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DAMIA

Nicknamed the "Tragédienne de la chanson", Louise-Marie Damien, known as Damia, was born in Paris on December 5, 1889. A street child, she ran away from home to escape reform school and applied for roles at the Théâtre du Châtelet and La Cigale. She took acting lessons and replaced Mistinguett in the revue La Valse chaloupée with Max Dearly, at the Savoy in London in 1909. Noticed by Fréhel's husband, Robert Hollard dit Roberty, Damia toured Parisian venues, dressed in black, at La Gaîté-Montparnasse, Casino de Paris, Bobino and L'Européen. After the First World War, when she san...