Henri André Chapais, known as André Deed (22 February 1879 – 4 October 1940), was a French actor and director, best known for his Foolshead comedies, produced in the 1900s and 1910s. André Deed was one of the first named actors in cinema, and his film series based around Foolshead were a global success.

Life and career

Born Henri André Augustin Chapais in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

on 22 February 1879, Chapais was the son of a customs official. The family moved to

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

when Henri André was young. Unusually for an actor, he attended lycée in Nice, while acting with a small theatre company.

Start of film and stage career

André Deed moved to Paris and began to appear in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

theatre and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

, including at the

Folies Bergère The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trév ...

. In 1901, cinema pioneer Georges Méliès directed André Deed in several films. Deed would later incorporate many of Méliès' trick-shots into his comedies.

Films for Pathé

Move to Italy and world tour

In 1908, Deed negotiated a lucrative move to the Itala studios in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, and he began starring in the ''Cretinetti'' comedy series directed by

Giovanni Pastrone Giovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco (13 September 1883 – 27 June 1959), was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician. Pastrone was born in Montechiaro d'Asti. He worked during the era of ...

, an artist later thought by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

as the father of many innovations often attributed to D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille. Deed worked with an Italian crew consisting of

Alberto Collo Alberto Collo (6 May 1883 – 7 May 1955) was an Italian actor who appeared in more than a hundred and thirty films during his career, mostly during the silent era. During the 1910s he starred in several films directed by Baldassarre Negroni.Molit ...

and

Emilio Ghione Emilio Luigi Carlo Giuseppe Maria Ghione (30 July 1879 – 7 January 1930), known as Emilio Ghione, was an Italian silent film actor, director and screenwriter. Ghione was best known for writing, directing, and starring in the Za La Mort series ...

, two local actors, and her future wife, Valentina Frascaroli. They were amongst the supporting cast in these films. In 1913, Deed embarked on a world theatrical tour with Frascaroli, taking in Europe and Latin America.

World War One

Despite being thirty-five years of age, André was

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

into the reserves. In 1915,

asked him to return to

to continue the Cretinetti series for Itala films. Deed made the feature film, ''Cretinetti e gli stivali del brasilero'' (''Cretinetti and the Brazilian's boots''), which featured

Bartolomeo Pagano Bartolomeo Pagano (27 September 1878 – 24 June 1947) was an Italian motion picture actor. Before his cinema career, Pagano was a stevedore who worked at the port of Genoa. There, he was discovered and selected to play the role of Maciste, a m ...

, the star of

Cabiria ''Cabiria'' is a 1914 Italian epic silent film, directed by Giovanni Pastrone and shot in Turin. The film is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It follows a melodramatic mai ...

and the

Maciste Maciste () is one of the oldest recurring characters of cinema, created by Gabriele d'Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone. He is featured throughout the history of the cinema of Italy from the 1910s to the mid-1960s. He is usually depicted as a Herc ...

series, in a cameo role. By 191X, Deed returned to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and served in various

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

and

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiments. It is likely that he served in the

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from erosi ...

at some point, but nothing is known about his war service, beyond the dates of his transfers between regiments. In 1918, Deed married Valentina Frascaroli. Deed was

demobilised Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

in 1919.

Post-war period: between Italy and France

Deed planned a trilogy of fantasy-adventure films: ''Il documento umano'' (1920), ''L'Uomo Meccanico'' (''

The Mechanical Man ''The Mechanical Man'' (Italian: ''L'uomo meccanico'') is a 1921 Italian science fiction film directed by André Deed (who also starred in the film as the comedic character Saltarello). It was produced in 1920 and released in November 1921. It ...

'') (1921) and Lo strano amore di Mado, which was never made.

End of career

Deed finished his career working as a warehouseman at the Pathe film studios located in the Parisian suburb of Joinville-le-Pont.Le Forestier, Laurent. ''Deed, André.'' Published in: Abel, Richard (ed.). (2005) ''Encyclopedia of Early Cinema''. London: Routledge. Pags 168-169.

Death

André Deed died on 4 October 1940, and is buried at the Cimetière de Thiais, near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. He was survived by his wife, Valentina Frascaroli, who died in 1955.

Pseudonym in various countries

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Cretinetti'' * French: ''Boireau'' and ''Gribouille'' *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Foolshead'' *

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: ''Turíbio'' *

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: ''Glupyshkin'' *

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Toribio'' *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Müller'' * Hungarian: ''Lehmann''

Comic style

Selected filmography

* '' Sowing the Wind'' (1929)

Bibliography

* (Italian) Abrate, Piero and Longo, Germano (1997). ''Cento Anni di cinema in Piemonte.'' Turin: Abacus Edizioni. * (Italian) Brunetta, Gian Piero (2008). ''Il cinema muto italiano.'' Bari: Laterza. * Le Forestier, Laurent. ''Deed, André.'' Published in: Abel, Richard (ed.). (2005) ''Encyclopedia of Early Cinema''. London: Routledge. Pages 168–169. * (Italian) Lotti, Denis (2008). ''Emilio Ghione, l'ultimo apache.'' Bologna: Edizioni Cineteca di Bologna

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deed, Andre 1879 births 1940 deaths French male film actors French male silent film actors French film directors Slapstick comedians 20th-century French male actors Articles containing video clips