Régine

Régine Zylberberg born Régina Zylberberg 26 December 1929 1 May 2022 often known mononymously as Régine was a Belgianborn French singer and nightclub impresario She dubbed herself the Queen of the Night Rachelle Zylberberg was born in Anderlecht Belgium to Polish Jewish parents Joseph Zylberberg and Tauba Rodstein She spent much of her early life in hiding from the Nazis in occupied wartime France Abandoned in infancy by her unwed mother who moved to Argentina she was 12 when her father was arrested by the Nazis She hid in a convent where she was reportedly beaten After the war she sold bras in the streets of Paris Her father Joseph managed to survive the war He opened a cafe in Pariss Belleville neighborhood Known as Régine she became a torch singer by 1953 she was a nightclub manager in Paris She is attributed with the invention of the modernday discothèque by virtue of creating a new dynamic atmosphere at Paris Whisky à Gogo with the ubiquitous jukebox replaced by disc jockeys utilising linked turntables In 1957 she opened Chez Régine in the Latin Quarter which became the place to be seen for visiting celebrities socialites and royalty As Zylberbergs celebrity expanded she established other venues under the name Chez Régines in London New York City Monte Carlo and elsewhere These were ultraselective venues in prime urban locations all featuring her signature discostyle layout Zylberbergs Paris Whisky à Gogo became the inspiration for the later establishment of the Whisky a Go Go nightclub in Los Angeles She also established Jimmyz a nightclub in Monaco in 1974 In the 1970s Zylberberg moved to New York and lived in a suite of the Delmonico Hotel where she opened one of her clubs on the ground floor of the hotel The club served food under the direction of French chef Michel Guérard In the 1970s she designed a line of ReadytoDance evening clothes which were proof against wrinkling and so could be packed which were sold at Bloomingdales In 1988 she was in charge of the Ledoyen Restaurant on the ChampsÉlysées in Paris On 22 April 1996 Zylberberg and her son were arrested for refusing to comply with crew requests and smoking on an American Airlines flight It was alleged that though she was travelling economy Régine had demanded a firstclass upgrade which the airline declined In June 2011 she appeared as Solange in Follies at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC She lived with her husband in SaintTropez She had one son Lionel from her first husband Leon Rothcage whom she married when she was 16 Zylberberg died on 1 May 2022 according to her granddaughter Source Article Régine Zylberberg from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30