André Dassary

A performer of music-hall and operettas, the "Tenor with the Golden Voice" André Dassary enjoyed many successes from the early 1940s to the early 1960s. Born in Biarritz on September 10, 1912, his real name was André Deyhérassary, he undertook a number of trades before settling on singing. He won first prize in singing, operetta and comic opera at the conservatory in Bordeaux, where he entered in 1932, and married his piano accompanist, Marie-Madeleine Bergès, with whom he had four children, including actress Évelyne Dandry. A keen sportsman, the university track and field champion and rugby player was hired as a masseur for the French team at the 1937 World University Games in Paris, before returning to a musical career. He took part in several radio singing competitions, and made a name for himself with his tenor voice in the Basque song "Ay, Ay, Ay". Noticed by Danielle Darrieux and Pascali, he was introduced to Ray Ventura and joined his orchestra under the name André Dassary. He appeared in two films, Feu de joie (1938) and Tourbillons de Paris (1939), before being drafted and taken prisoner during the war until 1941. Back on stage, he opened for Georgius at L'Européen and became famous for his rendition of the song "Maréchal, nous voilà", in praise of Marshal Pétain, as well as his role in the operetta L'Auberge qui chante. Nicknamed "le Ténor à la voix d'or" (the tenor with the golden voice), André Dassary multiplied his performances in the field, with Valses de France (1943), L'Ingénue de Londres (1946), Guitare gitane (1946), Offenbach's La Grande duchesse de Gérolstein (1950), Francis Lopez and Raymond Vincy's La Toison d'or, a real hit at the Théâtre du Châtelet in 1954, as well as La Route qui chante (1957) and Rose de Noël (1958). He also became a music-hall star with the aria "Ramuntcho" (1944) and others borrowed from the chanson repertoire. In Paris, where he performed from venue to venue, he opened for Yves Montand at the ABC, at the Concert Pacra, at the Alhambra and at Bobino. In 1952, he won a gold disc and sang "Il n'y a qu'un Paris " in the film Paris chante toujours. After a car accident in Belgium the following year, he quickly returned to the stage in Montreal, where he remained for three years with the operetta Symphonie portugaise (created in 1949) and several singing tours. With a repertoire of over 600 songs and operetta arias, André Dassary continued his career until the arrival of the yé-yé wave in the early 1960s. He died on July 7, 1987, aged 74.

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