Actor and vocalist Jean-Paul Vignon has sadly died at the age of 89.
The veteran French star voiced one of the Merry Men in Shrek (2001) and appeared as Andre in the hit noughties TV series Gilmore Girls. He also narrated the hit romantic comedy 500 Days of Summer (2009) starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
The actor died on March 22 in Beverley Hills following a battle with liver cancer, his family confirmed on Wednesday (April 3). His career spanned a whopping eight decades and began in France in the 1950s, where he performed cabaret in Paris.
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He later moved to New York, where he opened for stand-up comic Woody Allen in 1963. He also played Monsieur Lazare in the sitcom Days of Our Lives and had a supporting role in World War II film, The Devil’s Brigade (1968).
(Image: Getty Images)
Vignon appeared on Ed Sullivan’s CBS variety show, where he once dueted with a young Liza Minelli. The Frenchman became a regular guest on Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin’s chat shows.
In 500 Days of Summer, Vignon is heard when Gordon-Levitt’s character goes to the cinema alone after Summer (Deschanel) breaks up with him, and he falls asleep and dreams of an old black and white French film, narrated by Vignon.
(Image: Press Association)
Vignon was also a successful singer who signed with Columbia Records and released his first album – Because I Love You – in the US in 1964. In 1994 the Los Angeles Times wrote a profile on Vignon, which said: “Vignon fulfilled the American image of the romantic, singing Frenchman.”
He is survived by his longtime partner Suzie Summers, and his daughter Marguerite Vignon Gaul. He also has a second daughter Lucy Brank, and granddaughters Leah and Hannah from his past marriage to the late actress Brigid Bazlen.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
