The star voiced one of the Merry Men in Shrek and narrated the film 500 Days Of Summer.
French actor and singer Jean-Paul Vignon, who enjoyed an eight-decade career in the entertainment industry, has died at the age of 89, it has been confirmed.
Vignon passed away on 22nd March of liver cancer in Beverly Hills, his family have announced.
The actor was best known for his voicework in Shrek and 500 Days Of Summer in later years, but he began his artistic career as a musician in France, performing as part of a cabaret in Paris.
Vignon debuted in the US in 1963 in New York supper Club The Blue Angel, where he opened for stand-up comic Woody Allen.
He went on to appear on Ed Sullivan’s CBS variety shows on eight separate occasions – including one in which he sang a duet with Liza Minnelli.
Vignon also became a regular guest on Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin’s talk shows.
His first role on the big screen came in 1968 with a supporting part opposite William Holden and Cliff Robertson in the war film The Devil’s Brigade.
In later years, the star voiced one of the Merry Men in Shrek, and narrated the film 500 Days Of Summer, starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
He also appeared as Andre in Gilmore Girls and as Monsieur Lazare in Days of Our Lives, and hosted the Canadian show The Sensuous Man.
Alongside his acting career, Vignon was a successful singer. He released his debut album Because I Love You in 1964.
In 1974, he recorded the single You with Farrah Fawcett.
In 1994, the Los Angeles Times penned a profile on Vignon, which read: “Vignon fulfilled the American image of the romantic, singing Frenchman.
“Ironically, rather than compare his voice to such renowned Gallic crooners as Maurice Chevalier and Gilbert Bécaud, Vignon says that he has a Bobby Darin kind of voice, able to sing fast and passionate or gentle and slow.”
The actor is survived by Suzie Summers, his partner, and his daughters Marguerite Vignon Gaul and Lucy Brank.
Vignon was also a grandfather to Lucy’s two children, Leah and Hannah.