Chevalier, Maurice

Chevalier, Maurice (shəvăl`yā, Fr. mōrēs` shəvälyā`), 1888–1972, French singer and film actor. He made his debut in 1900 singing and dancing at the Casino de Tourelles, Paris. As the dancing partner of Mistinguett and as the star of several Paris music halls, he won his public by his charm and inimitable smile; by 1928 his reputation was international. He became famous for his portrayal of the debonair man-about-town, typically sporting a straw hat and a cane. Among his later films are Love in the Afternoon (1956), Gigi (1958), Can-Can (1959), and Fanny (1961).

Bibliography

See his autobiographies With Love (1960) and I Remember It Well (1970); study by G. Ringgold and D. Bodeen(1973).

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Chevalier, Maurice

Maurice Chevalier

(credit: Brown Brothers)

(born Sept. 12, 1888, Paris, France—died Jan. 1, 1972, Paris) French singer and actor. He first appeared as a singer and comedian at the Folies-Bergère in 1909. He spent two years in a German prison camp during World War I. Known for his jaunty straw hat and bow tie and his lively, roguish manner, he went to Hollywood in 1929, where he appeared in movies that helped establish the musical as a film genre, including The Love Parade (1929) and The Merry Widow (1934). He was criticized for entertaining the Germans during the wartime occupation of France. His later films include Gigi (1958) and Fanny (1961). In 1958 he was presented with an honorary Academy Award.

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Chevalier, Maurice 

Born Sept. 12, 1888, in Paris; died there Jan. 1,1972. French singer, film actor.

From 1912 to 1918, Chevalier worked in music hall comedy productions; he later performed on the stage as a chanteur. He became famous in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Chevalier began acting in motion pictures in 1911, appearing in such films as The Love Parade (1931), The Merry Widow (1934), Le Silence est d’or (1947; released in the USA under the title Man About Town), Love in the Afternoon (1956), Can-Can (1962), Fanny (1963), and Captain Grant’s Children (1965, in the role of Paganelle).

WORKS

Ma Route et mes chansons. Paris [1950],
Autobiographic Paris, 1956.
In Russian translation:
“Masterovoi Frantsii.” Teatr, 1974, nos. 7,8,11.

REFERENCE

Pagnol, M. and R. Carlès. Maurice Chevalier. Paris, 1950.