Editing Dalida (section)

== Early years ==
=== Childhood in Cairo ===
[[File:Dalida 1937.jpg|thumb|Dalida in 1937, aged 4]]
Dalida was born Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti in [[Cairo]], [[Kingdom of Egypt]], on 17 January 1933. Her father Pietro Gigliotti (1904–1945) and mother Filomena Giuseppina ({{née|d'Alba}}; 1904–1971) were born in [[Serrastretta]], [[Calabria]], Italy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dalida.com/biographie/son-histoire.html|title=Dalida site Officiel – Son histoire—du Caire à Paris|website=dalida.com|access-date=19 November 2018}}</ref> Pietro studied music at school and played the violin in taverns; Giuseppina was a seamstress.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.ina.fr/video/I08212886/interview-biographie-de-orlando-video.html |title=Interview biographie de Orlando – Vidéo |language=fr|publisher=Ina.fr |date=10 November 2001 |access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> By birth, Dalida automatically gained Italian nationality through ''[[jus sanguinis]]'' of both Italian parents.

Unable to make a living in their hometown, the young couple moved to the [[Shubra]] district of [[Cairo]] the year they were married, where, between the births of Iolanda's older brother Orlando (1930–1992) and younger brother Bruno (1936), the Gigliotti family [[Mutamassirun|became well established in the community]]. In addition to earnings from Giuseppina's work, their social status benefited when Pietro became [[concertmaster|primo violino]] at Cairo's [[Khedivial Opera House]], and the family bought a two-storey house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dalida.com/biographie/son-histoire.html|title=Dalida site Officiel – Son histoire—du Caire à Paris|website=dalida.com}}</ref>

At 10 months old, Gigliotti caught an eye infection and had to wear bandages for 40 days. Her father would play [[Lullaby|lullabies]] on the violin to soothe her. She underwent eye operations between the ages of three and five. Having to wear glasses throughout elementary school, for which she was bullied, she later recalled: "I was {{sic}} enough of it, I would rather see the world in a blur than wear glasses, so I threw them through the window."  Gigliotti attended the Scuola Tecnica Commerciale Maria Ausiliatrice, an Italian Catholic school located in northern Shubra.

In 1940, [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] took her father and other Italian men from their quarter to the Fayed prison camp in the desert near Cairo. When Pietro was released in 1944, he returned home a completely different person, so violent that Gigliotti and other children in the neighbourhood were scared of him. She later recalled, "I hated him when he beat me, I hated him especially when he beat my mom and brothers. I wanted him to die, and he did." Gigliotti was twelve when Pietro died of a [[brain abscess]] in 1945.

=== Modelling, acting ===

In her teen years, Gigliotti developed an interest in acting due to her uncle's job as a projectionist for a local cinema, and often participated in school performances at the end of the semester. She graduated in 1951, and began working as a [[copy typist]] in a pharmaceutical company the same year. While required to work to financially help her family, Gigliotti still had acting ambitions.

Shortly thereafter, her best friend Miranda encouraged her to compete in Miss Ondine, a minor Cairo beauty pageant which she entered on the assurance that it was just for fun and that her mother would not find out. When Gigliotti unexpectedly won second prize and Miranda won second runner-up, they were photographed and the photographs were published in newspapers {{lang|fr|Le journal d'Égypte}} and {{lang|fr|Le progrès égyptien}}. The next day, when her mother found out, she forcibly cut Gigliotti's hair short. Eventually, her mother relented and Gigliotti left her job to start modelling for Donna, a Cairo-based fashion house.<ref name="Archived copy">{{cite web|url=http://www.rfimusique.com/siteen/biographie/biographie_6177.asp |title=Biographie 6177  |access-date=5 June 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519054443/http://www.rfimusique.com/siteEn/biographie/biographie_6177.asp |archive-date=19 May 2006}}</ref>

Three [[Cinema of Egypt|Egyptian film]] directors cast Gigliotti in their productions: [[Marco de Gastyne]] cast her in ''The Mask of Tutankhamun'' (1954) and [[Niazi Mostafa]] cast her in a supporting role in ''[[A Glass and a Cigarette]]'' (1954),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271179/|title=A Cigarette and a Glass|date=11 September 1955|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> on posters for which she appears with her newly adopted stage name Dalila because, as she explained in 1968, "it was a very frequent name in Egypt and I liked it a lot."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ina.fr/video/I06261352 |title=Dalida à propos du nom Dalida et de son premier play-back – Vidéo |language=fr|publisher=Ina.fr |date=1 January 1970 |access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref>

