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Maurice Chevalier (September 12, 1888 –
January 1, 1972) was a France|French actor and
popular entertainer.  He was born in Paris, France
in 1888 and made his name as a star of musical
comedy, appearing in public as a singer and dancer
at an early age.


It was in 1901 that he first began in show
business at the tender age of 13. He was singing
at a cafe for free when a well-known member of the
theater saw him and suggested that he try out for
a local musical. He did, got the part, and the
rest is history.

In 1909 he became the partner of the biggest
female star in France at the time, Mistinguett at
the Folies Bergére: they were eventually to
become long-time lovers.  During World War I, he
entered the armed services, was shot in the back,
won the Croix de Guerre and became a prisoner of
war. 

After the war he became popular in United
Kingdom|Britain, and began a film career.  At this
time, he also made his first attempt at a career
on Broadway, but this came to a grinding halt when
he had to give up performing for several months
because of a mental breakdown. By 1929 he had
recovered and moved to Hollywood, where he landed
his first American film role in Innocents of
Paris.  In 1930, Chevalier was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Actor, for two roles: The
Love Parade and The Big Pond.

He returned to France in 1935, and spent most of
World War II in seclusion, though he made brief
appearances, on one occasion as part of a prisoner
exchange. After the war it was alleged that he had
been a collaboration|collaborator with the Vichy
France|Vichy regime, though these claims were
disputed and he was formally acquitted of the
charge.

By the 1950s and 1960s, he rediscovered his
popularity with new audiences, appearing in the
movie musical, Gigi (1958 movie)|Gigi (1958) with
Leslie Caron and Hermione Gingold, with whom he
shared the lovely song "I Remember It Well", and
several Walt Disney films.

Chevalier's trademark was a casual straw hat,
which he always wore on stage with his tuxedo. He
has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1651
Vine Street. The Marx Brothers used Chevalier's
image in a famous sequence from the film Monkey
Business. They stole his passport and each brother
impersonated Chevalier, complete with boater hats,
to get off a boat they had stowed away on. Each
brother sang "If A Nightingale Could Sing Like
You" in their own manner, with Harpo using a
record player on his back for his version.

Maurice Chevalier died on January 1, 1972 at the
age of 83, and was interred in the Cemetery of
Marnes la Coquette, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

Maurice Chevalier's trademark laugh is transcribed
as "Onh-onh-onh," according to the experts on the
topic.


commons|Maurice Chevalier