Nostalgia alert! Shirley and Dino made the whole of France laugh in the early 2000s. But what happened to the famous duo?
Spotted by Patrick Sébastien, the comedy duo Shirley and Dino, their real names Corinne and Gilles Benizio, performed on the stage of Largest Cabaret in the world between 2001 and 2004.
With their offbeat humor and their retro outfits (white jacket for him and pink gingham dress for her), the two comedians, husband and wife in real life, made us laugh out loud by playing cousins who were as talkative as they were endearing.
Building on their success, Shirley and Dino began performing to sold-out audiences throughout France. A real consecration for the artists, who cut their teeth in café-theaters.
And that's not all! The two spouses also received the Molière for best sketch show in 2003. Since then, Shirley and Dino have bowed out.
In an interview given to Provence in 2021, the parents of Élisa and Raphaël explained their choice:
«The soul of Shirley and Dino is there, but the characters, their costumes, the Vichy dress, it's gone (…) For us, Shirley and Dino, it's over, it's in the past. Today we look to the future, we have fun in a different way», Confided the couple.
But what happens to the famous burlesque duo?
The duo devotes themselves to an astonishing new passion
Let the fans rest assured! Corinne and Gilles Benizio, now aged 62 and 67, are still part of the entertainment world. They devote themselves with passion to a new activity: that of democratizing opera.
«Now we have time to do opera and we really like it. We like to stage things, it’s a change. We have the impression of continuing in the same vein, of refining what we were doing (…) Making humor accessible in opera is no small matter», Detailed Corinne Benizio to the regional daily.
Photo credit: Veeren / Bestimage
This new project allowed the duo to headline the Festival des nuits de la citadelle in Sisteron, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
Lovers of entertainment, the two spouses do not plan to leave the artistic scene anytime soon.
«We are doing other things and we are also waiting for requests because it is always interesting to start on projects that we have not imagined and others that we have planned.», concluded the sixty-year-old to La Provence.
