Pierre Louki, born Pierre Varenne on 25 July 1920 in Brienon-sur-Armançon

Brienon-sur-Armançon

Brienon-sur-Armançon is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.-References:*...

 in Yonne, died 21 December 2006, was a French actor and singer/song-writer.

Louki was the son of Georges Varenne, a teacher in the Yonne who was killed in Auschwitz. He learnt the theatre in Auxerre before going to Paris in the early 1950s, where he met Roger Blin

Roger Blin

Roger Blin was a French actor and director notable for directing the first production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot....

 and Jean-Louis Barrault

Jean-Louis Barrault

Jean-Louis Barrault was a French actor, director and mime artist, training that served him well when he portrayed the 19th-century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau in Marcel Carné's 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis .Jean-Louis Barrault studied with Charles Dullin in whose troupe he acted...

. He subsequently played in Blin’s production of En attendant Godot. He also began song-writing at this time.

Among the interpreters of Louki’s more than 200 chansons (besides himself) were Lucette Raillat, Catherine Sauvage

Catherine Sauvage

Catherine Sauvage , born 26 May 1929 in Nancy, France and died on 20 March 1998 in Bry-sur-Marne was a French singer and actress.- Early life :...

, Francesca Solleville, Isabelle Aubret

Isabelle Aubret

Isabelle Aubret is a French singer.Born as Thérèse Coquerelle in Lille, France, Aubret won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 representing France and singing "Un premier amour" with music composed by Claude-Henri Vic and lyrics by Roland Stephane Valade...

, Les Frères Jacques, Juliette Gréco

Juliette Gréco

Juliette Gréco, — also Michelle – is a French actress and popular chanson singer.-Early life and family:Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance, in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal...

, Jean Ferrat

Jean Ferrat

Jean Ferrat was a French singer-songwriter and poet. He specialized in singing poetry, particularly that of Louis Aragon.-Biography:...

, Philippe Clay

Philippe Clay

Philippe Clay, born Philippe Mathevet, was a French mime artist, singer and actor.He was known for his tall and slim silhouette and for his interpretations of songs by Charles Aznavour, Claude Nougaro, Jean-Roger Caussimon, Boris Vian, Serge Gainsbourg, Jean Yanne, Léo Ferré, Jacques Datin,...

, Colette Renard

Colette Renard

Colette Renard born Colette Raget, was a French actress and singer. Renard is closely associated with the titular character from the musical Irma La Douce, a role she played for over a decade...

, Annie Cordy

Annie Cordy

Léonie Cooreman known under the stage name Annie Cordy is a Belgian film actress and singer. She has appeared in 50 films since 1954. She has staged many memorable appearances at Bruno Coquatrix' famous Paris Olympia...

 and Georges Brassens

Georges Brassens

Georges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...

. He toured with the latter and wrote a book of recollections entitled Avec Brassens (éditions Christian Pirot, 1999, ISBN 2-86808-129-0).

He received the Académie Charles Cros prize in 1972, and in 1999, the SACEM

SACEM

SACEM may refer to:* The Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original authors, composers and publishers...

André-Didier Mauprey prize.
Pierre Louki also appeared as stage author and actor and broadcast on France-Culture, while on television he took part in programmes of Jean-Christophe Averty.

He wrote several books for children and his memoirs are Quelques confidences (éditions Christian Pirot, septembre 2006).

Translated from French Wikipedia