?
Sparrows were a popular food in Europe before World War I. They were
especially popular in England where a famous sparrow pie containing 100
sparrows was served on January 16, 1967 at the Rose Inn at Peldon, near
Colchester. Since sparrow hunting can be tiresome, we
cut the recipe down to 24 sparrows. |