Jo Tchad
(CHEFS D’ORCHESTRES)
28 Rue Ginette Neveu, 75018 Paris, France
Born near Fort-Lamy (N’Djamena) in Chad, Jo Tchad (real name is Joseph Maistre) was a popular artist in the cabarets and Music-halls of Paris in the 50’s and 60’s. At the start of WW2, he worked as a cook, bicycle taxi driver, and agricultural worker. During the occupation he was arrested and deported to Dachau, but narrowly avoided execution by declaring himself to be from German Cameroon. He made his professional debut on the radio in 1947 and would go on to record a number of singles on the Mistral label, with his orchestra or in duet with his daughter Mary-Christine.

Mary Christine / Mary-Christine Tchad
(CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
28 Rue Ginette Neveu, 75018 Paris, France
Daughter of the bandleader Jo Tchad, Mary-Christine Tchad signed to the Barclay label at the age of 16, releasing a handful of EPs under the shortened moniker of Mary Christine. In the 1970s she sang backing vocals for Claude François, and later David Alexandre Winter and Johnny Hallyday. She is married to trumpeter Louis Toesca and is the mother of Alex Toesca (Sally Bat des Ailes).

Audrey Arno / Audrey
(CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
41 Bd Ney, 75018 Paris, France
Actress and singer Audrey Arno was from the famous Medini circus family. She recorded a number of singles in French, German, Italian and English throughout the 1960s. In 1969, she moved to the Restaurant-Spectacles de la Tour Eiffel for a whole year, releasing a series of singles with visiting artists, including Virginia Vee, Michel Delpech, Nicole Croisille and Nancy Holloway. In the early 1970s she travelled to Las Vegas to sing in the Moulin Rouge stage show. She died in the United States at the age of 70.

Alain Barriere
(CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
93 Rue Belliard, 75018 Paris, France
One of France’s biggest singing stars of the 1960s, Alain Barrière, was a finalist in the 1961 Coq d’or de la chanson française competition, with his self-penned song Cathy. In 1963, his song Elle était si jolie was chosen as the French representative in the 8th Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in London. He released his first album, Ma vie, in 1964 and the title-track became his greatest success. In 1965 he played a leading role in the heist thriller, Pas de panique, alongside Pierre Brasseur.

Andrée Gire
(COMÉDIENNES)
12 Rue Gustave Rouanet, 75018 Paris, France
Actress and performer of fables and poems Andrée Gire was active professionally in the first half of the 20th century. As a dramatic artist she graced the stages of Paris at the Théâtre de l’Œuvre, Théâtre de l’Athénée, Théâtre Renée Maubel (from Walk 17), Théâtre Albert 1er, and Théâtre de l’Odéon. Her voice, particularly performing fables, could be heard from the 1920s to the 1940s on the radio.

Jean Freber
(CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
4 Rue Frédéric Schneider, 75018 Paris, France
Popular accordionist and bandleader Jean Freber’s orchestra appeared regularly in dance halls and on the radio. In the 1940s he played in the Spanish jazz orchestra of Bernard Hilda, alongside fellow Montmartre resident Michel (Miguel) Ramos. By the 1960s he was catering to the international market, capturing the quintessential sounds of Paris with his accordion.

Denise Bosc
(COMÉDIENNES)
32 Av. de la Prte de Montmartre, 75018 Paris, France
Actress Denise Bosc was active in the cinema from 1937 to 1986, and even longer in the theatre, from 1936 to 2001. In 1942 she was hired at the Comédie-Française, where she stayed for four years. She was married to the actor and composer Robert Marcy (who we met on Walk 2). Together they founded a theatrical company in 1957, the Groupe Artistique de Paris (GAP) which was active for more than thirty-five years.