Régine Zylberberg
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Régine Zylberberg (born Régina Zylberberg; 26 December 1929 – 1 May 2022), often known mononymously as Régine, was a Belgian-born French
singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
and nightclub impresario. She dubbed herself the "Queen of the Night".


Early life

Rachelle Zylberberg was born in
Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...
,''Biography in Context'' (2011) Gale, Detroit Belgium, to
Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...
parents, Joseph Zylberberg and Tauba Rodstein. She spent much of her early life in hiding from the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
in occupied wartime France. Abandoned in infancy by her unwed mother who moved to Argentina, she was 12 when her father was arrested by the Nazis. She hid in a convent, where she was reportedly beaten. After the war, she sold bras in the streets of Paris. Her father, Joseph, managed to survive the war. He opened a cafe in Paris's Belleville neighborhood. Zylberberg had one son, Lionel, from her first husband Leon Rothcage, whom she married when she was 17.


Career

Known as Régine, she became a
torch singer ''Torch Singer'' is a 1933 American pre-Code Paramount Pictures film directed by Alexander Hall and George Somnes and starring Claudette Colbert, Ricardo Cortez, David Manners and Lyda Roberti. The screenplay was written by Lenore J. Coffee ...
; by 1953, she was a nightclub manager in Paris. She is attributed with the invention of the modern-day
discothèque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a ...
, by virtue of creating a new dynamic atmosphere at Paris' Whisky à Gogo, with the ubiquitous
jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a user-selected song from a self-contained media library. Traditional jukeboxes contain records, compact discs, or digital files, and allow user ...
replaced by
disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
s utilizing linked
turntables A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...
. Zylberberg's Paris Whisky à Gogo became the inspiration for the later establishment of the
Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed The Whisky) is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boulev ...
nightclub in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. In 1958, she opened Chez Régine in the
Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...
of Paris, which became the place to be seen for visiting celebrities, socialites and royalty. As Zylberberg's celebrity expanded she established nightclubs under her name in major cities such as New York, London and
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
. These were ultra-selective venues in prime urban locations, all featuring her signature "disco-style" layout. In 1974, she established Jimmy'z, a nightclub in
Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
. In 1975, Zylberberg was accompanied by her husband, Roger Choukroun, to New York. They split their time living between Paris and a penthouse suite at the Delmonico Hotel on Park Avenue and 59th Street in New York. In 1976, she opened
Regine's Regine's was a nightclub at 69 East 59th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was operated by Régine Zylberberg from 1976 to 1991. She also opened a bistro alongside the nightclub called Cafe Reginette. History In 1975, French sin ...
nightclub on the ground floor of the hotel. The nightclub served food under the direction of French chef
Michel Guérard Michel Robert-Guérard (; 27 March 1933 – 19 August 2024), known as Michel Guérard, was a French chef, author, one of the founders of '' nouvelle cuisine'' and the inventor of '' cuisine minceur''. Early life and education Michel Guérard w ...
. The following year, she opened a bistro alongside the nightclub called Cafe Reginette. In the 1970s, Zylberberg also designed a line of "Ready-to-Dance" evening clothes that were proof against wrinkling and so could be packed, which were sold at
Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...
. In 1988, she was in charge of the Ledoyen Restaurant on the
Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...
in Paris. On 22 April 1996, Zylberberg and her son were arrested for refusing to comply with crew requests and smoking on an
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
flight. It was alleged that, though she was traveling economy, Régine had demanded a first-class upgrade, which the airline declined. In June 2011, she appeared as Solange in '' Follies'' at the
Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
She lived with her husband in
Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...
.


Death

Zylberberg died on 1 May 2022, according to her granddaughter.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zylberberg, Regine 1929 births 2022 deaths People from Etterbeek Belgian Holocaust survivors 20th-century Belgian businesspeople 20th-century French singers 20th-century French women singers 21st-century French women singers 20th-century French businesswomen 20th-century French businesspeople Belgian emigrants to France Belgian expatriates in the United States Belgian Jews Belgian people of Polish-Jewish descent French film actresses Nightclub owners Torch singers Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century Belgian businesswomen