Eddie Barclay

Founder of Barclay Records and the Barclay label. Born Édouard Ruault, the son of a Parisienne waiter, Barclay grew to become the doyen of the French recording industry. From the early 40's, to his death in 2005 aged 84, he also carved a reputation as a playboy and self-confessed scoundrel with the ladies - marrying no less than nine times.

Self-taught on the piano he gained a taste for the industry as a teenager playing in the bar his parents subsequently ran, opposite the Gare de Lyon, where he befriended Mercury in Europe.

It was from this point in the late 50s that Barclay's reputation in French-issue jazz recordings was founded. He released many discs in the new 'microgroove' format via Charles Aznavour, among many other renowned French artistes. He also transcribed jazz recordings, co-wrote and also scored soundtracks for a number of films.

The Barclay trademark of opulence was his ion for the white suit, his ever-expanding house and estate in Saint-Tropez - a location to which he had been introduced by Bridget Bardot - and his lavish celebrity parties which were the stuff of legend and as much a benefit for the paparazzi as for the guests. Following treatment for throat cancer in 1979 he sold 80% of his Company to Guy Marchand), Michele, Daniele, Cathy, Caroline (to whom he was married for 11 years) and his last wife Tiare, whom he married in 2002 on the Tahitian island of Moʻorea. Barclay published his autobiography in 1988. After quadruple heart-by surgery in 1994 he suffered a number of infections in April 2005 and was itted to Hôpital Ambroise Paré, Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, where he subsequently died.
Born: 26th January 1921, Paris, .
Died: 13th May 2005, Boulogne-Billancourt, .