FRENCH SINGERS: Maurice Chevalier

Here are several numbers by one of France’s most famous and emblematic performers, Maurice Chevalier.

Maurice Auguste Chevalier (1888-1972) was a French actor, cabaret singer and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank heaven for little girls and for his films, including The love parade and The big pond. His trademark attire was a boater hat, which he always wore on stage with a tuxedo.

Chevalier was born in Paris. He made his name as a star of musical comedy, appearing in public as a singer and dancer at an early age before working in four menial jobs as a teenager. In 1909, he became the partner of the biggest female star in France at the time, Fréhel. Although their relationship was brief, she secured him his first major engagement, as a mimic and a singer in l'Alcazar in Marseille, for which he received critical acclaim by French theatre critics. Chevalier then started a relationship with 36-year-old Mistinguett at the Folies Bergère, where he was her 23-year-old dance partner; they eventually played out a public romance. In 1917, he discovered jazz and ragtime and went to London, where he found new success at the Palace Theatre.

After this, he toured the United States, where he met the American composers George Gershwin and Irving Berlin and brought the operetta Dédé to Broadway in 1922. He developed an interest in acting and had success in Dédé. When talkies arrived, he went to Hollywood in 1928, where he played his first American role in Innocents of Paris. In 1930, he was nominated for the Academy Award for best actor for his roles in The love parade (1929) and The big pond (1930), which secured his first big American hit, Livin' in the sunlight, lovin' in the moonlight.

In 1957, he appeared in Love in the afternoon, which was his first Hollywood film in more than 20 years. In the early 1960s, he made eight films, including Can-can in 1960 (with Frank Sinatra) and Fanny the following year. In 1970, he made his final contribution to the film industry where he sang the title song of the Disney film The Aristocats. He died in Paris, on New Year's Day 1972, aged 83.

A funny fact: when performing in English, he always put on a heavy French accent, although his normal spoken English was quite fluent and sounded more American!

Chevalier has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1651 Vine Street.