Bel Ami...

Eva Busch... singer

Born. Berlin, Germany


Died. July 21 (?25), 2001, Munich, Germany


(née: Eva Zimmermann)






She was the illegitimate daughter of Franz Beidler, the son of Wagner, and a then famous singer, Emmy-Zimmerman Burg. In Berlin she met her first husband, actor Ernst Busch (a Communist sympathizer) when they sang cabaret songs together at the Berliner Volksbuehne. In the early 1930s, she recorded her first disc.



In 1933, after the Nazis seized power, the couple fled to Holland. Two years later, they separated, by mutual consent, when Ernst left to fight for the Spanish Loyalists against Generalissmo Franco, who was supported by Germany.


 




Eva returned to Paris, France, where she sang in various cabarets, and in 1940, recorded probably her most famous song: "Bel Ami" ("Beautiful Friend"). After the German invasion in France, she became an internee in 'Camp Gurs'.


In late 1944, after the defeat of the Nazis, she was released and briefly performed songs for civilians and military personnel in Germany. She then returned to Paris and resumed her international career. For the next 30 years, she sang in cabarets, on the radio and on television.
In the USA she toured with Bing Crosby. In Zurich, Switzerland, she appeared at Erika Mann's "Pepper Mill". Eva remained active until the 1970s. Among her best-known songs are


 


"Es sprechen so viele von Liebe, die gar nichts von Liebe verstehen"
 ("You talk so much about love, but know nothing of love")

 and




"Il ne faut pas briser un rêve"
("Don't destroy your dreams, even if they seem silly")

A song with special meaning at the date of its recording (Oct. 1940).
{Via}