FRENCH SINGERS: Coccinelle

Here are 4 songs (Je suis une croqueuse de diamants - "I am a gold digger", Je cherche un milliardaire - "I am looking for a billionaire", Chercher la femme - "Look for the woman" and La vie mondaine, the French version of The lady is a tramp) and some rare footage of the famous Coccinelle.

Coccinelle (1931-2006) was the stage name for Jacqueline-Charlotte Dufresnoy, a French transsexual actress and entertainer. Hers was the first widely publicized sexual reassignment case in France, where she was a national celebrity and a renowned club singer.

Born in Paris, she took the stage name Coccinelle (French for ladybug) when she entered show business, making her debut as a transgender showgirl in 1953 at Chez Madame Arthur. She later became a fixture at the famous nightclub Le Carrousel de Paris, which also featured regular acts by other famous transsexuals such as April Ashley. In 1958, she traveled to Casablanca to undergo a vaginoplasty.

She was instantly rendered a media sensation upon her return to France as a woman, reconfigured with a look and stage act based on the prominent sex symbols of the day. In 1958 she appeared in Europa di notte by director Alessandro Blasetti. That same year, Italian singer Ghigo Agosti dedicated the song Coccinella to her, provoking widespread controversy. A biography called Reverse sex came out in about 1962. Coccinelle appeared in several movies: Les Don Juan de la Côte d'Azur (I Dongiovanni della Costa Azzurra) (with Curd Jürgens and Martine Carol) (1962), as herself, Los viciosos (1962), Il pelo nel mondo (1964), Interpol attaque (1964), Días de viejo color (1968), and was the first French transsexual woman to become a major star, when Bruno Coquatrix splashed her name in red letters on the front of Paris Olympia for her 1963 revue Chercher la femme.

Coccinelle also worked extensively as an activist on behalf of transgendered people, founding the organization Devenir femme, which was designed to provide emotional and practical support for those seeking sexual reassignment surgery. She also helped establish the Center for Aid, Research, and Information for Transsexuality and Gender Identity. In addition, her first marriage (she had three husbands total) was the first transsexual union to be officially acknowledged by the state of France, establishing transgendered persons' legal right in that country to marry. Her 1987 autobiography Coccinelle was brought out by Daniel Filipacchi. Coccinelle was hospitalized in July 2006 following a stroke and died that October in Marseille.

Enjoy Coccinelle’s sultry voice and glamour looks!