Singer. Born Monique Andrée Serf in Paris, the daughter of Esther Brodsky of Tiraspol, Moldavia and Jacques Serf, a fur salesman from Alsatia. Raised in Marseille and Roanne, during World War II, the family fled to Vichy France after being denounced as Jews, and went into hiding. After the Liberation, she studied briefly at the Conservatoire de Paris, where she won two prizes for classical singing. She left home in 1950, staying in Brussells, then Charleroi, where she began singing in a cabaret under the stage name Barbara. In 1957 she made her first record single, and in 1961 she got her first big break when she performed at the Bobino Music-Hall in Montparnasse. She signed her first recording contract in 1964 with Philips Records. To growing popularity through the 1960s, she recorded the popular songs, "Ma plus Belle Histoire d'Amour c'est Vous," "L'Aigle noir," "Nantes," "La Solitude," "Göttingen," and "Une Petite Cantate." She released the best selling album "Barbara chante Barbara" in 1965. She was the first popular female French singer to perform her own material. In 1970 she made her acting debut in the stage play "Madame" and in 1971 she co-starred in the French release film, "Franz" for which she wrote the theme song, "Moi, je me balance." She starred in "L'Oiseau rare" (1977) and her final film role, "Je suis né à Venise" (1977). She appeared on several French television shows during the 1970s and embarked on a world tour. Her album, "Seule," was one of France's top releases of 1981. In 1982 she was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque. She co-wrote the music for the stage play "Lily Passion" and released it as a soundtrack in 1986. In 1988 the French government awarded her the Legion of Honor. Her final, self named album, released in 1996, sold over a million copies in less than a day. She began writing her memoirs but succumbed to respiratory disease before their completion.