Luis Mariano was born in 1914 in Irun, Spain. His family ran away from the Spanish civil war and settled in Bordeaux, France for a while. He started there the school of the Beaux-Art, showing some talent with drawing. Besides, he successfully passed the entrance examinations to the Municipal Conservatory of Bordeaux (regional school of arts) where he showed talent for singing. Luis Mariano became famous in France in the 50s with the light opera "La Belle de Cadix". His fame grew even more with "Le chanteur de Mexico" and "Violettes Imperiales", light operas on stage which became films. He enjoyed then a huge popularity and fans went even totally crazy about him. He sang with Bourvil and Annie Cordy. Luis Mariano had a unique voice and a unique style. Luis Mariano died in 1970, totally used up after numbers of roadshows and tours, in the most dreadful financial situation, forgotten by all. He was known to be an extremely cheerful person, enjoying life to the full, over generous with his friends and loving. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.