Dalida was the professional name of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, an Italian-born singer and actress who became a naturalized French citizen. Born in Cairo in 1933, she built an international career and was reported to have sold more than 140 million records worldwide. Her best known songs include "Bambino", "Gigi l'amoroso" and "Paroles, paroles", the last featuring spoken word by the film star Alain Delon. Her career ended with her death by suicide in 1987, after years of struggling with depression.
Early life in Cairo
Born to Italian parents who had emigrated to Egypt, Gigliotti grew up in the Shubra district of Cairo. Her father played the violin professionally, and the family's circumstances were affected by the Second World War, when Allied forces interned Italian men from the community. She developed an interest in acting while still at school, and after a brief stint as a copy typist she began modelling. Her early film appearances in Egyptian productions, including a supporting role in A Glass and a Cigarette, led her to adopt the stage name Dalida.
Rise as a singer
In 1954 she moved to Paris, where she struggled to find acting work and turned to singing after taking lessons. Her first success came with "Bambino" in 1956, after she signed with the Barclay record company. She then became the top-selling recording artist in France between 1957 and 1961, and her music charted in many countries in Europe and Latin America. She also collaborated with singers such as Julio Iglesias, Charles Aznavour and Petula Clark.
Later career and death
Her film work returned later with The Sixth Day, a 1986 film directed by Youssef Chahine that critics praised but that failed commercially in France. Her life was marked by the suicide of her partner, the singer Luigi Tenco, in 1967, which deeply affected her, though she continued recording and performing. She died by suicide from a drug overdose on 3 May 1987, after many years of depression.