MAURICE CHEVALIER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Maurice Chevalier was born on September 12th, 1888 in Paris, France with the birth name Maurice Auguste Chevalier.  His career in entertainment first began when he found work as an circus acrobat as well as a cabaret singer.  Sadly, he suffered an injury that ended his acrobatic career.  He then began to focus on his singing and acting talents.  
 
He began appearing on a couple short films in France before he chose to enlist with the French Army during World War I.  When he completed his service, he returned back to his pursuit of a career in entertainment.
 
Maurice had learned English and decided to travel to the United States and pursue a film career in Hollywood.  He signed a contract with Paramount and his first film role was in, "Innocents of Paris" (1929) with Russell Simpson, Sylvia Beecher, John Miljan, George Fawcett and Margaret Livingston, followed by a role "The Love Parade" (1929) starring with Jeanette MacDonald, Eugene Pallette and Lillian Roth, which earned him his first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.  Other films that followed were, "Love Me Tonight" (1929) starring alongside Jeanette MacDonald, Charlie Ruggles, Myrna Loy, Charles Butterworth and C. Aubrey Smith and "The Big Pond" (1930) co-starring Claudette Colbert, George Barbier, Marion Ballou and Andrée Corday, for which he received another Academy Award nomination.
 
Chevalier also returned to Europe and continued making films there as well.  His career was briefly paused during World War II, but as soon as the war came to an end, he came right back to pursuing his acting career.
 
For a while he had some issues returning to the United States due to some of his political views such as performing in Stockholm in a Communist benefit against nuclear arms.  However, his disagreements were soon in his past and he continued working. 
 
His film role in the musical, "One Hour With You" (1932) with Jeanette MacDonald was a big influence in bringing musicals back to popularity in addition to Genevieve Tobin, Roland Young and Charlie Ruggles.  Some of his later film roles were in, "Love in the Afternoon" (1957) starring Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper, "Gigi" (1958) also starring Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, Eva Gabor, Hermione Gingold, Isabel Jeans and Jacques Bergerac, "Jessica" (1962) with Angie Dickinson and "Monkeys, Go Home!" (1967) with Yvette Mimieux and Dean Jones.  His final contribution to the entertainment industry was in 1970 when he sang the title song for Walt Disney's, "The AristoCats" (1970) which features the voices of Eva Gabor, Phil Harris, Pat Buttram, Roddy Maude-Roxby, Paul Winchell, Scatman Crothers, Dean Clark, Nancy Kulp, Gary Dubin, George Lindsey and Sterling Holloway. 
 
He is also remembered for a number of his signature songs such as, "Louise", "Mimi", "Valentine", and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls". 
 
Maurice Chevalier was married twice throughout his lifetime.  His fist wife was Yvonne  Vallée  whom he was married to from 1927 through 1932.  He then married Nita Ray in 1937 and this marriage only lasted until 1946.  He did not re-marry nor did he ever have any of his own children.  He then passed away on January 1st, 1972 in Paris, France after suffering from cardiac arrest due to complications from kidney surgery. He is interred in the Cemetery of Marnes-la-Coquette in Hauts-de-Seine, outside Paris, France and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the Motion Picture Industry. 

 
Filmography

1967 Monkeys, Go Home! 
1964 I'd Rather Be Rich 
1964 Panic Button 
1962 In Search of the Castaways 
1962 Jessica 
1961 Fanny 
1961 Black Tights 
1960 A Breath of Scandal 
1960 Can-Can 
1959 Count Your Blessings
1958 Gigi 
1957 Love in the Afternoon 
1957 The Jack Benny Program 
1954 My Seven Little Sins 
1954 100 Years of Love 
1950 Just Me 
1949 A Royal Affair 
1947 Le silence est d'or 
1939 Personal Column 
1938 Break the News 
1937 The Man of the Hour 
1937 Le vagabond bien-aimé
1936 With a Smile
1936 The Beloved Vagabond 
1935 Folies-Bergère 
1935 Folies Bergère de Paris 
1935 La veuve joyeuse
1934 The Merry Widow
1933 The Way to Love
1933 A Bedtime Story 
1933 L'amour guide
1932 Love Me Tonight 
1932 Une heure près de toi 
1932 One Hour with You 
1931 Monkey Business 
1931 The Smiling Lieutenant 
1931 Le petit café
1930 Paramount en parade 
1930 Playboy of Paris
1930 La grande mare 
1930 The Big Pond 
1929 The Love Parade 
1929 Innocents of Paris 
1923 Bad Boy
1923 Gonzague
1923 Jim Bougne, boxeur 
1923 L'accordeur
1923 L'affaire de la rue de Lourcine 
1923 Par habitude  
1922 Le match Criqui-Ledoux
1917 Une soirée mondaine
1914 Le royaume nain de Lilliput contre Gigas le long, prince des géants
1912 Une bougie récalcitrante
1912 La valse renversante
1911 Par habitude
1911 Une mariée qui se fait attendre
1908 Trop crédules
1908 La valse à la mode