Claude Moine (; born 3 July 1942), known professionally as Eddy Mitchell, is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group
Les Chaussettes Noires (The Black Socks). He took the name ''Eddy'' from the American expatriate tough-guy actor
Eddie Constantine (later the star of
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
's ''
Alphaville''), and chose ''Mitchell'' as his last name simply because it sounds American. The band performed at the Parisian nightclub
Golf-Drouot before signing to
Barclay Records and finding almost instant success; in 1961 it sold two million records.
Heavily influenced by American
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
, Mitchell (who went solo in 1963) has often recorded outside France, at first in London, but later in
Memphis and
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. Guitarists
Big Jim Sullivan and
Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin.
Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
and drummer
Bobby Graham were among the British session musicians who regularly supported him in London. For his American recordings he employed session men such as
Roger Hawkins,
David Hood,
Jimmy Johnson,
Kenneth Buttrey,
Reggie Young,
David Briggs,
Charlie McCoy,
Leland Sklar,
Booker T. Jones,
Steve Cropper
Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...
and others.
[''Happy Birthday, Eddy Mitchell'', EM Productions, 1980, liner notes]
He received a
César Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1996 for his role in the french comedy ''
Le bonheur est dans le pré'' (1996) directed by
Étienne Chatiliez.
A great lover of American films, he hosted ''La Dernière Séance'', a TV show about American cinema from 1981 to 1998 on FR3 (later France 3). Its format was like an old-fashioned double-feature picture show, with two movies, cartoons, newsreels, and stage attractions. The title was taken from the name of one of Mitchell's albums, which in turn took it from the French title of the movie ''
The Last Picture Show''.
He is also the voice of Dylan (Flappy) in the French version of the 2005 film of ''
The Magic Roundabout'', as well as the voice of Chanticleer in the French version of ''
Rock-a-Doodle''.
Discography
Albums
with Les 5 Rocks
*1960 – ''Les 5 Rocks'' (remained unreleased until 1996)
;with Les Chaussettes noires
*1961 : ''100% rock''
*1961 : ''Rock'n'Twist''
*1962 : ''Le 2 000 000e disque des Chaussettes noires'' (1st official studio album)
*1962 : ''Comment réussir en amour'' (soundtrack of film with same title)
*1963 : ''Chaussettes Noires Party'' (2nd and last studio album)
Solo studio albums
*1963 : ''Voici Eddy... c'était le soldat Mitchell''
*1963 : ''Eddy in London''
*1964 : ''Panorama''
*1964 : ''Toute la ville en parle... Eddy est formidable''
*1965 : ''Du rock 'n' roll au rhythm 'n' blues''
*1966 : ''Perspective 66''
*1966 : ''Seul''
*1967 : ''De Londres à Memphis''
*1968 : ''Sept Colts pour Schmoll''
*1969 : ''Mitchellville''
*1971 : ''Rock n'Roll''
*1972 : ''Zig-zag''
*1972 : ''Dieu bénisse le rock'n'roll''
*1974 : ''Ketchup électrique''
*1974 : ''Rocking in Nashville''
*1975 : ''Made in USA''
*1976 : ''Sur la route de Memphis''
*1977 : ''La Dernière Séance''
*1978 : ''Après minuit''
*1979 : ''C'est bien fait''
*1980 : ''Happy Birthday''
*1982 : ''Le Cimetière des éléphants''
*1984 : ''Fan Album''
*1984 : ''Racines''
*1986 : ''Eddy Paris Mitchell''
*1987 : ''Mitchell''
*1989 : ''Ici Londres''
*1993 : ''Rio Grande''
*1996 : ''Mr. Eddy''
*1999 : ''Les Nouvelles Aventures d'Eddy Mitchell''
*2003 : ''Frenchy''
*2006 : ''Jambalaya''
*2009 : ''Grand écran''
*2010 : ''Come Back''
*2013 : ''Héros''
*2015 : ''Big Band
*2017 : ''La Même Tribu (Volume 1)''
*2018 : ''La Même Tribu (Volume 2)''
Live albums
*1969 : ''Olympia 69''
*1975 : ''Rocking in Olympia 1975''
*1978 : ''Palais des Sports 77''
*1981 : ''20 ans : Eddy Mitchell Olympia''
*1984 : ''Palais des Sports 84''
*1991 : ''Casino de Paris 90''
*1994 : ''Retrouvons notre héros Eddy Mitchell à Bercy''
*1995 : ''Big Band au Casino de Paris''
*1995 : ''Country-Rock à l'Olympia''
*1995 : ''Show 94 au Zénith''
*1997 : ''Mr. Eddy à Bercy 97''
*2001 : ''Live 2000''
*2004 : ''Frenchy Tour''
*2007 : ''Jambalaya Tour''
*2011 : ''Ma Dernière Séance''
Eddy Mitchell (Sessions outside France)
Eddy Mitchell recorded many albums mainly in the UK and in the United States, in the following locations:
* London (England):
**1967 – ''De Londres à Memphis''
**1993 – ''Rio Grande'' (in London and in
Muscle Shoals (