=== Relocation to Paris and decisive 421 dice game ===

On 25 December 1954, Dalila left Egypt for Paris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.linternaute.com/paris/sortir/dossier/dalida-une-vie/2.shtml|title=Dalida, une vie parisienne -|website=www.linternaute.com}}</ref> Her first residence was a room in an apartment belonging to Gastyne's friend, the impresario Vidal. She met with a number of directors and auditioned for movie roles, but failed each time. Vidal relocated her to a smaller apartment, where her first neighbour was the actor [[Alain Delon]] (who at this time was still unknown to the wider public), with whom she had a brief relationship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.purepeople.com/article/alain-delon-met-en-lumiere-son-histoire-d-amour-avec-dalida_a78336/1|title=Alain Delon met en lumière son histoire d'amour avec... Dalida !|website=Purepeople.com|access-date=21 August 2021}}</ref>

Dalila's difficulty in finding acting work throughout 1955 led her to try singing. Vidal introduced her to Roland Berger, a friend and professor who agreed to give her singing lessons seven days per week for a low fee. He was strict and used to yell, with Dalila responding even more loudly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/looking-back-at-the-troubled-life-of-legendary-egyptian-born-crossover-star-dalida-1.2038|title=Looking back at the troubled life of legendary Egyptian-born crossover star Dalida|website=The National|date=4 February 2017|access-date=21 August 2021}}</ref> Their lessons sometimes ended with her slamming the door, but she always returned the next day. Seeing her progress, Berger arranged for her to perform in the cabaret {{lang|fr|Le Drap d'Or|i=no}} on [[Champs-Élysées]], where she was spotted by Jacques Paoli, the director of another cabaret, {{lang|fr|La Villa d'Este|i=no}}.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.ina.fr/video/I05044917/dalida-a-propos-de-ses-debuts-video.html |title=Dalida à propos de ses débuts – Vidéo |language=fr|publisher=Ina.fr |date=9 October 1966 |access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> Paoli engaged her for a series of performances that proved to be popular, and Dalila received her first attention from the public in France, among whom was [[Bruno Coquatrix]], the director of [[Olympia (Paris)|Olympia]], who invited her to perform in his singing contest {{lang|fr|Les Numéros 1 de demain}}. Coquatrix later said: "[H]er voice is full of colour and volume, and has all that men love: gentleness, sensuality and eroticism." Dalila was also spotted by author and screenwriter Alfred Marchand, who advised to change her name to Dalida, since her pseudonym too closely resembled [[Delilah|the Biblical character]] as depicted in the movie ''[[Samson and Delilah (1949 film)|Samson and Delilah]]''. She immediately followed the advice.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vsd.fr/loisirs/culture-10-choses-a-savoir-sur-dalida-19553|title=Culture 10 choses à savoir sur Dalida – Vsd|access-date=9 May 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612210738/https://www.vsd.fr/loisirs/culture-10-choses-a-savoir-sur-dalida-19553|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 9 April 1956, Dalida participated in the singing contest {{lang|fr|Les Numéros 1 de demain}}, performing "{{lang|fr|Etrangère au Paradis|i=no}}". Prior to the competition, [[Eddie Barclay]], the owner of the largest record label in France, [[Barclay (record label)|Barclay]], and {{ill|Lucien Morisse|fr|vertical-align=sup}}, the artistic director of the newly established radio station [[Europe 1|Europe n°1]], met in Bar Romain (now {{lang|fr|Petit Olympia|i=no}}) and discussed what to do that evening. Barclay wanted to watch a film, whereas Morisse wanted to attend the singing competition, which was being held at Olympia Hall, then the largest venue in Paris. They settled their disagreement by playing 421, a dice game, which Morisse won.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musique.rfi.fr/artiste/chanson/dalida|title=Dalida – Biographie, discographie et fiche artiste|website=RFI Musique|date=3 March 2011|language=fr-FR|access-date=8 May 2018}}</ref> Together with their friend Coquatrix, they were greatly impressed after Dalida won the contest, and arranged a meeting with her. This event was later revisited in [[biopic]]s and books, and became regarded as fateful for Dalida's career. The three men went on to play a large part in launching her career.<ref name="linternaute.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.linternaute.com/biographie/dalida/|title=Biographie Dalida|website=www.linternaute.com|date=2 May 2022 }}</ref>