Who's she?

July 18, 2010 10:01 AM

Who is this french singer with the famelic panther?

I'm trying to find the identity of this woman. I'm fairly sure she's a french singer from the 60s/70s. The portrait is housed at the Carnavalet Museum in Paris.

posted by Omon Ra to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Josephine Baker:
"Baker loved animals, and was often seen walking her pet leopard Chiquita in the fashionable streets of Paris.
http://gibbsmagazine.com/Josephine%20Baker.htm
posted by lungtaworld at 10:08 AM on July 18, 2010

Also in Wikipedia. Although the animal is called a cheetah. "In later shows in Paris she was often accompanied on stage by her pet cheetah, Chiquita, who was adorned with a diamond collar. The cheetah frequently escaped into the orchestra pit, where it terrorized the musicians, adding another element of excitement to the show."
She was quite a girl! See her in her famous banana costume!
posted by lungtaworld at 10:12 AM on July 18, 2010

I don't think that's Josephine Baker, for a couple of obvious reasons.
posted by kidelo at 10:57 AM on July 18, 2010

Response by poster: Yeah, frankly, Josephine Baker looks nothing like the woman in the painting.
posted by Omon Ra at 11:13 AM on July 18, 2010

Best answer: Identified here as Juliette Gréco.
posted by holgate at 11:34 AM on July 18, 2010

Best answer: Seconded here, by music/film critic Steve Simels.
posted by holgate at 11:37 AM on July 18, 2010

Response by poster: Awesome, I had a vague sense of her name, but I wasn't sure. Oddly enough I just watched the Serge Gainsbourg biopic a few days ago and she's in it.
posted by Omon Ra at 11:50 AM on July 18, 2010

Best answer: Here is Gréco and the cheetah in a photograph together. And here is Gréco cultivating a cat like image with "Déshabillez-Moi" (undress me).
posted by rongorongo at 12:25 PM on July 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ah --Juliette Greco 1956 by Robert Humblot (from the image/properties in holgate's link).
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:07 PM on July 18, 2010