Yves Montand

Ivo Livi was born on 13 October 1921, an Italian who would cross the border and remake himself entirely. As Yves Montand, he built a career that spanned two arts: the smoky intimacy of French chanson and the broader canvas of film acting. The transformation stuck. By the time he died on 9 November 1991, he was remembered as one of France's greatest artists of the 20th century—a claim that rested not on where he started, but on everything he became after he arrived.