Maurice Chevalier

Person

Maurice Chevalier

Acting September 12, 1888

Paris, France

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 "L…

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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.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 2023
    L'Âge d'or de la pub

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  2. 2022
    The Century of Icons

    TV show Self (archive footage)

  3. 2022
    Charles Trenet, l'enchanteur

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  4. 2021
    Rendez-vous With Maurice Chevalier

    Movie Self - Entertainer (archive footage)

  5. 2019
    Les Trésors de Marcel Pagnol

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  6. 2018
    Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  7. 2015
    Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  8. 2003
    Complicated Women

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  9. 1990
    You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  10. 1984
    La Chance aux chansons

    TV show Self (archive footage)

  11. 1984
    Going Hollywood: The '30s

    Movie (archive footage)

  12. 1976
    Bob Hope's World of Comedy

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  13. 1976
    That's Entertainment, Part II

    Movie (archive footage)

  14. 1976
    Hooray for Hollywood

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  15. 1975
    Système 2

    TV show Self (archive footage)

  16. 1974
    That's Entertainment!

    Movie (archive footage) (uncredited)

More credits
  1. 1973
    The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  2. 1971
    Cadet Rousselle

    TV show Self

  3. 1970
    The Aristocats

    Movie Theme Song Performance

  4. 1969
    The Sorrow and the Pity

    TV show Self (archive footage)

  5. 1968
    The Dick Cavett Show

    TV show Self - Guest

  6. 1968
  7. 1967
    Monkeys, Go Home!

    Movie Father Sylvain

  8. 1966
    ABC Stage 67

    TV show Self

  9. 1965
    Show - Charme - Chansons

    Movie Self

  10. 1964
    Chance at Love

    Movie Self (segment "Les interviews-vérités") (uncredited)

  11. 1964
    I'd Rather Be Rich

    Movie Philip Dulaine

  12. 1964
    Panic Button

    Movie Fontaine

  13. 1963
    A New Kind of Love

    Movie Self

  14. 1963
    Der Sport-Spiegel

    TV show Self

  15. 1962
    In Search of the Castaways

    Movie Jacques Paganel

  16. 1962
    The Merv Griffin Show

    TV show Self

  17. 1962
    Jessica

    Movie Father Antonio

  18. 1962
    The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe

    Movie Self - Host

  19. 1961
    Black Tights

    Movie Himself / Narrator

  20. 1961
    Fanny

    Movie Panisse

  21. 1960
    Pepe

    Movie Maurice Chevalier

  22. 1960
    A Breath of Scandal

    Movie Prince Philip

  23. 1960
    Can-Can

    Movie Paul Barriere

  24. 1959
    Startime

    TV show Self