Michel Valette (born 14 June 1928 in

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

- 14 March 2016) was a cabaret performer, actor, composer, cartoonist and writer. In 1954, he created the cabaret ''

La Colombe (''The Dove'') is an ''opéra comique'' in two acts by Charles Gounod with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré based on the poem by Jean de La Fontaine, itself after a tale (V,9) in The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. It premiered i ...

'' in

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 ...

in the ''

Île de la Cité The Île de la Cité (; English: City Island, "Island of the City") is one of the two natural islands on the Seine River (alongside, Île Saint-Louis) in central Paris. It spans of land. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of ...

'', and over the next ten years, he was beginning to make more than 200 artists, including

Guy Béart Guy Béhart-Hasson (; 16 July 1930 – 16 September 2015), known as Guy Béart, was a French singer and songwriter. Life and career Béart was born Guy Béhart-Hasson (originally spelled Béhar-Hassan) in Cairo, Egypt, to a Sephardic Jewish fa ...

Anne Sylvestre Anne Sylvestre (, born Anne-Marie Beugras; 20 June 1934 – 30 November 2020) was a French singer-songwriter. Biography Anne Sylvestre was born in Lyon on 20 June 1934. She was the daughter of Albert Beugras and the sister of writer Marie Ch ...

Pierre Perret Pierre Perret (born 9 July 1934 in Castelsarrasin, Tarn-et-Garonne) is a French singer and composer. He lives in Nangis, France. Biography Perret spent much of his childhood in a café which his parents owned, where he learned to use jargon ...

Jean Ferrat Jean Ferrat (born Jean Tenenbaum; 26 December 1930 – 13 March 2010) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. He specialized in singing poetry, particularly that of Louis Aragon. Biography Ferrat was born in Vaucresson, Hauts-de-Seine, the you ...

, Maurice Fanon,

Francesca Solleville Francesca Solleville (born 2 March 1932, Périgueux) is a French singer. She lives in Malakoff (Hauts-de-Seine). She is the granddaughter of the founder of the . She is married to the painter Louis . Biography Francesca Solleville was born in P ...

, Helène Martin,

Jean Vasca Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

, Henri Gougaud,

Georges Moustaki Georges Moustaki (born Giuseppe Mustacchi; 3 May 1934 – 23 May 2013) was an Egyptian- French singer-songwriter of Greek-Jewish origin. He wrote about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in France, including Édith Piaf, Dalida, Fran ...

Marc Ogeret Marc Ogeret (; 25 February 1932 – 4 June 2018) was a French singer. Biography Ogeret was born in Paris in 1932. His mother was a dressmaker and his father worked in the health service of the ministry of war. At 17, he dropped school and work ...

, Avron and

Claude Philippe Evrard Claude may refer to: People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Callegari (1962–2021), English Arsenal supporter * Claude Debussy (1862–1918), F ...

Bernard Haller Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

Henri Guybet Henri Guybet (born 21 December 1936) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1964. Guybet started his career in dinner theater in the Café de la Gare, alongside Coluche and Miou-Miou in late 1960s. Gérard Oury g ...

and

Romain Bouteille Romain Bouteille (24 March 1937 – 31 May 2021) was a French playwright, actor, comedian, and singer. Biography Romain Bouteille is the author of nearly thirty plays of anarchist inspiration. In 1968, he met Coluche. Together, they founded the ...

. In 1964, he was artistic director of the

Cabaret Arsouille Milord Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

. It was reviewed in the program starring

Catherine Sauvage Catherine Sauvage (; 26 May 1929 – 20 March 1998) was a French singer and actress. Early life Born Marcelle Jeanine Saunier in Nancy, France, she moved with her family in 1940 to the Free Zone in Annecy. After high school, she turned to the ...

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

and

Helene Martin Helene or Hélène may refer to: People * Helene (name), and Hélène, a female given name, including a list of people with the name * Hélène (singer) (Hélène Rollès, born 1966), French actress and singer * Helen of Troy, a figure in Greek ...

. In 1969, he founded the SDA Mouffe (''

Service Diffusion Artistique Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

'') of the House and the host for four and a half years at the same time, he was responsible for the administration of the old

Theatre Mouffetard Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. In 1975, he starred in movies like "

Une partie de plasir Une is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located at an altitude of at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Chipaque in the nort ...

