Olivier Despax born Olivier Despax de Kerver 28 February 1939 died 10 April 1974 was a French guitarist, singer and film actor.

Biography

The grandnephew of composer

Florent Schmitt Florent Schmitt (; 28 September 187017 August 1958) was a French composer. He was part of the group known as Les Apaches. His most famous pieces are ''La tragédie de Salome'' and ''Psaume XLVII'' (Psalm 47). He has been described as "one of th ...

and the son of Comte Joel de Kerver, Despax began piano lessons at age four and was given a guitar by his parents on his twelfth birthday. He was awarded the Best Jazz Guitarist award in 1955 from the Salon de la Jeunesse du Grand Palais when he was 16 years old. After military service in the Algerian War he formed a rock group called Olivier Despax and the Gamblers and was signed by

Barclay Records Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue inc ...

. During a gig at Saint-Tropez, he met

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

who he taught how to play the guitar. The two appeared together on French television in 1963 singing a duet.Les amoureux du France The publicity led to a film career in France beginning in 1964 with '' Mort, où est ta victoire?''. He made his English language debut in ''

Dark of the Sun ''Dark of the Sun'' (also known as ''The Mercenaries'' in the UK) is a 1968 British adventure war film starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Brown, and Peter Carsten. The film, which was directed by Jack Cardiff, is based on Wilbur Smith's ...

'' (1968). Despax was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in 1969 and died in 1974.

Filmography

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* 1939 births 1974 deaths French male film actors 20th-century French male singers Deaths from leukemia {{France-film-actor-stub