Violetta Villas ( /ˈvɪllæs/; born Czesława Maria Cieślak, June 10, 1938 – December 5, 2011) was a Belgian-born Polish and international cabaret star, singer, actress, composer and songwriter. Her voice was characterized as coloratura soprano. She could play the piano, violin and trombone and had absolute pitch. She has been nicknamed "the voice of the atomic age", "the singing toast of the continent", "a voice like French champagne", "Polish Yma Sumac". Villas was the first star of the Casino de Paris at Dunes Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas (1966–1971). Villas was known for her conspicuous, outstanding appearance and numerous number-one hits on her account. During her career in show business Violetta Villas starred in 6 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded almost 300 songs in 10 languages, including Polish, English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Neapolitan, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese. She was an animal rights activist. In 2011 Villas received the For Merits to Culture - Gloria Artis. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.