Born Nathan Korb on November 25, 1917 in Paris (France), and died on April 20, 2002 in La Varenne-Saint-Hilaire (France), Francis Lemarque was a French singer and poet. During his lifetime, he won several Grand Prix du disque de l'Académie Charles-Cros, in 1951, 1973, 1982 and 1989. He wrote and composed nearly 400 songs in his career, including "À Paris " in 1949, which became an international hit and was covered by many singers around the world, and "Quand un soldat", performed by Yves Montand in 1952, which was censored and banned from state radio. In 1953, he launched "Le Temps du muguet ", followed in 1955 by "Le Petit cordonnier ", which became hits as far away as Quebec (Canada). In 1957, he launched the song "Marjolaine" , which became a major hit propelled by Stanley Kubrick's film Les Sentiers de la Gloire . In 1967, he composed the music for Jacques Tati's film Playtime . In 1982, he starred in Serge Leroy's Légitime Violence . He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in April 1992. Francis Lemarque gave his last show on January 27, 2001 in Vlarmes (Val-d'Oise). He also wrote for other artists during his career, including André Claveau, Juliette Gréco, Henri Salvador, Lucienne Delyle and Marcel Amont.
