Maurice Chevalier, with a double career as an actor and singer, is still one of the most famous French artists in the world. The international symbol of the « French lover » was born in 1888 in Paris.

He started to sing in the caf’conc’ of Mémilmontant where he fell in love with the singer Fréhel. In 1909, he left her for another famous singer: Mistinguett.Seen as the typical dandy of the Années folles, he became popular with two songs written by Albert Willemetz: « Valentine » and « Dans la vie faut pas s’en faire ».

In 1928, Maurice Chevalier married Yvonne Vallée and went to Hollywood for a brilliant new career in cinema with a total of 47 movies. In 1935, he triumphed in France with few new songs: « Prosper », « Ma pomme » (1936), and « Y’a d’la joie » (1937) written for the young Charles Trenet. After the difficult years of the 1940s, he was back in business in 1958 with « Le silence est d’or », a movie by René Clair. He also played in « Ariane » (Billy Wilder) and « Gigi » (Vincente Minnelli) which won nine Oscars.

His musical career restarted in 1963 with « Le twist du canotier », a song recorded with Les Chaussettes Noires. Then, Maurice Chevalier decided to support a young new singer: Mireille Mathieu. He finally retired from the stage in 1968 and died in 1972, January 1st: “Momo” was 83 years.