Charles Aznavour was a French singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat.
56 Facts About Charles Aznavour
2.
Charles Aznavour is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time and an icon of 20th-century pop culture.
3.
In 1998, Charles Aznavour was named Entertainer of the Century by CNN and users of Time Online from around the globe.
4.
Charles Aznavour sang for presidents, popes and royalty, as well as at humanitarian events.
5.
On 24 August 2017, Charles Aznavour was awarded the 2,618th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
6.
Between 1974 and 2016, Charles Aznavour officially received around sixty gold and platinum records around the world, representing several million cumulative sales.
7.
Charles Aznavour was born at the clinic Tarnier at 89, rue d'Assas in Saint-Germain-des-Pres, 6th arrondissement of Paris, into a family of artists living on rue Monsieur-le-Prince.
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Charles Aznavour had one older sister, Aida, born in January 1923 in Thessaloniki, Greece before their family moved to France.
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Charles Aznavour was already familiar with performing on stage by the time he began his career as a musician.
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Charles Aznavour then turned to professional dancing and performed in several nightclubs.
11.
Piaf helped Charles Aznavour develop a distinctive voice that stimulated the best of his abilities.
12.
Sometimes described as "France's Frank Sinatra", Charles Aznavour sang frequently about love.
13.
Charles Aznavour wrote or co-wrote musicals, more than one thousand songs, and recorded ninety-one studio albums.
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Charles Aznavour's voice was shaded towards the tenor range, but possessed the low range and coloration more typical of a baritone, contributing to his unique sound.
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Charles Aznavour spoke and sang in many languages, which helped him perform at Carnegie Hall, in the US, and other major venues around the world.
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Charles Aznavour recorded at least one song from the 18th-century Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, an Armenian-French song with Bratsch, and a popular song, in Armenian.
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In 1974, Charles Aznavour became a major success in the United Kingdom when his song "She" was number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks during a fourteen-week run.
18.
In 1974, Jack Jones recorded an entire album of Charles Aznavour compositions entitled Write Me A Love Song, Charlie, re-released on CD in 2006.
19.
Charles Aznavour performed with Russian cellist and friend Mstislav Rostropovich to inaugurate the French presidency of the European Union in 1995.
20.
At the start of autumn 2006, Charles Aznavour initiated his farewell tour, performing in the US and Canada, and earning very positive reviews.
21.
Charles Aznavour started 2007 with concerts all over Japan and Asia.
22.
Aznavour had repeatedly stated that this farewell tour, health permitting, would likely last beyond 2010; after that Charles Aznavour continued performing worldwide throughout the year.
23.
On 30 September 2006, Charles Aznavour performed a major concert in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, to start off the cultural season "".
24.
In 2006, Charles Aznavour recorded his album in Cuba, with Chucho Valdes.
25.
Later, in July 2007, Charles Aznavour was invited to perform at the Vieilles Charrues Festival.
26.
Charles Aznavour performed the following day on the Plains of Abraham as a feature of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City.
27.
Charles Aznavour's next album, Charles Aznavour and The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, is a continuation in the same vein as his hit album Jazznavour released in 1998, involving new arrangements on his classic songs with a jazz orchestra and other guest jazz artists.
28.
In 2012, Charles Aznavour embarked on a new North American leg of his tour, visiting Quebec and the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, the third-largest such venue in California, for multiple shows.
29.
On 16 August 2012, Charles Aznavour performed in his father's birthplace, Akhaltsikhe, in Georgia in a special concert as part of the opening ceremony of the recently restored Rabati castle.
30.
On 25 October 2013, Charles Aznavour performed in London for the first time in 25 years at the Royal Albert Hall; demand was so high that a second concert at the Royal Albert Hall was scheduled for June 2014.
31.
In November 2013, Charles Aznavour appeared with Achinoam Nini in a concert, dedicated to peace, at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.
32.
In December 2013, Charles Aznavour gave two concerts in the Netherlands at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, and again in January 2016.
33.
In 2014,2015 and 2016, Charles Aznavour continued his international tour, including concerts in Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Madrid, Warsaw, Prague, Moscow, Bucharest, Antwerp, London, Dubai, Montreal, New York, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Osaka, Tokyo, Lisbon, Marbella, Monaco, Verona, Amsterdam and Paris.
34.
See: Filmography Charles Aznavour had a long and varied parallel career as an actor, appearing in over 80 films and TV movies.
35.
In 1960, Charles Aznavour starred in Francois Truffaut's Tirez sur le pianiste, playing a character called Edouard Saroyan, a cafe pianist.
36.
Charles Aznavour put in a critically acclaimed performance in the 1974 movie And Then There Were None.
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Charles Aznavour had an important supporting role in 1979's The Tin Drum, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980.
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Charles Aznavour co-starred in Claude Chabrol's Les Fantomes du chapelier from 1982.
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Charles Aznavour starred in the 2002 movie Ararat, reprising his role of Edward Saroyan.
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Charles Aznavour was well known for being a lifelong and active supporter of civil rights, fighting for equality among all races, religions and nationalities as he stated in many of his interviews during his lifetime.
41.
In 1995 Charles Aznavour was appointed an Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Armenia to UNESCO.
42.
Charles Aznavour was a member of the Armenia Fund International Board of Trustees.
43.
Charles Aznavour was appointed as "Officier" of the Legion d'honneur in 1997.
44.
In 2002, Charles Aznavour appeared in director Atom Egoyan's acclaimed film Ararat, about the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.
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In 2004, Charles Aznavour received the title of National Hero of Armenia, Armenia's highest award.
46.
Charles Aznavour wrote a song about the Armenian genocide, entitled "Ils sont tombes".
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Charles Aznavour was increasingly involved in French, Armenian and international politics as his career progressed.
48.
Charles Aznavour was a vocal proponent of the measure and considered it a rousing victory:.
49.
Charles Aznavour was highly regarded by Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, Edith Piaf, and Liza Minnelli, with whom he performed and recorded.
50.
Charles Aznavour has been widely regarded as one of the most famous Armenians of his time, and a major pop culture icon of the 20th century.
51.
Charles Aznavour's name inspired the alias of the character Char Aznable by Yoshiyuki Tomino in his 1979 mecha anime series Mobile Suit Gundam.
52.
Charles Aznavour was married three times: to Micheline Rugel, Evelyn Plessis and his widow, Ulla Thorsell.
53.
Charles Aznavour made this a source of self-deprecating humour over the years.
54.
On 1 October 2018, Charles Aznavour was found dead in a bathtub at his home at Mouries at the age of 94.
55.
The autopsy report concluded that Charles Aznavour died of cardiorespiratory arrest complicated by an acute pulmonary edema.
56.
Charles Aznavour is buried in the family crypt at the Montfort-l'Amaury cemetery.