One of the most popular French singers of the 1930s and 40s, second only to Maurice Chevalier, Jean Sablon regularly appeared on American radio and later on, Television. This series for CBS Radio was a continuation of an earlier series he did for the network in 1940. It was temporarily halted during the war, when Sablon relocated to South America and performed extensively there.
The postwar years were especially fruitful for Sablon, having established himself, not only as a singer of some renown but also as a writer of songs, many of which wound up as standards throughout the 1950s.
Hugely popular throughout the world, Jean Sablon exuded the aura of suave sophistication, magnetic charm and a richly sonorous voice that made him a household name.
Towards the end of the 1960s, Sablon resolved to limit his overseas travels and settled into his house at Theoule-sur-Mer on the Côte d’Azur. He was engaged at the Paris Cabaret Don Camillo which became one of the first colored transmissions on TV. In 1971, he was asked by Pierre Granier-Deferre to record “Le Temps des Souvenirs” for the soundtrack of the film “Le Chat”. The 1970s and the 1980s found Sablon performing regularly on TV, not only in France, but in Switzerland, Italy, Brazil and the US. In addition, he regularly offered his services on behalf of charitable causes: The Red Cross Gala in Monaco in 1972, the gala for the restoration of Versailles in 1973 and the International Festival of Song first in Brazil and then in Uruguay.
At the urging of US impresario George Wein and singer-pianist Bobby Short, Jean celebrated his 75th birthday at the Met (Lincoln Center) in New York, appearing with the orchestra of Frank Sinatra, thus making his farewell to his American followers. His Adieux in Paris in 1982 were televised in prime time from the Pavillon Gabriel (the former Alcazar d’Eté) and he made his last performance in Rio de Janeiro at the Copacabana Palace in 1984.
Jean Sablon became the most widely acclaimed male French singer of his generation in the world, considered second only in overall lifetime popularity to Maurice Chevalier, a senior model for him. His records sold in the millions around the world and he is frequently referred to as the French equivalent of America’s Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. During his career, he recorded with some of the world’s top musicians, including Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli.
Sablon appeared in a number of motion pictures and television films performing as a vocalist or pianist, his last being in 1984 when he sang “April in Paris” in Mistral’s Daughter, the popular American TV miniseries filmed in France.
Jean Sablon died in Cannes in 1994 and was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.
Here is one of the regular programs he did for CBS Radio – this one from May 10, 1947.
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