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Michèle Arnaud was born Micheline Caré in Toulon on March 18, 1919, and has performed with Léo Ferré, Georges Brassens and Serge Gainsbourg, among others. She studied literature, then law at the École libre des Sciences-Politiques and philosophy, before deciding to become a singer. In 1952, she made her debut at the Milord l'Arsouille cabaret, owned by none other than her husband Francis Claude. He gave Michèle Arnaud her first hit with "L'île Saint-Louis" (1952), written by Léo Ferré, followed by "Tu voulais", which won the Grand Prix de la chanson française in Deauville, before a first album orchestrated by Franck Pourcel, published by Ducretet-Thomson in 1953. In 1956, the singer of realistic or poetic lyrics represented Luxembourg at the first Eurovision Song Contest with the titles "Ne crois pas" and "Les Amants de minuit", featured on her third album, arranged like the previous one by Jacques Lasry. An interpreter of Georges Brassens, Charles Trenet, Félix Leclerc, Mouloudji and André Popp, Michèle Arnaud discovered Serge Gainsbourg at the Milord l'Arsouille in 1957, a young songwriter making his debut as opening act. Gainsbourg wrote "La Recette de l'amour fou" and "Douze belles dans la peau", included on her fourth album, alongside songs by Jacques Datin and Maurice Vidalin, such as "Julie " and "Zon zon zon". She encouraged the young Gainsbourg, for whom she was the first female singer, to write other songs for her, including "Jeunes femmes et vieux messieurs " (1958) and, in 1966, "Les Papillons noirs". Headlining at the Olympia in 1959 and Bobino in 1961, Michèle Arnaud signed with the Pathé label, adapting the Alamo' s hit "The Green Leaves of Summer " with "Le Bleu de l'été " (1961), followed by the Beatles' "Yesterday " in "Je croyais (Yesterday)". She added new performers to her repertoire, including Jacques Brel, Boris Vian, Jean Ferrat, Georges Moustaki, Henri Salvador and Barbara. After a final album in 1967, the singer retired from the stage to devote herself to production, while her son Dominique Walter made a name for himself as an interpreter of Serge Gainsbourg, among others. She produced the TV programs Les raisins verts by Jean-Christophe Averty and Tilt Magazine, which saw the debut of Michel Drucker, as well as the TV film Anna (1967). After specializing in the production of art and literature documentaries, Michèle Arnaud died on March 30, 1998 at the age of 79.
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