Maurice Chevalier
Birthday:
12 September 1888, Paris, France
Birth Name:
Maurice Auguste Chevalier
Height:
179 cm
Maurice Chevalier's first working job was as an acrobat, until a serious accident ended that career. He turned his talents to singing and acting, and made several short films in France. During World War I he enlisted in the French army. He was wounded in battle, captured and placed in a POW camp by the Germans. During his captivity he learned ...
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Maurice Chevalier's first working job was as an acrobat, until a serious accident ended that career. He turned his talents to singing and acting, and made several short films in France. During World War I he enlisted in the French army. He was wounded in battle, captured and placed in a POW camp by the Germans. During his captivity he learned English from fellow prisoners. After the war he returned to the film business, and when "talkies" came into existence, Chevalier traveled to the US to break into Hollywood. In 1929 he was paired with operatic singer/actress Jeanette MacDonald to make The Love Parade (1929). Although Chevalier was attracted to the beautiful MacDonald and made several passes at her, she rejected him firmly, as she had designs on actor Gene Raymond, who she eventually married. He did not take rejection lightly, being a somewhat vain man who considered himself quite a catch, and derided MacDonald as a "prude". She, in turn, called him "the quickest derrière pincher in Hollywood". They made three more pictures together, the most successful being Love Me Tonight (1932). In the late 1930s he returned to Europe, making several films in France and England. World War II interrupted his career and he was dogged by accusations of collaboration with the Nazi authorities occupying France, but he was later vindicated. In the 1950s he returned to Hollywood, older and gray-headed. He made Gigi (1958), from which he took his signature songs, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and "I Remember it Well". He also received a special Oscar that year. In the 1960s he made a few more films, and in 1970 he sang the title song for Walt Disney's The AristoCats (1970). This marked his last contribution to the film industry. Show less «
Love the public the way you love your mother.
Love the public the way you love your mother.
An artist carries on throughout his life a mysterious, uninterrupted conversation with his public.
An artist carries on throughout his life a mysterious, uninterrupted conversation with his public.
[on why he preferred personal appearances to films] The cinema is rather like a beautiful woman whom you would court only by telephone.
[on why he preferred personal appearances to films] The cinema is rather like a beautiful woman whom you would court only by telephone.
Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative.
Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative.
[on Jeanette MacDonald] I later heard her referred to as the "Iron Butterfly", although I was surprised to hear that she found that amusing....Show more »
[on Jeanette MacDonald] I later heard her referred to as the "Iron Butterfly", although I was surprised to hear that she found that amusing. I never thought she had much of a sense of humor. When we worked together she always objected to anyone telling a risqué story. Show less «
Many a man has fallen love with a girl in a light so dim he would not have chosen a suit by it.
Many a man has fallen love with a girl in a light so dim he would not have chosen a suit by it.
[on Clara Bow] Clara Bow, with her tousled mane of red hair and intense black eyes, who generated sex appeal and excitement with breathtakin...Show more »
[on Clara Bow] Clara Bow, with her tousled mane of red hair and intense black eyes, who generated sex appeal and excitement with breathtaking ease. Show less «
[on Grace Kelly] Grace Kelly was a Dresden doll, I thought, with a kind of platinum beneath the delicate porcelain, a beautiful girl who I f...Show more »
[on Grace Kelly] Grace Kelly was a Dresden doll, I thought, with a kind of platinum beneath the delicate porcelain, a beautiful girl who I felt was always in control of her world. Show less «
[In response to a contract offer from Irving Thalberg if he would consent to a screen test] Either people are interested in hiring me or the...Show more »
[In response to a contract offer from Irving Thalberg if he would consent to a screen test] Either people are interested in hiring me or they're not. I don't audition any more. Show less «
I am too old for women, too old for that extra glass of wine, too old for sports. All I have left is the audience, but I have found it quite...Show more »
I am too old for women, too old for that extra glass of wine, too old for sports. All I have left is the audience, but I have found it quite enough. Show less «
Maurice Chevalier's Photos
