Paris-born singer, dancer and actor whose straw hat, accent, and music-hall persona became an international image of the French entertainer.
Maurice Chevalier was born in Ménilmontant in 1888 and left school at ten to work. After an injury ended his attempt to become an acrobat, he developed a comic singing act and looked for engagements in Paris café-concerts and small theaters.
The singer Mistinguett became his partner in life and on stage. Their act at the Folies Bergère helped turn Chevalier into a leading music-hall performer, and she helped secure his release after he was wounded and captured during the First World War.
Chevalier became a star at the Casino de Paris and built a repertory that included Dans la vie faut pas s'en faire, Valentine, Prosper, and Ma pomme. The straw hat, tuxedo, smile, and consciously exaggerated Paris accent formed a stage character audiences could identify at once.
Sound film carried that character to Hollywood. Paramount required him to retain his French accent, and he worked with directors including Ernst Lubitsch. Later films such as Love in the Afternoon and Gigi returned to the same international image of Parisian charm.
Chevalier continued recording, acting, and touring into his seventies. He began a farewell tour in 1967 and ended it in Paris around his eightieth birthday, bringing a sixty-eight-year performing career back to the city where it had started.
He died in Paris in 1972. His recordings and films preserve both an individual performer and a deliberately constructed version of Paris that traveled widely in the twentieth century.
Born in Ménilmontant, Paris.
Takes a leading role in a revue at the Folies Bergère and forms a celebrated stage partnership with Mistinguett.
Becomes a leading performer at the Casino de Paris.
Begins his first major period in Hollywood sound films.
Appears in Gigi and receives an honorary Academy Award.
Completes his farewell tour in Paris around his eightieth birthday.
Dies in Paris.
Collaborated with · 1910–1920
Mistinguett and Chevalier were romantic and stage partners. Their Folies Bergère act helped establish Chevalier's music-hall career, and Mistinguett used her contacts to help secure his release from wartime captivity.
Collaborated with · 1910–1920
Mistinguett and Chevalier were romantic and stage partners. Their Folies Bergère act helped establish Chevalier's music-hall career, and Mistinguett used her contacts to help secure his release from wartime captivity.
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