Dalida - Personal Life

Personal Life

Despite enormous career success, Dalida’s private life was marred by a series of failed relationships and personal problems.

On January 1967, Dalida took part to the San Remo Festival with new lover, an Italian singer, songwriter and actor Luigi Tenco. The song he presented was "Ciao Amore Ciao" ("Bye Love, Bye"), which he sang together with Dalida. Tenco allegedly committed suicide on 27 January 1967, after learning that his song had been eliminated from the final competition. Tenco was found in his hotel room with a bullet wound in his left temple and a note announcing that his gesture was against the jury and public's choices during the competition. Only days earlier, Tenco's wedding to Dalida had been announced. It was Dalida who discovered his body. One month later, Dalida attempted to commit suicide by drug overdose at the Prince of Wales hotel in Paris. She spent 5 days in a coma and several months convalescing, only going back to the stage the following October.

In December 1967, just after her first suicide attempt, she became pregnant by an 18-year-old Italian student, Lucio. She decided to abort but the surgery left her infertile.

In September 1970, her pygmalion, lover from 1956 to 1961 and former husband Lucien Morisse, with whom she was still on very good terms, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

From 1969 to 1971, she had a relationship with philosopher and writer Arnaud Desjardins. However they split, because he was married.

In April 1975, her close friend singer Mike Brant leapt to his death from an apartment in Paris. He was 28. Dalida had contributed to his success in France and she had been the first to visit him in hospital after his first suicide attempt in November 1974.

In July 1983, her lover from 1972 to 1981, Richard Chanfray, committed suicide by inhaling the exhaust gas of his Renault R25 car.

After she broke-up with Richard Chanfray, Dalida had relationships with various anonymous men such as a sound technician, a lawyer, an Egyptian jumbo jet pilot, and lastly a French doctor named François during the period 1986-1987.