Line Renaud

Early life Line Renaud was born in Pont-de-Nieppe on July 2, 1928. Her mother Simone was a shorthand typist and father, a truck driver during the week, who played trumpet on the weekends in a local brass band. She showed the first signs of her talent in the primary school, when at the age of 7 she won an amateur competition. During the Second World War, Jacqueline’s father was mobilised, spending five years away from the family. During this time, Jacqueline was brought up by her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her grandmother had a cafe in Armentières, where she used to sing for the passing soldiers. [edit] Early career and meeting Loulou Gasté She auditioned at Conservatoire de Lille, singing songs written by Loulou Gasté “Sainte-Madeleine” and “Mon âme au diable”. Louis Gasté was at that time a well known French composer. At the end of the audition, she was approached by then director of the Radio Lille who was looking for a singer. She took pseudonym Jacqueline Ray and joined the station singing a repertoire based on the songs by Loulou Gasté. In 1945, she moved to Paris and got her first gig in Folies Belleville, where she was introduced to Gasté. She was 16, Gasté was 37. He become her mentor, changing her image and her name. [edit] Music career Line Renaud made her national debut on Radio Luxembourg, singing on a Sunday morning program. After signing a contract with Pathe Marconi, she recorded “Ma Cabane au Canada”, written by Loulou Gasté, which won le Grand Prix du Disque. She also sang with Yves Montand au Theatre de l’Etoile. She did a big tour of Europe and Africa, came back to Paris to star at the ABC and recorded numerous adaptations of the American songs such as "Ma petite folie", "Etoile des neiges" and "Le chien dans la vitrine". In 1954, whilst performing at Moulin Rouge she met Bob Hope and consequently appeared in 5 episodes of The Bob Hope Show in the US. During this trip, she also sang in Waldorf Astoria (New York) and Cocoanut Grove (Los Angeles), appeared on Johnny Carson, Dinah Shore and Ed Sullivan shows and recorded with Dean Martin the song ‘Relax ay voo’. In 1959, she started a four year run of ‘Plaisir de Paris’ for Henri Varna and then went on to perform in a Las Vegas show at Dunes from 1963 to 1965. In 1968, she returned to Las Vegas for a number of performances. In France, in 1973 she created an American show which she toured for two years around the country. She then helped Casino de Paris, threatened by closing, by putting on a show called ‘Paris – Line’ with Loulou Gasté, which ran for four years. In 1980’s, she starred in a TV show ‘Telle est Line’ for Antenne 2 and recorded songs in English and French. At Casino de Paris, she put on a one off show which retraced her forty year career. In 1989, she toured around Japan as part of a festival which marked the bicentennial of French Revolution.