Renée Marcelle "Zizi" Jeanmaire (29 April 1924 – 17 July 2020) was a French ballet dancer, actress and singer.
She became famous in the 1950s after playing the title role in the ballet Carmen, produced in London in 1949, and went on to appear in several Hollywood films and Paris revues.
[4] Jeanmaire appeared in film again in 1956, in Cole Porter's Anything Goes with Bing Crosby,[3] but otherwise focused on dance, including Petit's La Rose des vents in 1958 and Cyrano de Bergerac in 1959.
[3][1][5] She performed the song in a dress by Yves Saint Laurent, who became her chief designer for stage and private clothes, and a friend.
The number, with twelve young men carrying pink feather fans, became a signature tune and was repeated in other revues by Petit,[1] who produced more than 60 shows with her.
Almost 50 years later, Vogue magazine viewed Jeanmaire and her peers as representing a guidepost of fashion week celebrity culture.