Famous French People

Charles Aznavour, OC born Shahnour Vaghenag Aznavourian Armenian, May 22, 1924, Paris) is a Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world. Aznavour is known for his characteristic short figure and unique tenor voice; clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes. He has appeared in more than 60 movies, composed about 1,000 songs (including 150 at least in English, 100 in Italian, 70 in Spanish, and 50 in German), and has sold well over 100 million records. In 1998, Charles Aznavour was named Entertainer of the Century by CNN and users of Time Online from around the globe. He was recognized as the century's outstanding performer, with nearly 18% of the total vote, edging out Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. He has sung for presidents, popes, and royalty, as well as at humanitarian events, and is the founder of the charitable organization Aznavour for Armenia along with his long-time friend and impresario Levon Sayan.

Aznavour started his global farewell tour in late 2006, which continues through this day. In 2009 he was appointed ambassador of Armenia to Switzerland, as well as Armenia's permanent delegate to the United Nations at Geneva.

Dany Boon, born to a French Kabyle father and a French Flemish mother, first started his career dubbing cartoons and performing as a mime in the street. In 1992, he was given his first chance as a comedian by French television personality Patrick Sébastien, who invited him on his show. From then on Boon began to achieve notoriety with his sketches and his one-man shows. He was then offered several roles in movies, notably in the film Joyeux Noël that made it on the international scene in 2005. Boon is deeply attached to his native region, Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In 2003, he made a whole show in the local dialect of ch'ti, also known as Picard. Despite the use of dialectal language, 600,000 copies of the DVD (which included French subtitles) were sold. No previous DVD featuring a one-man show had sold as well in France. In February 2008, he released a film called Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, a comedy based on prejudices held about the region, which went on to break French box-office records. Two weeks after its release the film had already been seen by five million people. After its fourth week this figure had risen to 15 million, and by 11 April, the film had surpassed the viewing audience of  Grande L Vadrouille, having being watched by more than 17.4 million people. To date, only the worldwide blockbuster Titanic has been seen by more people in French cinemas. Dany Boon married and later divorced Judith Godrèche, with whom he has a son named Noé. Dany is currently married to Yael Harris and converted to Judaism in 2002. In the year 2008, Dany Boon was the best-paid actor in European film history, netting 26 million Euro (c. 33 million dollars).

Eva Green was born in Paris, the daughter of French actress Marlène Jobert and Swedish dentist Walter Green. She grew up in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. Her mother is of French Algerian (Pied-Noir) descent. Green was born two minutes earlier than her fraternal twin sister named Joy. Green has described her family as "bourgeois", and has said that her sister is very different from her. Green is a natural dark blonde; she dyed her hair black aged 15. French-Swedish actress Marika Green is her aunt. Green was raised in France, went to the American School of Paris, from which she graduated, and spent some time in Ramsgate, London and Ireland. Her school was English-speaking. Green was quiet at school, and developed an interest in Egyptology when she visited the Louvre at age seven. Green aspired to become an actress at age fourteen, when she saw Isabelle Adjani in The Story of Adele H. Jobert initially feared the effect an acting career would have on her sensitive daughter, but she soon supported her ambitions.