Bruno Coquatrix, born in 1910, reopened on 5 February 1954, on the boulevard des Capucines, an old music hall that had been turned into a cinema: the Olympia. The first singer he booked was Gilbert Bécaud, whose recital in February 1955 would end with four hundred and thirty-nine seats torn out. For twenty-five years the hall would be the obligatory stop for all of French song. He was also mayor of Cabourg, and led the two lives side by side.
The story
Bruno Coquatrix was born at Ronchin, in the Nord, on 5 August 1910. A songwriter and then an impresario, he learned the trade from the stage before practising it from the house.
On 5 February 1954 he reopened the Olympia, a music hall on the boulevard des Capucines that had become a cinema. Lucienne Delyle and Aimé Barelli topped the bill; a singer still unknown, Gilbert Bécaud, gave three songs. A year later, back at the top of the bill, he set off the hall's first riot — and the legend was launched.
In twenty-five years he made the Olympia the compulsory stop of French song and the European halt of international tours: Piaf, Brel, Hallyday, Bécaud, the Beatles. Playing the Olympia became a consecration; not playing it, a confession.
He was also mayor of Cabourg, in the Calvados, and led both lives at once — the seaside resort and the boulevard des Capucines.
He died in Paris on 1 April 1979 and lies in Division 96. His wife Paulette, a costume designer who died past a hundred in 2018, joined him there: the hall had by then outlived its director by forty years.
On site, do not miss
Another family's name at the head of the stone, and beneath it that of the director of the Olympia, with that of his wife, who died a centenarian.
Visitors' questions
Where is Bruno Coquatrix's grave?
In Division 96, Avenue Transversale No. 2, sixteenth row, in the upper, eastern part of the cemetery. The tomb bears the name of the Oscar Osso family.
Amedeo ModiglianiWhen did he open the Olympia?
On 5 February 1954: he was reopening a former music hall on the Boulevard des Capucines that had become a cinema. The first artist on the bill was Gilbert Bécaud, whose recital in February 1955 ended with four hundred and thirty-nine seats torn out.
Gilbert BécaudWho sang at the Olympia in his day?
Piaf, Brel, Hallyday, Bécaud, the Beatles — in twenty-five years, the hall became the essential stage of French chanson and the European stop on international tours. Playing the Olympia meant you had arrived.
Édith PiafWas he really mayor of Cabourg?
Yes, in the Calvados, and he led both lives at once: the Normandy seaside resort and the Boulevard des Capucines. He died in Paris on 1 April 1979; the hall has outlived him by more than forty years.
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