Betti, Henri

Ange Eugène Betti (pseudonym Henri Betti) was a French composer and pianist, known as Maurice Chevalier’s accompanist, was born in Nice. He was the son of a house-painter father, whose family had immigrated from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and a fishmonger mother. He attended the Conservatoire de Paris. He was most active from 1941 to 1987. During 1940 to 1945 he accompanied Chevalier and wrote a total of 40 songs with lyrics by Chevalier. The Bibliothèque National de France holds 291 of his musical works. His best-known songs are “C’est Si Bon” (lyrics by André Hornez), “What Can I Do” (lyrics by Edith Piaf) and “The Windmill Song”” (lyrics by Yves Montand). In 1960 he was named Chevalier of the Ordre de Palmes-Académiques. He published his autobiography in 1993.