Born in Castres, in the Tarn, on October 1, 1944, it was in Perpignan that Danièle Graule, later known as Dani, spent her childhood. The singer and actress died on Monday July 18, near Tours where she lived.
Eldest of three siblings, Danièle Graule was born in the Tarn in 1944. Her father was a shoemaker, her mother, of Catalan origin, sold shoes. At two years old, the one who will take the name of Dani, arrives in Perpignan where she will live until she is 19 years old.
In 1963, she left the Pyrénées-Orientales to join the capital. She made her debut there as a model and frequented the Parisian nightlife scene of which she would become a figure. Very quickly, the cinema is interested in her. The first to give him a role is Roger Vadim in the roundabout in 1964. A first experience that would call for others, notably with François Truffaut for The Parisian Nightin 1973. Dani will also tour alongside Claude Chabrol, Georges Lautner or, more recently, Olivier Marchal.
Gainsbourg, Eurovision and Etienne Daho
Parallel to her acting career, Dani launches into song. She had her first popular success in 1968 with her cover of Dad just married the maid, sung before her by Georges Milton, in the 1930s. In 1974, she had to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest. For the occasion, Gainsbourg offers him the song like a boomerang, rejected by the French selection committee, because too sexually connoted. It’s ultimately a ballad by Christine Fontane, Life at twenty-five which will be retained. But, French television decides to withdraw its candidacy and not to broadcast the competition, scheduled for April 6, a day of national mourning after the death of the President of the Republic Georges Pompidou.
After a descent into hell in the 1980s, the singer and actress recounts herself in an autobiography published in 1987: Drug, the galley. In 2001, she returned to center stage thanks to Etienne Daho, who had always admired her and offered her a duet on like a boomerang. The success is immediate. In recent years, Dani had released a new album, golden horizons (2020) and embarked on a tour. She was finishing the preparation of an album whose title particularly resonates: Attention departure.