Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian naturalized French singer and actress. Leading an international career, Dalida has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Her best known songs include "Bambino", "Gondolier", "Les Enfants du Pirée", and "Paroles, paroles" featuring spoken word by Alain Delon.
Initially an actress, she made her debut in the film A Glass and a Cigarette by Niazi Mustapha in 1955. A year later, having signed with the Barclay record company, Dalida achieved her first success as a singer with "Bambino". Following this, she became the top-selling recording artist in France between 1957 and 1961. Her music charted in many countries in Europe and Latin America. She collaborated with singers such as Julio Iglesias, Charles Aznavour, Johnny Mathis and Petula Clark.
Although she made a few films during her career as a singer, she effectively reconnected with cinema with The Sixth Day, a film by Youssef Chahine released in 1986. In France, although the film was hailed by critics, it was a commercial failure.
Dalida was deeply disturbed by the suicide of her partner Luigi Tenco in 1967.
From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalida) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode)