FERNANDEL
(1931-1968)
I didn't expect making such low success with my Weather Report post so I do what I want and I post something I really wanted to for a long time.
Fernandel is one of french most famous actors within France. His filmography is somewhat any actor would have all wanted to have. He was french autor Marcel Pagnol's favourite actor for his films.
But Fernandel began his carreer as a cabaret singer like many others in the 30s. His carreer exploded with the film Ignace in which he sings (as most of the films he played). The eponymous song of this film brought him as a star very quickly and he never having success even if some of his post war films are a bit worse.
Outside of France, he is mostly known for one of his recurrent character : Don Camillo. But, even if Charles Chaplin, Bob Hope, and Jerry Lewis had become friends of his, he never reached the english or american fame.
Beside his actor job, he never really stopped singing even if, after WWII his discography is les dense.
Fernandel died in 1971, aged 68 after a 40 year carreer whose best musical trace is a TV show recorded in 1968 called "Le Palmarès de la Chanson" from which 2 extracts were taken to illustrate this Baistophe. As an evidence, non french speaking people will hardly understand the songs especially the humour.