Gérard Berliner's name was Raymond, and he grew up in Ménilmontant, very close to here. The summer of 1982 was his: Louise sold by the hundreds of thousands and gave him at a stroke a fame he would spend twenty years failing to recover. His answer was Victor Hugo, a one-man show he carried alone on stage and which earned him a Molière nomination in 2006. He died in 2010.
The story
Born on 5 January 1956 in Paris, into a Belleville family, Raymond Berliner took the first name Gérard and sang. His half-brother Bruno would join the “gang des postiches”, the false-beard gang that robbed the banks of Paris in the early 1980s.
The summer of 1982 was his. “Louise” was everywhere, sold by the hundred thousand, and gave him at a stroke a fame he then spent twenty years failing to repeat.
He recorded, toured, acted, came back, vanished, came back again: the career of a one-hit man refusing to be only that.
His answer was Victor Hugo. Mon alter Hugo, a show he carried alone on stage, brought him a nomination for the Molière award for best musical show in 2006. Alain Decaux, who had advised him, summed up its effect: “At last Hugo is back in the hands of a man of the people.”
He died of a heart attack at the Necker hospital on 13 October 2010 and lies in Division 44, chemin du Quinconce, eighth row, in the family grave — with his parents and with his half-brother Bruno, killed in a shoot-out with the police in 1986, at twenty-eight.
The grave
A family grave of four names, where the singer's comes last: “Bruno BERLINER 1957-1986”, “Jacques BERLINER 1926-1995”, “Renée MESSER-BERLINER 1929-2009”, then “Gérard BERLINER 5 January 1956 – 13 October 2010”. The first name is that of his half-brother, who died at twenty-nine in 1986. Nothing there recalls “Louise” or the show about Hugo.
On site, do not miss
Four names on a single stone, and the singer's last. The first engraved is that of his half-brother Bruno Berliner (1957-1986): the grave tells of a family before it tells of a career.
Visitors' questions
Where is Gérard Berliner's grave?
In Division 44, chemin du Quinconce, eighth row, in the family grave. It bears four names, among them that of his half-brother Bruno Berliner (1957-1986). The Division is also that of Michel Legrand and Sarah Bernhardt.
Michel LegrandWhat is Gérard Berliner's best-known song?
“Louise”, the hit of summer 1982, which sold in the hundreds of thousands. Overnight it brought him a fame he then spent twenty years declining to repeat, between records, theatre and film.
Francis LemarqueWhat was “Mon alter Hugo”?
A show about Victor Hugo that Gérard Berliner carried alone on stage, nominated for the Molière for best musical show in 2006. Alain Decaux said of it: “At last, Hugo is back in the hands of a man of the people.” Victor Hugo's father rests in Division 27 of the same cemetery.
General HugoWho rests with Gérard Berliner?
His parents, Jacques Berliner (1926-1995) and Renée Messer-Berliner (1929-2009), and his half-brother Bruno Berliner (1957-1986), whose name is carved first on the stone: he died twenty-four years before the singer.
Manu DibangoAudio guide to Père Lachaise: the best unusual guided tour!
Discover the secrets of the most astonishing tombs
the audio guidefrom€6.99