French-American musician (1938–1980)

Musical artist

Joseph Ira D*in (French::; 5 November 1938 – 20 August 1980) was an American-French singer-songwriter and actor. He was the son of film director Jules D*in.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Career
• 3 Cinema
• 4 Personal life
• 5 Death
• 6 Tributes
• 7 Discography
• 8 References
• 9 External links

Early life

D*in was born in New York City to American film director Jules D*in (1911–2008) and Béatrice Launer (1913–1994), a New York-born violinist, who after graduating from a Hebrew High School in the Bronx studied with the British violinist Harold Berkely at the Juilliard School of Music. His father was of Ukrainian-Jewish and Polish-Jewish extraction, his maternal grandfather was an Austrian-Jewish immigrant, who arrived in New York with his family at age 11.

D*in lived in New York City and Los Angeles until his father fell victim to the Hollywood blacklist in 1950, at which time his family moved to Europe.

D*in studied at the International School of Geneva and the Ins*ut Le Rosey in Switzerland, and graduated in Grenoble. D*in moved back to the United States, where he attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1957 to 1963, winning an undergraduate Hopwood Award for fiction in 1958 and earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1961 and a Master of Arts in 1963, both in Anthropology.

Career

Moving to France, D*in worked as a technician for his father and appeared as an actor in supporting roles, among others in three movies directed by his father, including Topkapi (1964) in which he played the role of Josef.

On 26 December 1964, D*in signed with CBS Records, making him the first French-language singer to be signed with an American record label.

By the early 1970s, D*in's songs were at the top of the charts in France, and he became immensely popular there. He recorded songs in German, Spanish, Italian, and Greek, as well as French and English. Amongst his most popular songs are "Les Champs-Élysées" (Originally "Waterloo Road") (1969), "Salut les amoureux" (originally "City of New Orleans") (1973), "L'Été indien" (1975), "Et si tu n'existais pas" (1975), and "A toi" (1976).

Cinema

Joe D*in appeared in the following movies:

• 1957: Benos in He Who Must Die, by Jules D*in
• 1958: Nico in The Law, by Jules D*in
• 1964: Joseph in Topkapi, by Jules D*in
• 1965: A police inspector in Lady L, by Peter Ustinov
• 1965: Janos Adler in Nick Carter and Red Club, by Jean-Paul Savignac

Personal life

Joe D*in with his parents, Jules D*in and Béatrice Launer, in Paris in 1970.

D*in married Maryse M*iéra in Paris on 18 January 1966. Their son Joshua was born two and a half months early on 12 September 1973, and died five days later. Overcome by grief, Joe became deeply depressed. Despite all their efforts, their marriage did not survive. In 1977, one year after their move to their newly built home in Feucherolles, just outside Paris, they divorced.

On 14 January 1978, D*in married Christine Delvaux in Cotignac. Their first son, Jonathan, was born on 14 September 1978; and their second son, Julien, arrived on 22 March 1980. Christine died in December 1995.

Death

D*in died from a heart attack during a vacation to Tahiti on 20 August 1980. He was eating lunch with family and friends at the restaurant Chez Michel et Éliane in Papeete when he suddenly slumped in his chair, unconscious. A doctor who was also eating at the restaurant gave D*in a heart m*age, but D*in died at the restaurant. The only ambulance in Papeete was unavailable at the time and took 40 minutes to arrive. His body is interred in the Beth Olam section of Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Tributes

In 2020, many established artists paid tribute to Joe D*in songs in a covers / tribute album À toi, Joe D*in. The album peaked at #44 in the French SNEP Albums chart. It also charted in Belgium peaking at #26 in the country's Ultratop albums francophone chart and also peaking at #4 in the Swiss Hitparade Albums chart. Artists interpreting Joe D*in songs on the album included Ycare, Axelle Red, Les Frangines, Trois Cafés Gourmands, Patrick Fiori, Lola Dubini, Jérémy Frerot, Tibz, Aldebert, Kids United Nouvelle Génération, Carla, Jonathan D*in, Madame Monsieur, Julien D*in, La Deryves, 21 Juin Le Duo, and Camélia Jordana.

Discography

Main article: Joe D*in discography

References

External links

• Joe D*in at IMDb
• Joe D*in at Find a Grave