Laforet, Marie

Maiten Dumenac was born in the town of Sulac-sur-Mer in the French department of Gironde. The name Maiten is of Basque origin and means “beloved”; it is quite widespread in Aquitaine ^[4] . The second name - Marie - was given in honor of the aunt and mother of Maiten: Marie-Thérèse ( Fr. Marie-Thérèse ) and Marie-Louise Saint-Giley ( Fr. Marie-Louise Saint Guily ). The surname Dumenac is Catalan : the family of Marie Lafore's father lived in the village of in the Eastern Pyrenees .

The career of the future singer began thanks to the occasion. At the age of 19, Maiten, without preparation, took part in the “Star Birth” contest at the radio station, replacing her sick sister. The accident turned into a victory in the competition. Soon, in 1963, Marie Laforet recorded the song that became her first real hit - “Les vendanges de l'amour” (“Vintage time for love”) by . Loud success came to the singer at the age of 23 years. Her sudden popularity was largely due to her special manner and style - completely different from the musical fashion of the 1960s. The songs of Marie Laforet had nothing to do with the cheerful dance style “ ye-ye ” that captured the French stage at that time.

In 1960, Laforet made her film debut. Together with her sister, Marie went to an audition in the theater, where she was noticed by director Rene Clement , who was looking for the heroine for her new detective film “ In the Bright Sun ”. Having played in this picture with Alain Delon , Laforet became a celebrity and received many roles in the 1960s. In 1961, she married Jean-Gabriel Albicocco , who shot her in some of her works, including the painting “The ”, based on the Balzac . After this film, the heroine’s nickname was assigned to Laforet herself.

In 1966, Marie Laforet sang her most popular song for the first time - Manchester et Liverpool (Manchester and Liverpool; music by , lyrics by ). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Laforet recorded “Mon amour, mon ami” (“My love, my friend”; music by Andre Popp, lyrics by Eddie Marne), which later appeared in Francois Ozon ’s film “ 8 Women ”, “ La tendresse ”(“ Tenderness ”; music by Hubert Giraud , words of ),“ Viens, viens ”(“ Come back, come back ”; music and original English text by Sven Linus , French translation by ) and several other famous songs.

In 1978, the singer moved to Geneva , adopting Swiss citizenship.

The last 30 years, Marie Laforet almost did not perform solo song concerts, devoting herself to cinema and theater. In 1999, Laforet triumphantly entered the theatrical stage in the role of Maria Callas . In the early 1990s, she recorded a CD with songs of her own composition, was engaged in journalism. In 2005, after a 30-year break, she returned to song concerts, performing on the stage of the Buff-Parisienne Theater .

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  Marie Laforet at . September 1989

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  Marie Laforet on the beach in Venice during the 51st Venice Film Festival. September 1994

In the Soviet Union, Marie Laforet has gained fame as a singer from the late 1960s - early 1970s thanks to audio publications in the magazine Krugozor ^[5] and music broadcasts by Victor Tatarsky . Popularity in the USSR was gained by "Manchester et Liverpool", "Viens, viens", "Mon amour, mon ami", "Ivan, Boris et moi" (later performed by Edita Piekha and Alla Joshpe ) and other international hits by Lafore. The melody of the song “Manchester et Liverpool” performed by the instrumental orchestra of Frank Pursel daily accompanied the weather forecast in the television program “ Time ” from 1968 to February 1981 and from June 1990 to August 1991. Since 2015, the melody has been heard during the weather forecast on the Russian federal television channel OTR .