Boby Lapointe

Born: 1922-04-16

Robert Jean-François Joseph Pascal Lapointe (16 April 1922 – 29 June 1972), better known by his stage name Boby Lapointe, was a French actor and singer, noted for his humorous texts, alliterations and plays on words. Lapointe was born in Pézenas, in the Hérault département of southern France. A brilliant pupil, he prepared for the entrance exam to the Centrale (engineering school) and Sup-Aero at Montpellier, but was conscripted into the Youth Building Projects in 1942 and sent to Linz, Austria, in 1943 for compulsory work service. He escaped the same year, and found work as a diver in La Ciotat, a suburb of Marseille, in 1944. In 1946, he married Colette Maclaud. They had two children, Ticha (born 1948) and Jacky (1950). His first published work, Les douze chants d'un imbecile, appeared in 1951. He moved to Paris and opened a fashion and baby clothes shop, still writing and producing plays. Later, he switched to being a fitter of TV aerials and began singing. His fame grew when the actor Bourvil sang Lapointe's song Aragon et Castille in the 1954 film Poisson d'avril. In 1960, film director François Truffaut offered him a part in Tirez sur le Pianiste in which he sang Framboise, accompanied by Charles Aznavour on piano. This marked the start of a career that saw Lapointe perform at major venues throughout France. His joyful character led him to build friendships with the likes of Anne Sylvestre, Raymond Devos, Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens. Lapointe was also a mathematician, and developed the bibi-binary system (also known in French as the système Bibi) in 1971. Source: Article "Boby Lapointe" from Wikipedia in english, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.


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Shoot the Piano Player

as Le chanteur
Released: 1960-11-25

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy...

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Max and the Junkmen

as Lui Serafino
Released: 1971-02-17

A detective decides to go undercover and set up a group of robbers, but he may be getting too...

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The Things of Life

as The Livestock Truck Driver
Released: 1970-03-13

The mind of Pierre Bérard, a successful middle-aged architect, is torn between his unstable...

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The Widow Couderc

as Désiré
Released: 1971-09-15

The relationship between a middle-aged French widow and a young drifter takes a turn when her...

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Law Breakers

as Louis Casso
Released: 1971-05-07

A judge investigating police corruption finds that the deeper he digs, the more roadblocks he finds.

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Appointment in Bray

as l'aubergiste
Released: 1971-12-22

In 1917, the First World War is raging. Julien is from Luxemburg, so instead of having to go to...

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À la recherche de... Pierre Richard

as Self - Comédien (archive footage)
Released: 2017-09-01

Follow in the footsteps of burlesque actor Pierre Richard, a key figure in French cinema in the...

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Chapaqua's Gold

as Chapaqua
Released: 1970-10-08

Doc and Chapagua are two rogues who acquire a large stash of gold before the Civil War. They...

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Qu'est-ce qui fait courir les crocodiles ?

as Honoré
Released: 1971-05-21

To replace Hector Grofenol, the tyrannical boss of the "Tout pour le camping" factory, who has...

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La Chance aux chansons

as Self (archive footage)
First aired: 1984-03-26

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