Maurice Chevalier
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. 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
Lt. Nikolaus 'Niki' von Preyn
The Smiling Lieutenant
Maurice 'Baron' Courtelin
Love Me Tonight
Paul Barriere
Can-Can
Jacques Paganel
In Search of the Castaways
Dr. Andre Bertier
One Hour with You
Count Danilo
The Merry Widow
Robert Fleury
Pièges
Self - Entertainer (archive footage)
Rendez-vous with Maurice Chevalier
Honoré Lachaille
Gigi
Claude Chavasse
Love in the Afternoon
Count Alfred Renard
The Love Parade
Prince Philip
A Breath of Scandal
Maurice Chevalier
The Stolen Jools
Maurice Chevalier
Pepe
Panisse
Fanny
Father Antonio
Jessica
Monsieur Rene
A Bedtime Story
Pierre Mirande
The Big Pond
Émile Clément
Le silence est d'or
Maurice Chevalier (uncredited)
Make Me a Star
Duc de St. Cloud
Count Your Blessings
Philip Dulaine
I'd Rather Be Rich
Victor Larnois
Avec le sourire
Eugene Charlier / Baron Fernand Cassini
Folies Bergère
Le royaume nain de Lilliput contre Gigas le long, prince des géants
Massimo (segment "Amore 1954")
Cento anni d'amore
Self (archive footage)
Paris 1900
Self
Hollywood on Parade No. A-5
Self (archive footage)
L'Âge d'or de la pub
Albert Loriflan
Playboy of Paris
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Himself / Narrator
1-2-3-4 ou Les Collants noirs
Gaston de Nerac 'Paragot'
The Beloved Vagabond
François Verrier
Break the News
Maurice Marney
Innocents of Paris
Albert Lorifian
Le Petit Café
Self (archive footage)
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Self (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
Eugene Charlier / Baron Cassini
L'homme des Folies Bergère
Fontaine
Panic Button
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
Apache
Paramount on Parade
Maurice Vallier aka 'Ma Pomme'
Ma pomme
Maurice Chevalier
Riviera Dream
La Valse à la mode
Father Sylvain
Monkeys, Go Home!
François
The Way to Love
Comte André de Courvallon
J'avais sept filles
Self
A New Kind of Love
The King
Le Roi
Alfred Boulard
L'Homme du jour
Caston de Nerac
Le Vagabond bien-aimé
Gaston de Nerac
Le Vagabond bien-aimé
himself
Schlagerparade
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Self - Host
The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe
Self (archive footage)
Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure
Self (archive footage)
Les Trésors de Marcel Pagnol
Self (archive footage)
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
(archive footage)
The House That Shadows Built
Maurice
Jim Bougne, boxeur
Himself (voice)
Monkey Business
Self (segment "Les interviews-vérités") (uncredited)
La Chance et l'Amour
Louis-Philippe Massoubre
Le Mauvais Garçon
Maurice
Par habitude
Momo
Une soirée mondaine
Maurice
L'Affaire de la rue de Lourcine
Gonzague / Maurice
Gonzague
Self (archive footage)
Hooray for Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Charles Trenet, l'enchanteur
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
71
Gender
Male
Birthday
1888-09-12
Place of Birth
Paris, France
Also Known As
Maurice Auguste Chevalier