Today we’d like to introduce you to Jean-Paul Vignon.
Jean-Paul, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in Ethiopia from a French Father and an Italian mother. At 8 years old, in a charity ball, I sang acapella a song that I had learned from a record by Charles Trenet, who was then the biggest singer in France. When I finished the song all the women came to me and kissed me. I knew then that I would be a singer!!!
In school, I was always asked to sing the popular songs of the moment.
Then I went to Paris, auditioned in some cabarets, was booked, and the Record Company Pathe Marconi signed me to record my first record. Then I was hired to star in a movie about young guys “Les promesses dangereuses”, which led to another film “Asphalte” with Françoise Arnoul who was then a big movie star in France. During a trip to New-York on the ship Le Liberté, some Americans asked me to come working in New-York. I did. I was booked at the cabaret Blue Angel where I opened the show for a young standup comedian….. Woody Allen.
From then on, I was contracted for 8 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, made a movie with William Holden: “The devil’s brigade”, and I sang in many nightclubs from New-York to Miami Beach, even Las Vegas. I finally moved to Los Angeles, where I have been acting in several TV shows as a singer and an actor.
Today I am a proud American Citizen, I am married and have a beautiful daughter, Marguerite, who is also married and gave me two adorable grand-daughters. I enjoy living in Hollywood the Utopia I had been dreaming of since I was a kid. I just wrote my memoirs: “From Ethiopia to Utopia”.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was mostly a smooth road, but when the Rock & Roll took over the musical business I had a couple of difficult years trying to adapt. I never became a Rock singer, but I was able to continue performing the kind of music that Sinatra used to sing, even if I never was able to get a hit record.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Beyond singing and acting, I found a niche in the dubbing industry. My company CÔTE D’AZUR PRODUCTIONS produced the French version of many American films. Several other companies do the same thing, but I’m proud to write the best lip-sync dialogs in excellent native French, which is our specialty and what makes us different from the others.
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
I plan to continue singing and acting, but with the success of my book “From Ethiopia to Utopia”, I have become more of a writer, and I really enjoy doing that.
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