Claude Véga
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Claude Véga | |
|---|---|
 Claude Véga in 1958 | |
| Born | Claude Thibaudat 2 June 1930 |
| Died | 11 April 2022 (aged 91) Paris, France |
| Occupations | Comedian, impressionist, actor |
| Years active | 1958–2022 |
Claude Véga (2 June 1930 – 11 April 2022) was a French impressionist, humourist, and actor.[1] He was widely known as a pioneer of modern stage parody in France.[2][3] Véga became known as one of the first male performers in France to build a career impersonating female celebrities on stage, portraying figures such as Maria Callas, Barbara, Edwige Feuillère and Jacqueline Maillan.[3][4] Although best known for his female impersonations, his repertoire also included male public figures such as Charles Aznavour, Louis de Funès, Yves Montand and Jacques Dutronc.[3][5]
Born Claude Thibaudat in Paris, he grew up in the 9th arrondissement and remained closely attached to the neighbourhood throughout his life.[3][4] During the German occupation of France, he was a childhood friend of future filmmaker François Truffaut, a relationship later documented in accounts of Truffaut’s early years.[3][4] Truffaut would later cast him in a small role in Bed and Board (1970).[3][4]
Career
Originally intending to pursue a career in acting, Véga left commercial studies to take drama lessons.[3][2] To support himself, he performed in Parisian cabarets, notably at Liberty’s (also known as Chez Tonton), where he appeared alongside performers such as Gilbert Bécaud and others from the postwar music-hall scene.[2][4] His early acts included recitations of La Fontaine’s fables delivered in multiple voices, which gradually evolved into full impersonations.[3][5]
By the late 1950s, Véga had gained attention within the Paris cabaret circuit and performed opening acts for major artists, including Édith Piaf, Joséphine Baker, and Charles Trenet.[2][3] His impersonations attracted prominent admirers. After seeing him perform, Maria Callas invited him to appear alongside her in televised programs.[3][4]
During the 1970s and 1980s, he became a regular guest on French television variety shows hosted by Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier, Danièle Gilbert and Patrick Sébastien.[3][4] A 1974 special titled Top à Claude Véga reportedly drew a large national television audience.[3][4] His stage persona was characterised less by caricature than by detailed observation of gesture, speech patterns and vocal nuance.[4]
Alongside his work as an impersonator, Véga appeared in several films, including Paris Music-Hall (1957), La marraine de Charley (1959), All the Gold in the World (1961) and François Truffaut’s Bed and Board.[2][3]
Later career
Around 1990, at approximately 60 years of age, Véga reduced his impersonation performances to focus more fully on theatre and drawing.[3] He appeared in stage productions such as Drôle de goûter, based on texts by Boris Vian, at the Comédie de Paris,[3][2] and later in the musical Piaf, je t’aime, which received nominations at the Molière Awards.[2] He also performed in the play Sylvia, directed by Lars Schmidt.[3]
In addition to his performing career, Véga produced illustrated publications featuring his own drawings, which were described as having a light, naïve style.[3] In 2010, he was made an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.[4][5]
