Boby Lapointe

Vocation

French singer-songwriter, actor and playwright, noted for his humorous texts, alliterations and plays on words. 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 bi-bi-binary system (also known as the bibi system) in 1971. He died on 30 June 1972. Link to Wikipedia biography