Marie Dubas

Grave of Marie Dubas and Sylvie Galtier inPère Lachaise Cemetery

Marie Dubas(3 September 1894 – 21 February 1972) was a French music-hall singer,diseuseand comedian.

Biography

Born inParis, France,Marie Dubas began her career as a stage actress but became famous as a singer. Using the greatYvette Guilbertas her model, Dubas started singing in the small cabarets ofMontmartremixing comedy into her routine. She earned a following that led to offers to perform in Parisian operettas and musicals and during the 1920s and 1930s, starred at such places as theCasino de ParisandBobino,the greatmusic hallinMontparnasse.Her most famous song,Mon légionnaire,was written byRaymond Assoand recorded in 1936. Her popularity became such that in 1939 she toured the United States.

The occupation of France by the Germans during World War II proved a difficult time for the Jewish Marie Dubas. Although married to a Frenchgentilewho served in the Air Force, she was nevertheless banned by theVichygovernment and placed under house arrest by theGestapowho raided her Paris apartment. Forced to flee the country, Dubas took refuge inLausanne, Switzerlandwhere she remained until the end of the war. On her return to France, she learned her sister had been executed and her nephew had been shipped to aconcentration camp,never to be heard from again.

The inspiration forÉdith Piaf,Marie Dubas returned to performing and in 1954 was chosen as a headliner for the reopening of theParis Olympia.A stage production about her life,Dubas de haut, en bas,was created byOpéra Éclaté.

Death

Marie Dubas retired in 1958. She died in Paris in 1972 and is interred there in thePère Lachaise Cemetery.She is largely forgotten today.

External links

• Marie DubasatIMDb
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• (in Russian)Extraits audio