16 Facts About Yvette Guilbert

Emma Laure Esther Yvette Guilbert was born in Paris on 20 January 1865 to a modestly wealthy family.

Yvette Guilbert's mother, Adeline, had a millinery business and her father was a shopkeeper.

Yvette Guilbert began singing as a child, but at age 16 worked as a model at the Printemps department store in Paris.

Yvette Guilbert took acting and diction lessons, which enabled her in 1886 to appear on stage at several smaller venues.

Yvette Guilbert eventually sang at the popular Eldorado club, then at the Jardin de Paris before headlining in Montmartre at the Moulin Rouge in 1890.

Yvette Guilbert was noted in France, England, and the United States at the beginning of the 20th century for her songs and imitations of the common people of France.

Author Patrick Bade believed that Yvette Guilbert "derived her trademark black gloves from Pornocrates" a famous painting by symbolist artist Felicien Rops.

Yvette Guilbert was a favorite subject of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who made many portraits and caricatures of Guilbert and dedicated his second album of sketches to her.

Yvette Guilbert performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Yvette Guilbert appeared in sound fims, including a role with friend Sacha Guitry.

Yvette Guilbert once gave a performance for the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, at a private party on the French Riviera.

In later years, Yvette Guilbert turned to writing about the Belle Epoque, and in 1902, two of her novels were published.

Yvette Guilbert conducted schools for young girls in New York and Paris.

Yvette Guilbert became a respected authority on her country's medieval folklore and on 9 July 1932 was awarded the Legion of Honor as the Ambassadress of French Song.

Yvette Guilbert died in on 4 February 1944, aged 79, in Aix-en-Provence.

Yvette Guilbert was interred in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.