They say that a talented person can become outstanding in everything. These words are fully confirmed by the most popular person, Jean-Claude Pascal. Thanks to his work, he was able to become famous far beyond the borders of France. In Russia he is known as an actor in the costume picture “Angelica and the Sultan”, and in Europe he is better known as a singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961.
Unusual talents
Not only the actor and singer is Jean-Claude Pascal - this man surprises with a mass of his talents. At age 17, he went to the front and fought in the second American armored division. Together with this military association, he participated in the liberation of Strasbourg. After the war, the young man thought about getting an education and went to study at the Sorbonne, after which he became a master of economics and law.
However, the diploma was not useful to Jean-Claude. In 1949, he became a model of the Hermes fashion house, where he was lucky to work with Christian Dior. Communication with the eminent designer helped Pascal: he became a costume designer and gained access to the theater stage. He developed costumes for the production of Moliere's play “Don Juan”, and later began to act on stage as an actor. Almost immediately, filmmakers noticed him and began to invite him to shoot.
In addition, Jean-Claude was a famous singer and writer. In the eighties, he published several historical novels, which critics considered worthy of work. In addition, an autobiography was published that talked about who Jean-Claude Pascal actually was. The singer’s personal life, moreover, remained in the shadows.
Singing career
One of the achievements of Jean-Claude is his victory in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. Then this competition was held for the sixth time, so there were not so many participants - 16. We held a competition at the Cannes Palais des Festivals. Despite the fact that the singer was a Frenchman, he performed from Luxembourg. He performed the lullaby Nous les amoureux in French, gaining 31 points. She remained a hit for a long time. Even then, the singers understood that in order to win it was necessary to look for unusual solutions, so the German artist chose the song in two languages - half of it was in his native language, and the second in French. The UK was unable to surprise the public and took third place.
After a triumph at the competition, Jean-Claude Pascal recorded about 50 albums, which included compositions performed not only in French. Many people remember him as a singer, and do not associate this name with movie roles. After 20 years, the chansonnier wanted to repeat his triumph at Eurovision, but this did not work out. At that time, the format of the competition changed a little and the excellent performance of the song C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique did not help Pascal, and he took only 11th place.
"Angelica and the Sultan"
Many remembered Jean-Claude precisely for his role in this film, but during his life he starred in a large number of films and film productions. Partially, the roles were episodic, but in the period from 1950 to 1960, Jean-Claude Pascal also played many key characters. In parallel, he worked in the theater. The artist was remembered by the Soviet audience precisely for the role of Osman Ferraji, who was originally conceived as a negative hero. However, after the tape was released, they began to sympathize with him. Jean-Claude was able to convey the character of the hero so that he did not seem mean or cruel.
Another famous work was the film "The Big Game". In it, the main roles were played by Gene Lollobrigida and Jean-Claude Pascal. The family of a successful lawyer broke up, and the main character went to serve in a foreign legion, where he met a woman who was absolutely similar to his wife, but failed to build happiness. This film is another example of a love story in which Jean-Claude played.