Jean-Loup Dabadie, an Immortal in Paradise

Jean-Loup Dabadie died on Sunday May 24 at the Salpétrière hospital at the age of 81, a few days after Michel Piccoli.

The screenwriter, lyricist, man of letters, academician and former journalist was born in 1938 in Paris. He spent his childhood with his grandparents in Isère. Very young, he developed a taste for writing, which he got from his father Marcel Dabadie, also a lyricist for Maurice Chevalier and Julien Clerc. At the age of 19, he wrote his first novel, « Les Yeux Secs », while studying literature, others will follow, including « Les Dieux du Foyer ». He then began a career as a journalist, collaborating in the magazines “Candide et Arts” and participating in the creation of “As Is” by publishing reports and film reviews.

In 2008, he entered the Dome, elected to the chair of Pierre Moinot and in 2009, he received a “Victoire de la Musique”

Jean-Loup Dabadie was also the author of scripts for François Truffaut (“A beautiful girl like me”) and Claude Sautet (“Things in life” in 1970, immortalized in “La chanson d’Hélène” interpreted by Romy Scneider and Michel Piccoli) or even Jean Becker, Yves Robert (“An elephant, that deceives enormously” in 1976) and Claude Pinoteau. He had just finished the adaptation for the cinema of a novel by Georges Simenon, « The green shutters », whose first role was to be played by Gérard Depardieu.

It was under his pen that the sketch “The dredge” was born with Guy Bedos, before associating his texts with Michel Leeb, Jacques Villeret, Pierre Palmade and Muriel Robin, songs by Polnareff (“We will all go to Paradise ”In 1972,” Letter to France ”in 1977), Julien Clerc (“ My preference ”in 1978 and Femmes je t’aime”), Michel Sardou (“Jazz on Broadway” in 1985); he also wrote for Mireille Mathieu, Yves Montand, Johnny Hallyday, Barbara, Serge Reggiani, Patrick Bruel, Enrico Macias. Likewise, he had convinced Jean Gabin for the famous title “Je sais”.

Between television, cinema, theater and song, there are 22 scenarios, 150 sketches and more than 250 choruses of the greatest successes of the last 50 years. « The song is a form of poetry because today people don’t read enough and it’s poetry that comes to them in song form, » he said.

As of the announcement of this sad news, the reactions are not made wait like the Elysée, “saddened by the disappearance of this man who everywhere carried the French language to its summits, on our waves as on our screens, in the pages of our journals as under the Dome of the Institute ”.

For his part, the Minister of Culture, Franck Riestler declared: “France has lost an author with a thousand talents, unclassifiable and popular. The words of Jean-Loup Dabadie clearly and accurately expressed our feelings until accompanying every moment of our lives. We will remember her smile and her elegant discretion ”.

Former Culture Minister Jack Lang added: « What a great sadness to hear of the disappearance of Jean-Loup Dabadie. Writer, lyricist, journalist, screenwriter, dialogist, like an alchemist of dancing words, he transformed words into melodies ”.

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo sent her most sincere condolences to the family (his last wife Véronique Bachet and his 3 children Clémentine, Clément and Florent born from previous marriages), as well as to the members of the French Academy.

In the song world, Patrick Bruel wrote: « Goodbye Jean-Loup … A few days after Michel Piccoli, another accomplice of Claude Sautet leaves. Thank you Jean-Loup Dabadie for these songs and these lines which have so often guided our lives ”.

Enrico Macias added: « I lost a very good friend, he was called my twin brother because we were born in the same year. Really I’m very sorry. It’s a brother I lost. ”

Jane Birkin spoke on the radio: « He knew how to slip into all of our characters and make it seem like it was us (…) He had an incredible gift for writing for people who interpreted. He stuck to the artists ”.

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