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Maurice Chevalier
Actor

Maurice Chevalier

12 Sep 1888Born
1 Jan 1972Died
83Age at death
56Credits

Biography

Maurice Auguste Chevalier (September 12, 1888 – January 1, 1972) was a French actor, cabaret singer and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including "Livin' In The Sunlight", "Valentine", "Louise", "Mimi", and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and for his films, including The Love Parade, The Big Pond, The Smiling Lieutenant, One Hour with You and Love Me Tonight. His trademark attire was a boater hat and 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 menial jobs as a teenager.

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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. 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 hits, "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" and "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 1958, he starred with Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan in Gigi. In the early 1960s, he made eight films, including Can-Can in 1960 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.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Maurice Chevalier, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Filmography

  1. 1984Going Hollywood: The '30sFilm: (archive footage)
  2. 1976Bob Hope's World of ComedyFilm: (archive footage)
  3. 1976That's Entertainment, Part IIFilm: (archive footage)
  4. 1974That's Entertainment!Film: (archive footage) (uncredited)
  5. 1967Monkeys, Go Home!Film: Father Sylvain
  6. 1964I'd Rather Be RichFilm: Philip Dulaine
  7. 1964Panic ButtonFilm: Fontaine
  8. 1962In Search of the CastawaysFilm: Jacques Paganel
  9. 1962JessicaFilm: Father Antonio
  10. 1961FannyFilm: Panisse
  11. 1960PepeFilm: Maurice Chevalier
  12. 1960A Breath of ScandalFilm: Prince Philip
  13. 1960Can-CanFilm: Paul Barriere
  14. 1959Count Your BlessingsFilm: Duc de St. Cloud
  15. 1958Westinghouse Desilu PlayhouseSeries (1 episode)
  16. 1958GigiFilm: Honoré Lachaille
  17. 1957The Lucy–Desi Comedy HourSeries: Maurice Chevalier (1 episode)
  18. 1957Love in the AfternoonFilm: Claude Chavasse
  19. 1954My Seven Little SinsFilm: Comte André de Courvallon
  20. 1954Max Liebman PresentsSeries: Special Guest (1 episode)
  21. 1954100 Years of LoveFilm: Massimo (segment "Amore 1954")
  22. 1950Just MeFilm: Maurice Vallier aka 'Ma Pomme'
  23. 1950Riviera DreamFilm: Maurice Chevalier
  24. 1949A Royal AffairFilm: The King
  25. 1947Silence Is GoldenFilm: Émile Clément
  26. 1939Personal ColumnFilm: Robert Fleury
  27. 1938Break the NewsFilm: François Verrier
  28. 1937The Man of the DayFilm: Alfred Boulard
  29. 1936With a SmileFilm: Victor Larnois
  30. 1936The Beloved VagabondFilm: Gaston de Nerac 'Paragot'
  31. 1936The Beloved VagabondFilm: Gaston de Nerac
  32. 1935Folies BergèreFilm: Eugene Charlier / Baron Cassini
  33. 1935Folies Bergère de ParisFilm: Eugene Charlier / Baron Fernand Cassini
  34. 1934The Merry WidowFilm: Count Danilo
  35. 1933The Way to LoveFilm: François
  36. 1933A Bedtime StoryFilm: Monsieur Rene
  37. 1932Love Me TonightFilm: Maurice 'Baron' Courtelin
  38. 1932Make Me a StarFilm: Maurice Chevalier (uncredited)
  39. 1932One Hour with YouFilm: Dr. Andre Bertier
  40. 1931The Smiling LieutenantFilm: Lt. Nikolaus 'Niki' von Preyn
  41. 1931The House That Shadows BuiltFilm: (archive footage)
  42. 1931The Stolen JoolsFilm: Maurice Chevalier
  43. 1931The Little CafeFilm: Albert Lorifian
  44. 1930Playboy of ParisFilm: Albert Loriflan
  45. 1930The Big PondFilm: Pierre Mirande
  46. 1930Paramount on ParadeFilm: Apache
  47. 1929The Love ParadeFilm: Count Alfred Renard
  48. 1929Innocents of ParisFilm: Maurice Marney
  49. 1923L'Affaire de la rue de LourcineFilm: Maurice
  50. 1923Par habitudeFilm: Maurice
  51. 1923Jim Bougne, boxeurFilm: Maurice
  52. 1923Bad BoyFilm: Louis-Philippe Massoubre
  53. 1923GonzagueFilm: Gonzague / Maurice
  54. 1917Une soirée mondaineFilm: Momo
  55. 1914The Dwarf Kingdom of Lilliput Versus Gigas the Tall, Prince of the GiantsFilm
  56. 1908The Merry Widow WaltzFilm

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.