Maurice Chevalier - Marnes-la-Coquette, France - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

[FR] D'abord chanteur de « caf'conc' » dans le quartier de Ménilmontant, qu'il contribue à populariser, Maurice Chevalier devient, dans les années folles, un des artistes les plus populaires du music hall français, avant d'entamer une fructueuse carrière d'acteur à Hollywood dans les années 1930.

Deux fois nommé à l'Oscar du meilleur acteur, il tourne notamment sous la direction d'Ernst Lubitsch. De retour en France, il enchaîne les succès et, pendant l'Occupation, continue à travailler jusqu'au début de l'année 19438 ; il est brièvement inquiété à la Libération puis lavé de tout soupçon en 1945. N'ayant rien perdu de son succès, il alterne tours de chant et cinéma en France (Le silence est d'or en 1947, Ma pomme en 1950) et entame une seconde carrière à Hollywood avec le film Ariane en 1957, consacrée par le succès mondial de Gigi en 1958. Après 66 ans de carrière, il annonce une tournée d'adieux en 1967, et donne son ultime récital à Paris sur la scène du théâtre des Champs-Élysées le 20 octobre 1968.

Arborant souvent un canotier et un nœud papillon, Maurice Chevalier et son accent français volontairement forcé représentèrent au long de sa carrière une certaine image de la France et du Français à l'étranger, et notamment aux États-Unis : celle du Parisien typique, gouailleur, souriant, désinvolte et charmeur. Star internationale de son vivant, il est aujourd'hui encore l'un des chanteurs français les plus connus dans le monde13. Plusieurs de ses chansons furent de grands succès populaires, telles que Prosper (Yop la boum), Dans la vie faut pas s'en faire, La Chanson du maçon, Valentine, Ma pomme, Ça sent si bon la France, Ça fait d'excellents Français, sa version de Y'a d'la joie, Thank Heaven for Little Girls ou encore son dernier enregistrement, le générique du film Les Aristochats.

[EN] 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 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 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 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.

He died in Paris, on New Year's Day 1972, aged 83, and was interred in the cemetery of Marnes-la-Coquette in Hauts-de-Seine, outside Paris, France.

Chevalier was a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1651 Vine Street.

(All text taken from Wikipedia)

Description: See Long Description. Date of birth: 09/12/1888 Date of death: 01/01/1972 Area of notoriety: Entertainment Marker Type: Tomb (above ground) Setting: Outdoor Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link] Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Not listed

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