Ivo Livi, better known as Yves Montand (October 13, 1921 - November 9, 1991), was an Italian-born French singer and actor.
He was born in Monsummano Terme, Tuscany. His parents fled Fascist Italy and settled in Marseille, where he grew up. He was particularly fond of American musicals of The Golden Age of Hollywood, especially those with Fred Astaire and tap dancing. He made himself a name singing in cabarets in Marseille, and, with the help of Édith Piaf who saw great potential in him, he reached national fame in music halls, with songs like "Les Feuilles mortes", "C'est si bon", "Mais qu'est-ce que j'ai?", "Rien dans les mains, rien dans les poches" and "La Bicyclette".
His musical success opened him the gates of the film industry. He hit it big with his first headlining role in The Wages of Fear in 1953, and on stage as well with Arthur Miller's The Crucible in 1955, which led him to Broadway, and from there to Hollywood, where he played in Let's Make Love with Marilyn Monroe. Three acclaimed films of Costa-Gavras from 1969 to 1972 — Z, The Confession and State of Siege — cemented him as a politically engaged actor (left-leaning).
He married actress Simone Signoret in 1951, and together they became one of French cinema's most famous couples. Both Signoret and Montand are buried in the same grave at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Selected filmography:
- The Wages of Fear (1953) as Mario
- Napoléon (1955) as Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre
- The Crucible (1957) as John Proctor
- The Vikings (1958) - Narrator in the French dub
- Grand Prix (1966) as Jean-Pierre Sarti
- Is Paris Burning? (1966) as Marcel Bizien
- Live for Life (1967) as Robert
- Z (1969) as Deputy Z aka "The Doctor"
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) as Dr. Marc Chabot
- Le Cercle rouge (1970) as Jansen
- Delusions of Grandeur (1971) as Blaze
- State of Siege (1972) as Philip Michael Santore
- Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources (1986) as César Soubeyran aka "Le Papet"
- Three Seats for the 26th (1988) as himself
Tropes & Trivia in his works:
- Romance on the Set: He had an affair with Marilyn Monroe on the set of the aptly named Let's Make Love, while both were married (to Simone Signoret and Arthur Miller respectively). The resulting scandal also partly caused issues with the production of The Misfits (which starred Marilyn) the same year.
- Stage Names: The "Montand" part of his name comes from his childhood, when he played in the streets with his friends and his mother yelled "Ivo, monta!" ("Ivo, get back up here!") from a window to order him to come back to their apartment.
- What Could Have Been: The role he played in Delusions of Grandeur, Blaze, was originally written for Bourvil, who passed away before filming began.
