A French writer and lyricist whose first novel Les Jeux Secs was published aged 19, Dabadie also notably wrote songs including Julien Clerc’s Ma Préférence. As a screenwriter he collaborated with Claude Sautet on a number of films including A Simple Story (1978), and his other credits included Une Belle Fille Comme Moi (1972) and Pardon Mon Affaire (1976).