Robert Jean-François Joseph Pascal Lapointe (; 16 April 1922 – 29 June 1972), better known by his stage name Boby Lapointe (), was a French actor and singer, noted for his humorous texts,

alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

sSee the titles: ''Aubade à Lydie en do'', ''Ta Katie t'a quitté'', ''Madam' Mado m'a dit'' and plays on words.

Biography

Lapointe was born in

Pézenas Pézenas (; Languedocien: ''Pesenàs'') is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Name The name "Pézenas" is derived from the older name ''Piscenae'', probably from the Latin word ''piscenis'', meaning fi ...

, in the

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, but was conscripted into the Youth Building Projects in 1942 and sent to

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

, Austria, in 1943 for compulsory work service. He escaped the same year, and found work as a diver in

La Ciotat La Ciotat (; oc, label= Provençal Occitan, La Ciutat ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is the southeasternmo ...

, a suburb of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, in 1944. 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 André Robert Raimbourg (; 27 July 1917 – 23 September 1970), better known as André Bourvil (), and mononymously as Bourvil, was a French actor and singer best known for his roles in comedy films, most notably in his collaboration with Louis ...

sang Lapointe's song ''Aragon et Castille'' in the 1954 film ''Poisson d'avril''. In 1960, film director

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...

offered him a part in ''

Tirez sur le Pianiste ''Shoot the Piano Player'' (french: Tirez sur le pianiste; UK title: ''Shoot the Pianist'') is a 1960 French New Wave crime drama film directed by François Truffaut that stars Charles Aznavour as the titular pianist with Marie Dubois, Nicole ...

'' in which he sang ''Framboise'', accompanied by

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...

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 Anne Sylvestre (, born Anne-Marie Beugras; 20 June 1934 – 30 November 2020) was a French singer-songwriter. Biography Anne Sylvestre was born in Lyon on 20 June 1934. She was the daughter of Albert Beugras and the sister of writer Marie C ...

Raymond Devos Raymond Devos (; 9 November 1922 – 15 June 2006) was a Belgian-French humorist, stand-up comedian and clown. He is best known for his sophisticated puns and surreal humour. Early life Devos was born in Mouscron, Belgium, close to the Frenc ...

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...

and

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and a ...

. Lapointe was also a mathematician, and developed the

bibi-binary The Bibi-binary system for numeric notation (in French système Bibi-binaire, or abbreviated "système Bibi") is a hexadecimal numeral system first described in 1968 by singer/mathematician Robert "Boby" Lapointe (1922–1972). At the time, it ...

system (also known in French as the ''système Bibi'') in 1971.

Gallery

The town of Pézenas contains a monument to Lapointe (in the Place Boby Lapointe) and 7 carved stone sculptures relating to the man and his songs.

List of songs

Filmography

Filmography as actor: * 1960: ''

Shoot the Piano Player ''Shoot the Piano Player'' (french: Tirez sur le pianiste; UK title: ''Shoot the Pianist'') is a 1960 French New Wave crime drama film directed by François Truffaut that stars Charles Aznavour as the titular pianist with Marie Dubois, Nicole Ber ...

'', as The Singer * 1970: ', as The Farmer * 1970: ''

The Things of Life ''The Things of Life'' (french: Les Choses de la vie) is a 1970 romantic drama film directed by Claude Sautet, based on the 1967 novel '' Intersection'' by Paul Guimard. The film centers around a car accident experienced by Pierre (Michel Piccoli ...

'', as the driver of the animal transporter * 1970: '' Chapaqua's Gold'', as Chapagua * 1971: '' Max et les ferrailleurs'', as Lui Serafino / 'P'tit Lu' * 1971: ''

Les assassins de l'ordre ''Law Breakers'' (french: Les Assassins de l'ordre) is a 1971 French drama film starring Jacques Brel, directed by Marcel Carné. It was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival. Based on a real-life incident, an idealistic and ...

'', as Louis Casso * 1971: ', as Honoré * 1971: '' Appointment in Bray'', as the inn keeper * 1971: ''

The Widow Couderc ''The Widow Couderc'' (french: La veuve Couderc) is a 1971 French drama film based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Georges Simenon. Plot In 1934, in a little village on a canal in Burgundy, a laconic young stranger called Jean is walking al ...

'', as Désiré

Notes

External links

Boby Lapointe
at the Internet Movie Database
''Vidéo:'' Boby Lapointe
in 1967, singing ''Saucisson de cheval'', an archive of

Télévision Suisse Romande Télévision Suisse Romande ("Swiss Television Romandy") was a Television broadcasting, TV network with two channels: TSR 1 and TSR 2 (the two channels became RTS Un and RTS Deux after 2012). They were the main French language channels in Switz ...

* Bibibinary system in French Wikipedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Lapointe, Boby 1922 births 1972 deaths People from Pézenas 20th-century French male actors 20th-century French male singers French World War II forced labourers French escapees Escapees from German detention French male singer-songwriters