Celebrated French music-hall entertainer, famous for his straw hat, rolling eyes, protruding lower lip, cheerfully boisterous singing style and risque humor, in films from 1908. One of the most famous and beloved Frenchmen of the century, Chevalier hit his peak in film after the coming of sound, when he was one of Paramount's, indeed Hollywood's pre-eminent stars, appearing in such delightful musical comedies and operettas as Ernst Lubitsch's "The Love Parade" (1929) and "The Merry Widow" (1934) and Rouben Mamoulian's "Love Me Tonight" (1932). Though awarded the Croix de Guerre after being wounded and captured by the Germans during WWI, Chevalier was accused of collaboration in the Second World War. Later exonerated, he emerged more popular than ever, singing, appearing in international films and, in "Gigi" (1958), thanking "heaven for little girls."
Companion
WIFE: Yvonne Vallee. Actor. Married in 1927; divorced in 1935.
Milestone
1908: Film acting debut, "Trop Credule", in France
1914 - 1916: Interned in a German POW camp during WWI; reputedly learend English from other prisoners
1928: First US film appearance, the silent travelogue film, "Bonjour New York"
1929: Hollywood feature starring debut, "Innocents of Paris"
1929: First film with director Ernst Lubtisch and co-star Jeannette MacDonald, "The Love Parade"
1935: Left Hollywood; last film, "Folies Bergere"
1939: Last film for eight years, "Pieges", directed by Robert Siodmak
1947: Returned to films in Rene Clair's "Le Silence est d'or"
1957: Achieved prominence again in Hollywood beginning with "Love in the Afternoon"
1958: Co-starred in "Gigi"
1967: Last feature film role, "Monkeys Go Home!"
1970: Was a song performer for the animated feature "The Aristocats"
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