When openly gay actor Jean-Claude Brialy, a cinema star of the 1950s and
‘60s, revealed that Yves Montand (1921-1991) had a gay affair with a
noted star of French chanson, it sent shock waves throughout France. The
singer was Reda Caire (born Youssef Gandhour; "Caire" means "Cairo" in
French), the son of a high official in the Egyptian government and of a
woman of the Belgian nobility. Reda, who had the right to the title of
Count through his mother, although he never used it, became a major
singing sensation in the 1920s and was a well-established star by the
1930s, appearing in half a dozen films. Though flamboyant, Caire was
extremely popular in the macho city of Marseille, where he met the young
Montand, who was the handsome young son of an immigrant Italian
dockworker. Montand became one of the most celebrated French actors and
singers. In 1944, he was discovered by Édith Piaf in Paris, and she made
him part of her act. Eventually Montand became a huge star with an
international fan base.
Montand became Reda Caire's private secretary and was his lover for nine
months. Caire taught the uncultivated Montand a great deal about
singing, stage presence, wardrobe, and the like. Helene Hazara, a
cultural critic, radio hostess and expert on French chanson, reported
that in Montand’s memoir, he wrote that Reda Claire had made advances to
him, which he refused, but became his secretary. It was a cover-up
attempt, and Brialy's recent outing of Montand's gay affair was no
surprise to Parisians in the know. “In fact," Helene wrote, "everyone in
show business knew that Montand had been Claire's lover. In the '50s,
Montand used to make homophobic jokes about Reda, who called him up one
day and said, 'If you say nasty things about me, I can also tell stories
about you!' "
Helene, who as a journalist has written about Reda Caire, reports that
"Once when I was in Marseille, an old queen told me that Reda, who could
be quite bitchy, had said of Montand, 'C'est étrange qu'un garçon doté
d'un si joli membre puisse sentir si mauvais des pieds' " (It is odd
that a boy with such a beautiful membrum should have such smelly feet.)
Montand, of course, was well-known for the size of his membrum; his
wife, Simone Signoret, used to call Montand "mon etalon" (my stallion).
In an interview with the now-defunct French weekly Gai Pied in the
1980s, Montand admitted as a youth having had sex with boys "like all
the boys from the Meditérannée".
Well, there you have it. Fancy a vacation in the south of France?
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