Léo Marjane, the legendary singer who sang “Bye, my beauty,” in the heart of occupied Paris. The beautiful Marjane, with her warm and mesmerizing voice, 180 songs, and a huge national and international career, passed away at the end of last year at the age of 104. When Marjane sang, the listener felt, especially if they closed their eyes, that the singer was addressing them personally. Marjane preferred the intimacy of the cabaret to the large hall. It was important to her to pronounce the words correctly and emphasize the end of each sentence. Marjane controlled her voice like a virtuoso on his violin.
Retiring from the stage in mid-life to the picturesque paradise of Barbizon
Léo Marjean, who preferred to retire from the glamorous life and take care of animals at her estate in Barbizon, near Fontevrault, died peacefully at home on December 18 of this year. The singer preferred to be called Marjean, short for Marie-Jean, and to drop the name Léo, which in the United States, where she performed frequently, was considered masculine. Marjean loved life and it loved her back. He who does not love life, life leaves him, she said in an interview she gave in 2002, when she was 90, to journalist and author Martin Pena, a historian of the French singer, on Radio France-Music (1).
In 1961, when fashion turned in other directions, to pop music Yéyé, Marjane said goodbye to the stage and never regretted it. A new life awaited her at her estate in Barbizon, in the bosom of her family and in the bosom of nature. Marjane had cultivated a strong love for horses since childhood and never felt an inseparable part of the world of entertainment. Although she appeared on stage, both in France and the United States and around the world, participated in several films and released records, she did so from a certain distance.
She preferred to take care of her horses, dogs, and birds. The suffering of the animals, who could not speak, touched her heart. Marjean did not prefer animals to humans, but she devoted a lot of time and special love to them. Marjean loved life, the sun, the trees, and even the pain that is part of life. She did not like to go back and rummage through the past and concentrated on her life in the present.
Her husband, Baron Charles de Ladoucette, who was her age but died ten years before her, was a colonel and an avid horse rider. Together they shared their love of riding. Marjeanne rode horses from the age of 6 to 97. When she stopped riding, she devoted her time to caring for the horses and other animals on her estate, dogs, chickens and birds, which needed her care. On December 18, her son, Philippe de Ladoucette (born 1948), announced her death from a heart attack at the age of 104, at her home in Barbizon.
Beginning of career as a singer
Marjean, whose real name was Thérèse Gendebien, was born in 1912 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, into a bourgeois family. Her father was a diplomat and the family lived in Germany, Austria and Marseille. Her contralto voice did not allow her many opera roles, so she decided to turn to music hall. She appeared on stage at the age of 15, but her greatest success came ten years later, in 1937, with the song “The Chapel in the Moonlight”, the French version of Billy Hill’s famous song:
Marjean was one of the only French singers of her time who sang American songs in French arrangements. After the great success of “The Chapel in the Moonlight,” Marjean came on a tour of the United States that lasted five years. America awaited her and welcomed her with open arms and loud applause. This is how she was introduced to jazz, which suited her voice, personality, and soul, and she was one of those who brought it to France. When she returned to her homeland, her suitcase was loaded with American influences. Here is her performance of the famous song Over the rainbow, which in French is called “Over the Rainbow”:
And here is her rendition of Cole Porter's famous poem "Begin the Beguine," which in French is called "Divine Biguine":
And it's impossible without "September in the Rain":
In occupied Paris, Marjean becomes a huge star
When she returned to her country, Marjane became one of the biggest and most famous stars in occupied France. Under the sky of Pétain, Marjane's star shone in all its glory, a voice of warmth and light in a dark and frozen period. The most famous song of the time, thanks to which she rose more and more, is "Alone in the Evening." Hundreds of thousands of French women, whose husbands had been taken to war or were already prisoners of war in Germany, identified with the song in which a French woman waits for her husband and dreams of his return. The record, which inspired hope and spread comfort, sold like hot cakes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjnqfBHEVqs
In the heart of occupied Paris, Marjean sang the French version of Shalom Secunda's famous song "By Me Bisto Shine":
The singer undoubtedly showed great sympathy for the Yiddish language and culture. In 1939, she sang “Mazal Tov,” a song of hope and faith in the victory of the Allies (the clip shows French soldiers in the Maginot Line fortifications and on the banks of the Rhine River):
The trial after the release
Elia and a thorn in her side. The great success during the occupation caused the singer's reputation to decline in France and was one of the reasons for the decline of her career later. German officers were also present at her performances, by necessity. Their presence was especially felt in the cabaret she opened herself near the opera. After the liberation, she was arrested by a purge committee that held a trial for her on the pretext that she had appeared before the enemy army. Marjean was accused of collaboration. The singer, offended and hurt by the very suspicions, explained that she could not prevent the German officers from entering her performances. "What artist did not sing then?" she said. "I had to make a living. The French, ashamed of themselves and their behavior, took revenge on those who stood in the forefront."
And more. Marjean's partner, Charles de Ladoust, an officer in the French army, was one of the operators of a resistance network under the command of Colonel Remy. With the money she earned from her performances, the singer helped finance the activities of the Resistance. Marjean won the trial, but she was forbidden to perform in the years after the liberation until the early 1950s and her records were stamped "censored". Marjean was severely affected by the trial, both by the treatment she received and by its concrete results.
Personal fate does not always coincide with public fate. A bright future awaits France but not Marjean. Public sympathy and criticism decrease. The slander of other singers, especially Edith Piaf , increases. Marjean, pushed into a corner, goes abroad to the borders of France in 1945.
Successful tour around the world
The wider world welcomes her again with applause: England, Belgium, Russia, Brazil, the USA, Canada. In Quebec, she even hosted a series of musical television shows in French, dubbed into English, called: Quartiers de Paris/District of Paris.
Returning to France, her beloved homeland, Marjean continues to record songs and perform on various stages, but this is not enough to jump-start her career again. The audience does not come to the concerts. In 1961, she retired to devote herself to horse breeding and riding, to live with her beloved family, in her private paradise in the countryside. Her personal life was no less important to her than her life as a singer, and she did succeed in it, all the way.
When she turned 100, a party was held at her house. When asked which songs from her repertoire she would like to be remembered for, she named “In Shanghai or Elsewhere” and “They Stole All This from Me.” Here are two songs by the great lady of the French singer in which the tones of her voice touch the listener’s soul (and it is advisable to close your eyes):
Marjean also appeared in several films in which she sang several songs. “My Soul to the Devil,” from the film Feu Nicolas, is one of them. The lyrics to this sweeping and wonderful song were written by Lulu Gesta, who would become the husband of Lynne Reno, one of Marjean’s best friends (who also socialized with, among others, Ginger Rogers, Josephine Baker, and Edith Piaf):
Since I discovered Marjane and her jazzy, warm, velvety, and deep voice (I listen to her many songs regularly), I feel like I've received a precious gift in the form of a soulmate. Rest in peace, Marjane, a great woman and singer!
(1) Martin Pena, interview with Marjane, 2002
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