Henri Betti was born at 1 rue Barillerie in the district of
Vieux-Nice in a modest family : his father was a house painter and his mother was a fishmonger. His paternal family originates from the region of
Emilia-Romagna in Italy : his grandfather was born in
Parma and he immigrated to
Nice with his wife and children in 1893. In 1935, he entered at the
Conservatoire de Paris which is then directed by
Henri Rabaud where he studied music in the same class as
Maurice Baquet,
Paul Bonneau,
Henri Dutilleux and
Louiguy. He is the student of
Lazare Lévy for piano class and
Raymond Pech for harmony class. He won a prize of
harmony in 1937. He then headed for a classical pianist, but in 1940, when he has been discharged from military service of
Fortified Sector of the Dauphiné in
Briançon, he crosses the Corsican composer
Roger Lucchesi on the
Promenade des Anglais, who told him that he composed a song for
Maurice Chevalier and asked him to accompany him to the piano when he the present him in his property
La Louque in
Cannes. Maurice Chevalier refuse the song but to ask Henri Betti be his regular accompanist. During the singing tours, he will make him play the
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 by
Frédéric Chopin between songs. Anxious to renew his repertoire, he also asked him to compose songs. Henri Betti then wrote music forty songs with the lyrics of Maurice Chevalier and
Maurice Vandair until 1945 that
Notre Espoir and
La Chanson du maçon in 1941 or
La Fête à Neu-Neu in 1943. Of the fifteen securities singing tour of Maurice Chevalier in 1945, Henri Betti sign fourteen. He joined the
SACEM in 1941 as composer and was appointed
Sociétaire définitif in 1949. After World War II, he knows great success with
Le Régiment des mandolines in 1946 and
Le Chapeau à plumes in 1947 for
Lily Fayol,
Mais qu’est-ce que j’ai ? in 1947,
Maître Pierre and
Rien dans les mains, rien dans les poches in 1948 for
Yves Montand and especially ''
C'est si bon'' in 1947 for
Jean Marco with
Jacques Hélian and his Orchestra. The song is sung by
Yves Montand before becoming a standard international jazz with
Louis Armstrong, who recorded for the first time in New York in 1950 in the English version of
Jerry Seelen. From 1949 to 1983, his music production is abundant : revues for
Le Lido, the
Moulin Rouge, the
Folies Bergère, the
Olympia, the
Stardust and the
Tropicana in
Las Vegas, and many operettas and plays. He has also composed for the cinema in the 1950s and television in the 1960s. His most famous soundtrack is that of
Honoré de Marseille which will nearly 4 million admissions in France in 1957. In this movie,
Fernandel sings three songs composed by Henri Betti and the words by
Jean Manse. Henri Betti and Jean Manse had written a fourth song for the movie, ''
C'est Noël, sung by Fernandel in a scene that was edited out. The song was later sung by Tino Rossi and Georges Guétary. In 1953, he played the role of the composer and accompanist of the company of Jean Nohain in Soyez les bienvenus'' by
Pierre-Louis which he also composed the music for the film. In the early 1950s, he made her singing on stage first as
vedette américaine featuring at the
ABC in 1951 and the
Theatre des Deux Anes, in parisian cabarets as
Le Bosphore and
Chez Tonton, and in summer outdoors in
Nice,
Cannes,
Juan-les-Pins shows. And then as a full-featured except to
Bobino and
Gaumont-Palace. His talent manager was
Johnny Stark. During his career as a musician, Henri Betti worked with the composers
Paul Bonneau,
Gérard Calvi,
Bruno Coquatrix,
Jean-Pierre Landreau and
Rolf Marbot and with the lyricists
André Berthomieu,
Bourvil,
Jean Boyer,
Charlys,
Maurice Chevalier,
Jean Cosmos,
Pierre Cour,
Yves Favier,
Pierre Gilbert,
André Hornez,
Jean Le Seyeux,
Francis Lopez,
Jean Manse,
Jacques Mareuil,
Jean Nohain,
Édith Piaf,
Jacques Pills,
Jacques Plante,
René Rouzaud,
André Salvet,
Pascal Sevran,
Maurice Vandair,
Henri Varna,
Raymond Vincy and
Albert Willemetz. In 1951, he participated with
Albert Willemetz to the foundation of the
Comité du Cœur, relief fund for needy artists under the auspices of the
SACEM, which will be Vice-President. In 1958, he collaborated with
Jean-Pierre Landreau to compose all the music revues of Lido for the company
Lido-Mélodies whose two founding members are
Jean Gruyer and
Pierre Delvincourt. In 1959, he collaborated with
Bruno Coquatrix to compose the music of
Paris mes amours and
Avec (lyrics by André Hornez) which were performed by
Josephine Baker at the
Olympia. In 1960, he wrote the music for the song
Les Étangs de Sologne with the lyrics by
Paul Vialar which was sung the same year by
Jean Philippe in the TV show
Toute la Chanson. In 1971, he participated with
Maurice Lehmann to the foundation of the
ANAO (
Association Nationale des Amis de l’Opérette) which will be Vice-President. He was member of ''Conseil d'administration'' of the
SACD from 1961 to 1975 and of the
SACEM in 1982, 1983, from 1985 to 1987 and from 1989 to 1992. In 1987, he composed the music for his last song with lyrics of
Pascal Sevran : ''C'est à Brasilia'', performed by
Les Sœurs Étienne. In 1993, he published his autobiography, ''C'est si bon !
, published by La Pensée Universelle''. In 2003, he entered the nursing home ''Ger'Home'' in
Courbevoie where he died two years later of natural causes at the age of 87 years. His funeral held at the
Eglise Saint-Pierre de Neuilly-sur-Seine, he is then cremated at the crematorium of
Fort Mont-Valérien and buried in the
Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery (Division 11). == Personal life ==