Louis Leplée

Life & Legacy

Louis Leplée (7 April 1883 – April 6, 1936) was a French nightclub owner who discovered French entertainer Édith Piaf singing on a Paris street corner in 1935. Leplée starred Piaf at the popular Parisian nightspot Le Gerny's as "La Môme Piaf" (The Little Sparrow) and helped start her career.
In Paris, Leplée operated several nightclubs. His first successful club was Liberty's Bar, but he decided to leave and open a restaurant to take a break from the extravagances of entertainment. After this short break, he returned to the Parisian night life with Le Gerny's where he later employed Piaf as a singer. Leplée also maintained links to the Parisian underworld and was active in Paris's homosexual culture.
Leplée was murdered in his apartment in Paris, on 6 April 1936. Piaf was questioned extensively by the police before being cleared of wrongdoing. The case has never been solved, and there has been speculation and theories of mob involvement in Leplée's death.