The family's expulsion from Egypt was traumatic. They struggled financially after François' father fell ill and could not work. Claude found a job as a bank clerk and at night earned extra money playing drums with an orchestra at the luxury hotels along the French Riviera. With a good singing voice, he was offered a chance to sing at a hotel in the fashionable Mediterranean resort town of Juan-les-Pins. Claude's show was well-received and he began to perform at the glamorous night-clubs along the Côte d'Azur. While working in a club in 1959, he met Janet Woollacott; they wed in 1960.