Claude Richard – COMEDIENS
12 Cité Popincourt, 75011 Paris, France

Actor Claude Richard made his theatrical debut in 1952 at the Studio des Champs-Élysées in Gaston-Marie Martens’ Le Village des miracles. He spent the rest of the decade in the ranks at the Théâtre Montparnasse and the Théâtre de l’Atelier. The 1960s was a fruitful time for Richard, with constant work in the Parisian playhouses, including Lawrence of Arabia at the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre (1961), and Hamlet at the Palais de Chaillot (1965). It was around this time that he moved into TV and cinema, working for another 20 years. One of his biggest roles was playing the father of the lead character in François Gaillard ou la vie des autres, the TV mini-series about a young Parisian lawyer.

Anne-Marie Royer (DANSEUSES)
12 Rue Pasteur, 75011 Paris, France

Dancer Anne-Marie Royer was one of the founding members of the French vocal group Les Parisiennes. Created by Claude Bolling, who co-wrote most of their songs, the all female quartet released nearly 40 singles between 1964 and 1974. After the group split up Anne-Marie Royer resumed her dancing career, notably performing on the shows of Guy Lux and Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier.

Alphonse Cox – Trompette
12 Rue Pasteur, 75011 Paris, France

Born into a family of Liégeois musicians in 1902, Alphonse Cox was a talented trumpeter from an early age, obtaining first prize for trumpet in his first attempt at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Liège. He would go on to be a freelance musician in orchestras, lighting up the dance and music halls across Europe. He toured Italy in the 1920s with Gaby Malaël’s Michigan Jazz Band, and worked in London with the New Stompers and Billy Arnold. Hot jazz was jumping in Paris during the 1930s and the trumpet of Alphonse Cox was much in demand here too. He recorded in Paris with Jazz Patrick alongside Django Reinhardt, and later with the Quintette du Hot Club de France (Stéphane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, Joseph Reinhardt, Louis Vola, Arthur Briggs, Pierre Allier , Eugène d’Hellemmes, and Baro Ferret). He died in Paris in 1976.

Claude Gensac (COMÉDIENNES)
50 Ave Parmentier, 75011 Paris, France

Trained at the Conservatoire de Paris, actress Claude Gensac made her stage debut in 1950 at the Théâtre de la Huchette before gaining screen recognition later in the decade. She cut a popular onscreen figure as Louis de Funès’s wife in several hit comedies, including the Gendarme series and Hibernatus. Often cast as the refined yet exasperated bourgeois wife, Gensac helped define a popular comic archetype of the era. Alongside film, she remained active in theatre and television, establishing herself as a familiar and respected presence in French popular culture. She appeared in her last film in 2016, the year she died.

Christian Conte (CHOREGRAPHES)
1 Rue du Général Blaise, 75011 Paris, France

Born in Tunisia, choreographer, ballet master and teacher Christian Conte studied at the École Supérieure d’Études Chorégraphiques in Paris, where he was awarded the first prize in choreography. The 1960s was a breakout decade for Conte; his choreography was performed by principal dancers of the Paris Opera, Patrice Bart (Les Funérailles, 1961), and Jean-Pierre Bonnefous (Le Gibet du démon), on French television in 1967. In 1973, Conte was invited to the Grand Théâtre de Reims as Ballet Master where he revived Atlantide for Josette Amiel, étoile of the Paris Opera. Since 2000, Conte created (in collaboration with Martine Chaumet) the Association le Grand Chemin, a dance workshop with a preparatory class to the top schools. Conte has choreographed two ballets for the BBC in London: The Dying Swan and Don Quixote.

Louis Rialland (ARTISTES LYRIQUES)
92 Bd Voltaire, 75011 Paris, France

Classical tenor Louis Rialland trained at the Paris Conservatory before cutting his teeth on the music hall stage alongside whimsical humourists and eclectic entertainers. He would graduate to the National Theatre of the Opera Comique in the 1940s where he earned a reputation as an expressive singer and actor. In the 1950s and 60s Louis Rialland reached the pinnacle of his career, thrilling audiences at the Opéra de Paris.

Lucien Meunier (Poete)
120 Bd Voltaire, 75011 Paris, France

Very little work from artist and poet Lucien Meunier still exists, but you can still track down a copy of his sonnets, odes and stanzas in the 1946 publication Poèmes pour Hésione. His son Gérard Meunier was a French composer, pianist, and educator who served as the director of the Aubervilliers-La Courneuve Conservatory near Paris for 30 years.

Adèle (CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
22 Rue Popincourt, 75011 Paris, France

Born into a musical family, yé-yé singer Adèle (real name Christine Allegrini) released just one single, J’ai Peur Parfois, on the Barclay label in 1966. Without commercial success she spent the following years on the café circuit around Paris and performed her folk-blues repertoire across Europe. Although she slipped into obscurity for many years, she has been rediscovered by post Millennium compilations and playlist compilers.