Biography
Chansonnier Philippe Clay rose to prominence as a leading figure among French pop performers in the years after World War II, bringing widespread attention to material written by composers such as Charles Aznavour, Boris Vian, and Serge Gainsbourg. International listeners continue to recognize him chiefly through his screen roles, above all in Jean Renoir’s 1954 production French Cancan and the 1958 Hollywood success Bell, Book and Candle. Born Philippe Mathevet in Paris on March 7, 1927, he left school at 16 to join the resistance for the final phase of the conflict; once civilian life resumed he entered the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art. Although he concentrated on the institution’s mime curriculum, his fellow students were struck by the romantic baritone and placed him in a neighborhood singing competition, which he won; soon afterward he began performing at Montmartre’s Théâtre des Trois Baudets, mixing time-honored standards with current successes. Within months a loyal audience had formed, allowing him to headline as many as six twenty-minute club sets nightly, frequently sharing bills with Aznavour, and in 1951 he made his first screen appearance in a small part in the film Le Crime du Bouif.
Midway through 1953 he launched a nationwide tour that featured an unknown Jacques Brel as opener. The Aznavour-written single “Le Noye Assassine” preceded his debut self-titled LP, and subsequent years brought further successes such as “Si Vous M’Aviez Connu,” “Nous Avons Toujours Habite Cette Maison,” and “Au Volant de Ma Valse.” Following his portrayal of the acrobat Valentin in French Cancan, he shared the screen in the 1956 adaptation Notre Dame de Paris. Growing fame led to a headline engagement at Paris’s Olympia Theater in 1957, after which he made his American film bow as a Parisian nightclub performer in the cinematic version of Bell, Book and Candle. With “Les Poinçonneur des Lilas” he became one of the earliest interpreters of Gainsbourg’s catalog, initiating an intermittent partnership that extended across subsequent years. His repertoire also encompassed everything from “Hello, Dolly!” to the self-written “Mes Universités,” a commentary on the French student uprising of 1968. Although recording and touring persisted, Clay devoted the greater part of later decades to film and television, ultimately appearing in more than eighty features. He succumbed to heart failure on December 13, 2007.
Midway through 1953 he launched a nationwide tour that featured an unknown Jacques Brel as opener. The Aznavour-written single “Le Noye Assassine” preceded his debut self-titled LP, and subsequent years brought further successes such as “Si Vous M’Aviez Connu,” “Nous Avons Toujours Habite Cette Maison,” and “Au Volant de Ma Valse.” Following his portrayal of the acrobat Valentin in French Cancan, he shared the screen in the 1956 adaptation Notre Dame de Paris. Growing fame led to a headline engagement at Paris’s Olympia Theater in 1957, after which he made his American film bow as a Parisian nightclub performer in the cinematic version of Bell, Book and Candle. With “Les Poinçonneur des Lilas” he became one of the earliest interpreters of Gainsbourg’s catalog, initiating an intermittent partnership that extended across subsequent years. His repertoire also encompassed everything from “Hello, Dolly!” to the self-written “Mes Universités,” a commentary on the French student uprising of 1968. Although recording and touring persisted, Clay devoted the greater part of later decades to film and television, ultimately appearing in more than eighty features. He succumbed to heart failure on December 13, 2007.
Albums
Cigarettes whisky et grands succès
2019
On n'est pas là pour se faire engueuler
2011
Le Danseur De Charleston
1998
Je suis sous / Hello Dolly / Les fesses d'Irma / Abécédaire
1965
Singles
Live
