Jean-Paul Vignon

Jean-Paul Vignon (b. Jan. 30, 1935-d. March 22, 2024) was a French-American actor and singer.

Vignon was born to a French father and Italian mother^[1] in Dire-Dawa, Ethiopia and was raised in Djibouti, Africa^[1] as well as Avignon, France.^[2] He briefly studied medicine in Marseille and law at Sorbonne University in Paris. However, he dropped those ventures in pursuit of music.^[3] In his early 20s he earned a prestigious cabaret job, per the recommendation of Jacques Brel, that launched his entertainment career.^[3]

Performing in a Parisian cabaret led to starring roles in the French films Les Promesses Dangereuses and Asphalte.^[2] He also signed to the French music label Disques Vogue, opening for Edith Piaf.^[4] When a side-career in the military was not met with success, Vignon moved to the United States where he got his start at New York's Blue Angel nightclub, opening for Woody Allen.^[3][4] Next, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show eight times,^[3] duetting with Liza Minnelli during one of these occasions, from which point he became a regular on The Merv Griffin Show and The Johnny Carson Show. In 1964, he recorded Because I Love You, his U.S. debut album on Columbia Records. In 1967, he made his U.S. film debut in The Devil's Brigade, opposite William Holden and Cliff Robertson.^[3] He also appeared in Columbo, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Rockford Files, The French Atlantic Affair, Crazy Like a Fox, Falcon Crest, L.A. Law, Dallas, Murder She Wrote, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.^[1]

Later, Vignon appeared on The Gilmore Girls and tried hosting a Canadian television show called The Sensuous Man. He voiced one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men in Shrek, and also provided his voice for a dream sequence in 500 Days of Summer^[4] and the French short Le Jeu des Soldats.^[1] Other pursuits included founding Côte d’Azur Productions, a lip-sync dubbing company.^[4]

• From Ethiopia To Utopia: A Remarkable Journey in Music and in Love (2018), Côte d'Azur Californie, ISBN 9780692064733

Vignon died of liver cancer at age 89 in Beverly Hills, CA.^[2]