Georges Guétary

Lámbros Vorlóou (Georges Guétary), an Egyptian-born Greek singer who became a naturalized French citizen, made his career in music hall and operetta. Born in Alexandria on February 8, 1915, he learned to play the piano with his uncle, concert pianist Tasso Janopoulo (1897-1970), who introduced him to his partner, violinist Jacques Thibaud. Through Thibaud, he met soprano Ninon Vallin, who seduced him and gave him singing lessons. Arriving in France in 1935 to study law, the young Greek found his calling and made his debut in Jo Bouillon's orchestra when, in 1937, Casino de Paris director Henri Varna hired him for Mistinguett's revue. A refugee in the Basque country during the Second World War, he stayed in Guéthary, which inspired his stage name. After his first success, "La Valse des regrets", operetta composer Francis Lopez offered him a role in Caballero et Robin des Bois (1943), which was a triumph. Alongside other hits such as "Boléro", "À Honolulu" (1945) and "Maître Pierre" (1949), Georges Guétary pursued his pre-war film career, starring in four films by Gilles Grangier, Le Cavalier noir and Trente et quarante (1945), Jo la romance (1948) and Amour et compagnie (1949), while Jean Boyer cast him in Les Aventures de Casanova (1946). Hired in London in 1947 for the musical Bless the Bride, he made his American debut on Broadway in the musical Arms and the Girl (1950) and, back in France, sang in Pour Don Carlos, performed 420 times at the Théâtre du Châtelet and then on tour. In 1952, director Vincente Minnelli cast him in Un Américain à Paris alongside Gene Kelly and Francis Lopez in the operetta La Route fleurie, performed at the A.B.C. with Annie Cordy and Bourvil. He reunited with Bourvil in Pacifico (1958), then played in Gérard Calvi's La Polka des lampions (1962), the musical Monsieur Carnaval (1965), composed by Charles Aznavour, Monsieur Pompadour (1971) and Jacques Debronckart's Les Aventures de Tom Jones (1974). In 1981, he teamed up again with Francis Lopez for the operetta Aventure à Monte-Carlo, followed by three others and Hourra papa by Jo Moutet. In 1995, his autobiography Les Hasards fabuleux was published, before his death from a heart attack in Mougins on September 13, 1997, at the age of 82.

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