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
))
*
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
(
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
):
**1974 – ''Rocking in Nashville''
**1975 – ''Made in USA''
**1976 – ''Sur la route de Memphis''
**1977 – ''La Dernière Séance''
**1978 – ''Après minuit''
**1979 – ''C'est bien fait'' (also in
Muscle Shoals Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
)
**1980 – ''Happy Birthday'' (also in
Muscle Shoals Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
)
**1981 – ''Le cimetière des éléphants'' (also in Los Angeles and New York City)
**1984 – ''Fan Album'' (également Ã
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
)
**1984 – ''Racines''
**1987 – ''Mitchell''
*
Memphis and
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
(
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
):
**1996 – ''Mr. Eddy''
*
Memphis, Tennessee, Los Angeles, California and
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, Louisiana:
**1999 – ''Les nouvelles aventures d'Eddy Mitchell''
* Los Angeles (California) :
**2003 – ''Frenchy''
*
Burbank (California):
**2007 – ''Jambalaya''
**2009 – ''Grand Écran''
**2010 – ''Comeback'' (also in Paris, France)
Filmography
* ''
Les Parisiennes'', in the segment ''Ella'' (
Jacques Poitrenaud,1962)
* ''
Comment réussir en amour'' (
Michel Boisrond, 1963)
* ''Nanou'', TV series (
Georges Régnier, 1970)
* ''
Ça va plaire'', TV musical (
Jean-Pierre Cassel et
Bernard Lion, 1980)
* ''
Gaston Lapouge'', TV film (
Frank Apprederis, 1981)
* ''
Coup de torchon'' (
Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier (; 25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer.
Life and career
Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, ...
, 1981)
* ''
My Other Husband'' (
Georges Lautner, 1983)
* ' (
Jean-Claude Missiaen, 1984)
* ''
À mort l'arbitre'' (
Jean-Pierre Mocky, 1983)
* ''
Frankenstein 90'' (
Alain Jessua
Alain Jessua (16 January 1932 – 30 November 2017) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed ten films between 1956 and 1997. He worked as assistant director for Jacques Becker on the set of ''Casque d'or'', with Max Ophüls ...
, 1984)
* ''
La Galette du roi'' (
Jean-Michel Ribes, 1986)
* ''
I Love You'' (
Marco Ferreri, 1986)
* ''
Autour de minuit'' (''
Round Midnight'') (cameo) (
Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier (; 25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer.
Life and career
Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, ...
, 1986)
* ''
Un père et passe'' (
Sébastien Grall, 1989)
* ''
Promotion canapé'' (
Didier Kaminka, 1990)
* ''
Until the end of the World'' (''Bis ans Ende der Welt'') (
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...
, 1991)
* ''
La Totale!
''La Totale!'' (, a French expression roughly meaning " the whole nine yards") is a 1991 French spy comedy film directed by Claude Zidi and starring Thierry Lhermitte, Miou-Miou, Eddy Mitchell and Michel Boujenah. It centers on a spy (Lher ...
'' (
Claude Zidi, 1991)
* ''
Ville à vendre'' (
Jean-Pierre Mocky, 1992)
* ''
La Cité de la peur'' (
Alain Berbérian, 1994)
* ''
Le bonheur est dans le pré'' (
Étienne Chatiliez, 1995)
* ''
Cuisine américaine'' (
Jean-Yves Pitoun, 1998)
* ''
Kitchendales'' (
Chantal Lauby, 2000)
* ''
Lovely Rita, sainte patronne des cas désespérés'' (
Stéphane Clavier, 2003)
* ''
Les Clefs de bagnole'' (
Laurent Baffie, 2003)
*
Frank Passingham, (2005)
* ''Un printemps à Paris'' (''
Springtime in Paris'') (
Jacques Bral, 2006)
* ''
Populaire'' (
Régis Roinsard, 2012)
* ''
The Dream Kids'' (Vianney Lebasque, 2013)
* ''
Salaud, on t'aime'' (
Claude Lelouch
Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical ...
, 2014)
Bibliography
by Eddy Mitchell
*''Galas, galères,'' autobiography (Éditions Jacques Grancher, 1979)
*''Cocktail Story,'' recipes and anecdotes (R.M.C. Éditions, 1986)
*''P'tit Claude'', novel (L'Arbre à cames, 1994)
References
External links
A biography (in English) at Radio France Internationale*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Eddy
1942 births
Living people
Male actors from Paris
Singers from Paris
French rock singers
French male singers
French male film actors
French male voice actors
Best Supporting Actor César Award winners
20th-century French male actors
21st-century French male actors
French male television actors
French male singer-songwriters
French singer-songwriters