This Is Your Life: Sacha Distel

Sacha DISTEL (1933-2004)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Sacha Distel, singer and guitarist, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews as he took his applause at the end of a cabaret show at London's Talk of the Town, from where the programme was then recorded.

Sacha, who was born in Paris, France, had a keen interest in music from an early age and formed his first band as a schoolboy. After leaving school, he found odd jobs backstage in Paris theatres before beginning a professional career as a jazz guitarist, working alongside Lionel Hampton and the Modern Jazz Quartet.

His career as a vocalist began in 1958, and his big break came a year later with the release of his version of the American hit, Scoubidou, which led to an appearance on US television's The Ed Sullivan Show, and re-established him on the international scene as a French crooner. During the 1960s, Sacha developed himself as a songwriter, composing La Bell e Vie, which was taken up by Tony Bennett and others as The Good Life.

"That's a surprise! Thank you Eamonn!"

programme details...

Edition No: 313
Subject No: 314
Broadcast date: Wed 15 Dec 1971
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: unknown
Venue: Talk of the Town, London
Series: 12
Edition: 5

on the guest list...

Francine - wife
Des O'Connor
Ray Ventura - uncle
Claude Deffe
Maurice Tézé
Britt Ekland
Mike Winters
Bernie Winters
Petula Clark
Pere Domaigne
Laurent - son
Julien - son
Henri Salvador

production team...

Researchers: Ian Black, David McFarlane
Writer: Ian Black
Director: Margery Baker
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

A Song For Life

it's the singer not the song

Petula Clark

Des O'Connor

Mike and Bernie Winters

Screenshots of Sacha Distel This Is Your Life

Presenter Eamonn Andrews and producer Jack Crawshaw recall this edition of This Is Your Life in their book, Surprise Of Your Life...

Among the thousands of addresses in the This Is Your Life contacts book is one in Dover Street, London, W1. It's the cornerstone of an intelligence network that in a printed information sheet called "Celebrity Bulletin", tells of the comings and goings of some of the most famous people in the world.

It is essential reading for newspaper columnists and their photographers, always anxious to know which international name is due to fly into Britain next. A famous actor flying into Heathrow to prepare for a West End film premiere, a top musician sailing into Southampton aboard the QE2 to begin a nationwide tour... they are all listed against their destinations.

And late in 1971 we were delighted to see the same Sacha Distel appear in their ranks, though not for the first time by any means. Sacha would be flying in from his home in Paris to top the bill at the Talk of the Town.

We had already been looking into his story. And what a fascinating story it was. Sacha was born in Paris, the son of Russian emigrants. When war broke out his father joined the French Resistance but his mother was captured and sent to a concentration camp. Sacha was evacuated from Paris and hidden away in a monastery where he was baptised. And in our secret talks with Sacha's wife Francine we learned that Sacha had told her of a priest at the monastery who had risked his life trying to save him and many Jewish children from the enemy.

Because of this, the priest had been sent to the notorious Dachau concentration camp and Sacha had not seen him for at least thirty years. We felt compelled to track him down.

With only a day to go before the show, we had failed to find the priest. By now we had begun to set up our cameras at the Talk of the Town. Sacha was told that it was merely preparation for another show two days hence. Then he got a fright. We learned that on the very day of the show Sacha had telephoned his wife Francine at their home in Paris and had been told she had gone to the airport.

Fortunately, the modest Sacha did not put two and two together. But I can tell you that the shock was noted as something to guard against in the future by all in the team. And that reminds me of another little story, if I might be permitted to digress for a moment. A few years ago, the team actually turned the tables on me by getting my pal David Nixon to invite me on what I thought was his show, but what turned out to be a cover for him to spring the surprise on me.

Knowing that I often call my wife from the studios, and remembering the near miss with Sacha, they actually re-routed one of my calls. When I put through a call from my dressing room at Euston to Grainne at home we had a short and pleasant conversation alright. But what I didn't know was that she was taking the call in a dressing room at our Teddington studios where they were all waiting for me to arrive.

But back to Sacha, and another husband's call home that put us on the trail of the elusive priest.

Frustrated by having made no headway, Malcolm Morris decided to let his French-born wife, Anna, in on the secret in the million-to-one chance that she might be able to help. The longshot paid off. Anna, using her native French and summoning the help of her own friends and relatives in France, tracked down the priest, Pere Domaigne, to the Institution Conception, Laval in Layenne.

Using all her natural charm, she asked if he remembered the little boy called Sacha. Would he join in our tribute? Would he take the next plane to England? We were delighted when we heard the news that he was on his way. But as I prepared to leave for the Talk of the Town he had still not arrived.

I had been smuggled in to the London nightspot and was only a few yards from Sacha when I eventually got the confirmation that Pere Domaigne would definitely be with us. It brought a boost of adrenalin during the agonising wait in the wings while Sacha wooed the audience with his songs. Even though I knew there was little chance of Sacha coming off stage during the middle of his act, the little voice that always nags away at one's mind on these occasions kept saying that it was just possible that he might get – if you'll pardon the expression – a frog in his French throat, and come off stage for a glass of water and spot me.

The moment I heard the surge of his closing applause I was on my way out there to join him, to offer The Book and tell the surprised Sacha – and the amazed audience – that we were going to tell his story right there and then.

Pere Domaigne helped hide Sacha from the enemy during the war. This was the moment when they met again for the first time in 30 years.

Scriptwriter Roy Bottomley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is Your Life: The Story of Television's Famous Big Red Book...

...he knew what the show was all about because we had surprised him back in 1971 when he flew in from Paris to top the bill at the Talk of the Town.

Sacha's parents were Russian immigrants: his father had fought with the French Resistance and his mother was sent to a concentration camp. At a monastery in wartime Paris Sacha's life, and the lives of many Jewish children, had been saved by a French priest. Discovered, the priest had been sent to the notorious Dachau concentration camp.

Pere Domaigne was his name. We found him, and brought the two together for the first time in thirty years.

Series 12 subjects