Biography
Raymond Ventura (16 April 1908, Paris, France – 29 March 1979, Palma de Mallorca, Spain) was a French jazz pianist and bandleader. He helped popularize jazz in France in the 1930s. His nephew was singer Sacha Distel.
Ventura was born to a Jewish family. In 1925 he was the pianist for the Collegiate Five, which recorded as the Collegians for Columbia beginning in 1928 and for Decca in the 1930s. A year later he led the band, and it became a dance orchestra resembling a big band. His sidemen included Alix Combelle, Philippe Brun, and Guy Paquinet. In the early 1940s he led a big band in South America and in France during the rest of the decade.
One of his band's popular songs from 1936 was "Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise" in which the Marquise is told by her servants that everything is fine at home except for a series of escalating calamities. It was seen as a metaphor for France's obliviousness to the approaching war.
Source: Article "Ray Ventura" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Filmography
Cast Credits
La Chance aux chansons
Character: Self (archive footage)
TV • 1984
Numéro un
Character: Self
TV • 1975
Samedi soir
Character: Self
TV • 1971
L'assassin connaît la musique
Character: Self (uncredited)
MOVIE • 1963
Cinépanorama
Character: Self
TV • 1956
Femmes de Paris
Character: Self
MOVIE • 1953
One Hundred Francs Per Second
Character: Self
MOVIE • 1953
Monte Carlo Baby
Character: Ray Ventura
MOVIE • 1951
We Will All Go to Paris
Character: Self
MOVIE • 1950
Mademoiselle Has Fun
Character: Self
MOVIE • 1948
Whirlwind of Paris
Character: Self
MOVIE • 1939
Feux de joie
Character: Self
MOVIE • 1939
Quadrille
Character: Himself (as Ray Ventura et ses Collégiens)
MOVIE • 1938
Everything is Going Very Well Madame la Marquise
Character:
MOVIE • 1936
Adventure in Paris
Character:
MOVIE • 1936
Le Billet de mille
Character:
MOVIE • 1935
Crew
Crew Credits
Night Fun
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1991
Our Men in Bagdad
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1966
L'assassin connaît la musique
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1963
We Will Go to Deauville
Role: Music
MOVIE • 1962
And Satan Calls the Turns
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1962
Love Is My Profession
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1958
Forgive Our Trespasses
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1956
Plucking the Daisy
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1956
Le Crâneur
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1955
Lovers' Net
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1955
Les Compagnes de la nuit
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1953
Desperate Decision
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1952
French Touch
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1952
Monte Carlo Baby
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1951
Without Leaving an Address
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1951
Le Roi Pandore
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1950
We Will All Go to Paris
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1950
Une femme par jour
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 1949
Beautiful Star
Role: Orchestrator
MOVIE • 1938
Quadrille
Role: Orchestrator
MOVIE • 1938