Dalida

Dalida is a famous French pop singer and actress. She was italian origin. She was born in Cairo, Egypt in the family of italian immigrants on January 17, 1933. Father - Pietro Gigliotti, violinist, was the first violin of the Cairo Opera. Mother - Giuseppina Gigliotti, worked as a seamstress. Her real name is Yolanda Cristina Gigliotti.

Dalida's family had two sons - Orlando and Bruno. Later Buno took the name of his older brother Orlando as a pseudonym and in 1970 became the manager of Dalida, and then other performers such as Helen Segara.

Dalida is a famous French pop singer and actress. She was italian origin. She was born in Cairo, Egypt in the family of italian immigrants on January 17, 1933. Father - Pietro Gigliotti, violinist, was the first violin of the Cairo Opera. Mother - Giuseppina Gigliotti, worked as a seamstress. Her real name is Yolanda Cristina Gigliotti.

She grew up in Egypt.

Dalida's family had two sons - Orlando and Bruno. Later Buno took the name of his older brother Orlando as a pseudonym and in 1970 became the manager of Dalida, and then other performers such as Helen Segara.

Due to a medical mistake, Dalida was receiving inappropriate treatment. As a result, she got a squint.

She had three eye sugeries till 18 yearls old.

After winning the Miss Egypt contest, Dalida a was offered to act in films. For her acting career, she took the pseudonym Dalila - in honor of the heroine of the biblical parable "Samson and Dalila." In 1954, she played episodic roles in the films "Mask of Tutankhamun" and "Glass and Cigarette", for the second she recorded the song "Momentary Desire" (Desiderio di un`ora).

In 1950s she moved to Paris. She had a problem with he job, in addition, she did not speak French well.

A new life for the future star began with an acquaintance with a novice and little-known actor Alain Delon. They lived close to each other on Rue Jean-Mermoz and became great friends. Much later, they would create a duet together for the famous song "Paroles, Paroles".

Soon Dalida to sing so she took vocal lessons. Roland Berger was her first singing teacher. At the Villa d'Este club, Yolanda met the French writer and screenwriter Alfred Machard, who suggested that the future singer change the letter "l" to "d" in the last syllable of her pseudonym, and as a result, Dalilah became known as Dalida.

In 1956, Dalida recorded her first song "Bambino" (Bambino) and signed a contract with Barclay Records. The success was stunning. The song "Bambino" hit the French Top 10, lasting 45 weeks. This song was a success even outside of France itself. By 1957, 300,000 copies of records with the song "Bambino" had been sold, and Dalida received her first Gold disc.

After that was recorded the songs “Gondolier” (Gondolier), which, like “Bambino”, were sold out , “As before” (Come prima) and “Goodbye, goodbye, baby” (Ciao, ciao Bambina). Dalida received numerous music awards, and her name and photo did not leave the covers of magazines. The singer made a tour throughout France, and then Europe. In 1958, Dalida performed for the first time in America, where Ella Fitzgerald's producer invited her to make a brilliant career in the USA, but the singer refused.

In 1959 Dalida returned with triumph to Cairo.

Dalida was acted in films. The most famous were the films with her participation “I love you” (1968, the main role), “Like clockwork” (1977, cameo in the episode), the drama “The Sixth Day” (1986).

In spring 1961, Dalida received French citizenship by marrying Lucien Morisse.

At the same time, she kept her Italian passport. At the end of 1961, Dalida performed for the first time at Olympia as a star, after which she went on tour to Hong Kong and Vietnam. In 1963, France awarded Dalida the honorary title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 1967, Dalida participated in the Sanremo Festival as a singer with Luigi Tenko, where they sang "Farewell, love, farewell" (Ciao amore ciao), but did not make it to the final. Because of this, Tenko committed suicide. Impressed by Tenko's act, Dalida herself tried to commit suicide. She was the first to discover the body of Luigi Tenco and later in the Prince of Wales Hotel in Paris, she took a lethal dose of barbiturates. However, the singer was saved. Dalida spent 90 hours in a coma in the intensive care unit of the Fernand Vidal hospital. For a while Dalida lost her voice. Her concerts and performances were cancelled. In addition, the tissues on the legs, in places where they were crossed, underwent necrosis. She required several skin grafts. As a result, she returned to the stage.

In April 1985, Dalida had two more operations, as the bright light of the spotlights began to cause unbearable pain to her eyes, and the singer could not perform on stage.

In 1986, Dalida released her last album, The Face of Love (Le visage de l'amour), and after returning to Cairo, the singer played a major role in the film The Sixth Day, based on the novel of the same name by Andre Chedid. Dalida was the first singer in France to sing disco songs. During her 30 year singing career, Dalida has performed songs in several languages ​​including French, Italian, Greek, German, English, Japanese, Hebrew, Dutch, Arabic and Spanish.

On the night of May 2-3, 1987, Dalida committed suicide by taking a large dose of sleeping pills and drinking his whiskey. There was a note on the table: “Life has become unbearable for me. Forgive me".