" by

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

, as well as in films by

Jean Delannoy Jean Delannoy (; 12 January 1908 – 18 June 2008) was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director. Biography Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family was from Haute-Normandie in the north of France. He was a Pro ...

and

Paul Vecchiali Paul Vecchiali (28 April 1930 – 18 January 2023) was a French filmmaker and author. Biography Vecchiali was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. He spent his childhood in Toulon. His family, suspected of collaboration, preferred to leave this cit ...

and among others as well as on television. Then at

Chaillot theater Chaillot () is a quarter of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is adjacent to Passy to the southwest (administratively part of la Muette) and is bound by Avenue de la Grande-Armée to the north. It is home ...

in 1989 where he played the Duke of Rochefort in ''

D'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the Fr ...

'', directed by

Jérôme Savary Jérôme Savary (27 June 1942 – 4 March 2013) was an Argentine-French theater director and actor. His work has democratized and widened the appeal of musical theater in France, drawing together and blending such genres as opera, operetta, and mus ...

and Christophe Malavoy. He was part of the "'' théâtre des cinquante''" led by

Andreas Voutsinas Andreas Voutsinas (; 22 August 1930 – 8 June 2010) was a Sudanese-Greek actor and theater director. In the English-speaking world, he was best known for his roles in three Mel Brooks films, '' The Producers'' (1967), ''The Twelve Chairs'' (197 ...

. He played at and toured in ''

Le Malade Imaginaire ''The Imaginary Invalid'', ''The Hypochondriac'', or ''The Would-Be Invalid'' ( French title ''Le Malade imaginaire'', ) is a three- act ''comédie-ballet'' by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes ( H.495, H ...

'', directed by

Karim Salah Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim, Kerim or Karem) () is a given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honourable". It is also one of the Names of God. Given name Karim * Karim Abdel Aziz (born 1975), Egyptian acto ...

, he played the role of

Jacques Béralde Fabbri Jacques or Jacq are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related t ...

in the play. He also played in

Karamazov ''The Brothers Karamazov'' ( rus, Братья Карамазовы, Brat'ya Karamazovy, ˈbratʲjə kərɐˈmazəvɨ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly ...

opened in Cartoucherie de Vincennes and

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

, directed by

Anita Picchiarini Anita or ANITA may refer to: Arts * ''Anita'' (1967 film), an Indian film * ''Anita'' (2009 film), an Argentine film * ''Anita'' (2021 film), a Hong Kong film *'' Anita: Swedish Nymphet'', a 1973 erotic film People * Anita (given name), people ...

where he took the role of

Starets A starets ( ; ''fem.'' ) is an elder of an Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic monastery or convent who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. ''Elders'' or ''spiritual fathers'' are charism ...

. In 1988, he performed in ''

Do that love Do, DO or D.O. may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music * ''Do'' (Do album), 2004 * ''Do'' (Psychostick album), 2018 * "Do", a song by the White Stripes from the 1999 album ''The White Stripes'' * C (musical note), or Do ** fixed do and ...

'', directed by Kazem Shahryari at the

Arlequin Arlequin may refer to: * Harlequin, also spelled Arlequin, a comic servant character * Arlequin (band), a Japanese rock band * Arlequin (software), population genetics software * L'Arlequin, a cinema in Paris * Los Arlequíns, Mexican pro-wrestle ...

and recorded his first 45 songs recorded on several CDs: "Michel Valette sings Gilbert Hennevic" (Jacques Canetti's home), "De la Colombe the Colombière", "my heart to sing" and "I met wonderful people." Meanwhile, he wrote, " De Verdun à Cayenne" ()(From Verdun to Cayenne), the true story of

Robert Porchet The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

, peace activist from the beginning the 20th century, after three years of military service, he went to the battlefields of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His desertion after the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

, his capture and his life in the penal colony of Cayenne until the

War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 40 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 un ...

succeeded to shorten his sentence and once obtained he went back to France. From 1993 to 2000 he founded and animated in

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes. As of December 2008 he had recently written a book-document of more than 600 pages: '' L'histoire de la Colombe'' ("The History of la Colombe") in which he wrote many anecdotes from the beginnings of many French singers in the 1960s (i.e. Guy Béart, Anne Sylvestre, Pierre Perret,

). He is currently rewriting a 400-page version '' Le Joli temps de la Colombe'' to make a cheaper edition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valette, Michel 1928 births 2016 deaths People from Colmar Male actors from Grand Est French composers French male composers French male stage actors French male film actors French male television actors French male writers