French film actor and singer, born in Reggio Emilia, N Italy. He settled in Paris with his family as a young child, and at age 15 won a place at the Conservatoire des Arts Cinématographiques to study acting. He made his name opposite Simone Signoret in Jacques Becker's Casque d'Or (1952), and later films include Les Portes de la Nuit (1946), Manon (1949), Les Misérables (1958), The Leopard (1963), and L'armée des ombres (1969). During the 1960s he developed a second career as a singer, recording a number of albums and appearing regularly in concerts. He took French citizenship in 1948.
Serge Reggiani (May 2, 1922 - July 23, 2004) was an Italian-born French singer, painter and actor.
After acting school he was discovered by Jean Cocteau and appeared in a wartime production of Les parents terribles ("The Terrible Parents").
In 1965 he began a second career as a singer, with the help of Simone Signoret and her husband Yves Montand. His best known songs include "Les loups sont entres dans Paris" ("The Wolves Have Entered Paris") and "La femme qui est dans mon lit." ("The Woman Who Is In My Bed").
In later life he became a painter and gave a number of exhibitions of his artwork.
Serge Reggiani died of a heart attack at the age of 82, one day after the death of another well known French singer Sacha Distel.
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