Léonie, Baroness Cooreman, known by the stage name Annie Cordy (born 16 June 1928), is a Belgian actress and singer. She has appeared in 50 films since 1954. She has staged many memorable appearances at Bruno Coquatrix' famous Paris Olympia. Her version of "La Ballade de Davy Crockett" was number 1 in the charts for five weeks in France in August 1956. She was born in Laeken, Belgium, where in 2004, King Albert II of Belgium bestowed upon her the title of Baroness in recognition for her life's achievements.

Cordy was born in Laeken, Belgium, the daughter of Maria de Leeuw and Cornelius January Cooreman. She had a brother, Louis, and a sister, Jeanne.

At the age of eight, her mother enrolled her in a dance class. She learnt piano and music theory, while pursuing her studies, and participated in charity galas. Between the dance numbers, she sang the hits of the day. Artistic director of Le Lido encouraged her to leave Brussels, her hometown, and Annie Cordy arrived in Paris on 1 May 1950, to be hired as a lead dancer.

Cordy recorded her first songs in 1952 ("Les Trois Bandits de Napoli", "Quand c'est aux autos de passer", "La bourrée d'Auvergne montagnarde") and made her debut in the musical, "La Route fleurie", alongside Georges Guétary and Bourvil. This lasted until 1955.

Then she made her film debut in 1953 when she appeared as herself in Boum sur Paris, next to Jacques Pills and Armand Bernard. That same year, she had her first hit record with "Bonbons, caramels, esquimaux, chocolats" or "Léon".

In 1954 she starred in April Fools' Day as Charlotte Dupuy, alongside her friend Bourvil, Louis de Funès, Denise Grey, and Maurice Biraud. The film was a big success with almost three million ticket sales. She also played Madame Langlois in Sacha Guitry's Royal Affairs in Versailles, with Michel Auclair, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Jean-Louis Barrault, Bourvil, Gino Cervi, Claudette Colbert, Nicole Courcel, Daniel Gélin, Jean Marais, Gisèle Pascal, Édith Piaf, Gérard Philipe, Micheline Presle, Tino Rossi, Orson Welles, and Nicole Maurey. The film was the #1 movie in France in 1954. It is still one of the 100 most successful films at the French box office of all time, the 89th highest grossing title.

In 1955 her song "Fleur de Papillon" became a hit. She also starred in two motion pictures. First, Hello Smile ! directed by Claude Sautet, with Henri Salvador, Louis de Funès, Darry Cowl and Jean Carmet and an Italian comedy, Beautiful but Dangerous, in which she just made a short appearance.

In 1956 she starred as Cri-Cri in Le Chanteur de Mexico, directed by Richard Pottier, with Luis Mariano, Bourvil, and Fernando Rey. The film was again a big success, with almost 5,000,000 tickets sold, and it was #5 at the box office for 1956 and #247 of all time in France.

At the same time she had a hit on the song charts with the French version of The Ballad of Davy Crockett, which stayed at number 1 for 5 weeks in France in August 1956.

In 1957 she played Titine in a West German remake of Victor and Victoria, directed by Karl Anton. That same year, she starred in her second musical, "Tête de linotte" with Jean Richard which lasted until 1960. ...

Source: Article "Annie Cordy" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.