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Serge Gainsbourg

Serge Gainsbourg

Known For Acting
Birthday Apr 02, 1928
Died Mar 02, 1991 (62)
Birthplace Paris, France
Popularity 1 (history)
Updated Mar 10, 2026
Entry Date Apr 13, 2024
Links TMDb IMDb
Biography

Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative releases which caused uproar in France, dividing public opinion. His ... artistic output ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorise, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians. Gainsbourg wrote over 550 songs, which have been covered more than 1,000 times by diverse artists. His lyrical works incorporated wordplay, with humorous, bizarre, provocative, sexual, satirical or subversive overtones. Since his death from a second heart attack in 1991, Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France. While controversial in his lifetime, he has become one of France's best-loved public figures. He has also gained a cult following across the world with chart success in the United Kingdom and Belgium with "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde", respectively. Serge Gainsbourg was born in Paris on 2 April 1928, in the maternity ward of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris on the Île de la Cité. He was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Joseph and Olga Ginsburg. Born Brucha Goda Besman (nicknamed Olia/Olga) in Feodosiya in 1894, Serge's mother was a mezzo-soprano singer. Serge's father Joseph was born in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire of Ukrainian Jewish heritage in 1896. Originally interested in painting, he entered the Petrograd Conservatory and then the Moscow Conservatory to study music, becoming a classically trained pianist. He came to Crimea, where he met and married Olga in 1918. The couple fled Odessa for Paris via Georgia and then Istanbul in the years following the Russian Revolution. The couple arrived in Marseille in 1921, settling in Paris near Olga's brother, who worked for the Louis Dreyfus Bank. Joseph became a piano performer at bars, casinos, and cabarets, while Olga sang at the Conservatoire Rachmaninoff. Serge and his twin sister Liliane had an elder brother Marcel, born in 1922, who died at sixteen months of pneumonia. They also had an older sister Jacqueline, born in 1926. The family lived in the working-class districts of Paris, first at 35 Rue de la Chine in the 20th arrondissement, and then at 11 Rue Chaptal in the 9th arrondissement. They obtained French nationality in 1932. Joseph taught Serge and Liliane to play the piano. At age 12, Serge enrolled at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Gainsbourg's childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Germany during World War II. The identifying yellow star that Jews were required to wear haunted Gainsbourg; in later years he was able to transmute this memory into creative inspiration. Early in the summer of 1941, the family temporarily sought refuge in the commune of Courgenard in the Sarthe department, at a place called "La Bassetière," with Baptiste and Irma Dumur. ... Source: Article "Serge Gainsbourg" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Known For

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Profile
Profile
Profile
Filmography

Seduction Squad

Seduction Squad

1972

as Albert

Melody

Melody

1971

as L'homme

Romance of a Horsethief

Romance of a Horsethief

1971

as Sigmund

Sweet Skin

Sweet Skin

1963

as le pianiste/ Pianist

Seduction Squad

Seduction Squad

1972

Original Music Composer

Melody

Melody

1971

Original Music Composer, Writer

The Defector

The Defector

1966

Original Music Composer

Sweet Skin

Sweet Skin

1963

Original Music Composer

No data available

No data available

Organization Category Movie
Television Credits

Les Dossiers de l'Agence O

as Dassonville

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Mar 11, 1968

Dim Dam Dom

as Joseph

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Mar 07, 1965

Vidocq

as Un fou

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 07, 1967

Numéro un

as Self

Episodes: 13

First Aired: Apr 05, 1975

Discorama

as Self

Episodes: 11

First Aired: Feb 04, 1959

Midi Première

as Self

Episodes: 8

First Aired: Jan 06, 1975

Sacrée soirée

as Self

Episodes: 6

First Aired: Sep 02, 1987

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

as Self

Episodes: 5

First Aired: Jan 12, 1975

Dim Dam Dom

as Self

Episodes: 4

First Aired: Mar 07, 1965

Midi trente

as Self

Episodes: 3

First Aired: Mar 06, 1972

Champs-Elysées

as Self

Episodes: 3

First Aired: Jan 16, 1982

Victoires de la musique

as Self

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Nov 23, 1985

Nulle part ailleurs

as Self

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Aug 31, 1987

Il était une fois Champs-Élysées

as Self (archive footage)

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Dec 21, 2022

Samedi soir

as Self

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Jan 09, 1971

La semaine des 4 Julie

as Self - Guest (archive footage)

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 06, 2020

Samedi Sébastien

as Self - Guest

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Apr 17, 2021

À bout portant

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Dec 16, 1968

Archives secrètes

as Self (archive footage)

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 09, 2021

Spécial cinéma

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 25, 1974

Le Grand Échiquier

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 12, 1972

Cadet Rousselle

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 04, 1971

Apostrophes

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 10, 1975

Bitte umblättern

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Apr 20, 1977

Die Drehscheibe

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Apr 01, 1964

40° à l'ombre

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jun 29, 1987

Vivement dimanche

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 20, 1998

30 millions d'amis

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 06, 1976

Sacrée soirée

as Self (archive footage)

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 02, 1987

Popularity Metrics

Popularity History


Year Month Avg Max Min
2024 6 9 12 5
2024 7 14 27 5
2024 8 11 21 4
2024 9 7 15 2
2024 10 5 10 2
2024 11 3 5 1
2024 12 4 7 1
2025 1 8 20 2
2025 2 3 7 1
2025 3 3 6 1
2025 4 1 1 1
2025 5 1 2 1
2025 6 1 1 1
2025 7 0 0 0
2025 8 0 1 0
2025 9 0 0 0
2025 10 0 0 0
2025 11 0 0 0
2025 12 0 0 0
2026 1 0 0 0
2026 2 0 0 0
2026 3 0 1 0

Trending Rank


Year Month Avg Rank Max Rank
2024 6 853 715
2026 1 746 668
2026 3 775 686

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