Credit: Discogs

Jean-Paul Vignon, singer and ‘Shrek’ actor, dead at 89

Thu 4 April 2024 10:52, UK

Jean-Paul Vignon, the French actor and singer who enjoyed over six decades of success, has died aged 89.

Born on January 30th, 1935, in the port city of Dire-Daou in French Somaliland, later Djibouti, Vignon was schooled in Avignon, France. For a time, he studied medicine in Marseille, and law at Paris’ Sorbonne before he pursued music as a career. In his early 20s, the celebrated Belgian singer Jacques Brel, an influence on David Bowie and Scott Walker, helped him secure a cabaret job in Paris, which effectively launched his career.

This journey would see him work with many famous faces and would eventually take him to America, where he found much success as an actor and singer. Much later, this would culminate in minor roles in titles such as Shrek and 500 Days of Summer. The star’s family revealed that he passed away following a battle with liver cancer in Beverly Hills on March 22nd.

Vignon debuted as the star of the 1956 movie Les Promesses Dangereuses, which was followed by Asphalte in 1959, which also featured Francoise Arnoul. He was already making waves as a musician during this time, with his debut album Djibouti arriving in 1957. Working on the label Disques Vogue in this era helped him develop as the balladeer he became famous as.

After serving 17 months of conscription, Vignon’s career began to dwindle but was then galvanised after opening for Édith Piaf and performing on the all-star French liner Liberté in front of stars such as Ernie Kovacs, Edie Adams and Carol Burnett. Given a boost from these experiences, he finally decided to make the jump and give the glitz and the glamour of the United States a shot.

Working with Piaf would prove to be fortuitous for Vignon. After he moved to the US, his performance with the ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’ singer helped secure him a spot opening for the comedian Woody Allen at the Blue Angel in New York. Vignon would also appear on the iconic variety show The Ed Sullivan Show in a duet with Liza Minnelli just as she was about to find global fame in 1969’s The Sterile Cuckoo.

The 1960s was a fruitful time for Vignon. He released his album Because I Love You in 1964 and debuted in Hollywood in the celebrated World War Two drama The Devil’s Brigade in 1968. Starring William Holden and Cliff Robertson, it was a major success and was the fourth most popular film of the year in the United Kingdom. Vignon played Pvt. Henri Laurent.

In 1977, Vignon recorded the duet ‘You’ with Charlie’s Angels star Farrah Fawcett and later founded the lip-sync dubbing company, Cote d’Azur Productions. In 2001, he lent his voice as one of Robin Hood’s merry men in Shrek, led by fellow Frenchman Vincent Cassel, and in 2009’s romantic comedy, 500 Days of Summer, he narrated the famous scene where Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s protagonist Tom, imagines himself in a French film.

Vignon is survived by partner Suzie Summers, and his daughters Marguerite Vignon Gaul and Lucy Brank, whom he had with Brigid Blazen.