Marie-Hélène Dauphin, better known as Marie Dauphin (born April 20, 1964) is a French singer, kids' TV show host, comedian and actress.
She first trained in circus arts in the school of Annie Fratellini. She is most well known for performing the opening songs of various animated series in The '80s, particularly the local ones for Clémentine and The Rose of Versailles (or Lady Oscar, per how the French call the latter).
She replaced her colleague Dorothée as co-host of the Antenne 2 channel's kids' show Récré A2 after the former's departure for TF1 until the show's end in 1988.
Tropes & Trivia in her works:
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: She sang the French opening song for The Rose of Versailles, which is very different from the Japanese one (more perky and not at all about love, among other things).
- Breakaway Pop Hit: Her song for the French series Bibifoc (Seabert) managed to stay in the Top 50 French charts for 9 months, which is very unusual for a cartoon opening song.
- Creator Backlash: She's never been too fond of the cartoon Bibifoc and its Scatting-heavy song (producer Jacqueline Joubert pressed her into doing it, she expected every Antenne 2 kids show TV host to be able to sing), although she acknowledged the cartoon's Green Aesop was spot on. She even rewrote the song with a more modern sensibility in later years.
- Friendship on the Set: She became friends with the late cartoonist Cabu on the set of Récré A2.
