Dranem (23 May 1869 – 13 October 1935) was a French comic singer,

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

, stage and film actor. Dranem comique comique 1895 BNF Gallica

History

Born Armand Ménard, in Paris, he began working as an apprentice

jeweler A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabrica ...

in a local shop before embarking on a career in entertainment. Adopting the singular stage name of Dranem, a

palindromic A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Pana ...

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of "Menard," he made his debut performance in 1894. In 1895, he performed with fellow newcomers

Félix Mayol Félix Mayol (18 November 1872 – 26 October 1941) was a French singer and entertainer. Career Mayol was born in Toulon, France. His parents, amateur singers and actors, arranged for Felix to make his debut stage at six years of age. In 1895, ...

and Max Dearly in the "Concert Parisien" from where he went on to become a leading music hall entertainer in his own comic absurdist genre. In 1899, he was signed to perform at the famous

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, where he appeared regularly for the next twenty years. Dranem's comedic singing routine brought a loyal following, and his work made him a very wealthy man. In 1910, he purchased the Château de Ris in the town of

Ris-Orangis Ris-Orangis () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Inhabitants of Ris-Orangis are known as ''Rissois''. History The commune of Ris-Orangis was created in 1793 by the merger of the com ...

south of Paris and established a charitable foundation to operate the large building as a senior citizens home for retired performers. On the grounds, a bandstand and an open-air theatre provided entertainment. His "Dranem Foundation" continued to operate until the year 2000, and the property remains a government operated retirement home open to all members of the public. During World War I, Dranem continued his benevolence by performing for the

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

at music halls and for wounded soldiers at military hospitals. Active in variety shows, café-concerts, and as a performer in

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s, Dranem also acted and sang in live theatre and in film. He made his screen debut in the 1902 Gaumont

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

"''Bonsoir m'sieurs dames''" directed by

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. Although he appeared in two more silent films, as well as two 1905

Phonoscène The Phonoscène was an antecedent of music videoKeazor, Henry and Wübbena, Thorsten (eds). "Introduction" to ''Rewind, Play, Fast Forward: The Past, Present and Future of the Music Video'', transcript Verlag (2010) and was regarded by Michel Ch ...

s (an early

Sound-on-disc Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent system ...

system) the advent of synchronized sound film in the late 1920s made him much in demand for screen roles featuring his singing routines. In 1932 alone, he appeared in six films and another six over the next three years. He appeared at the Paris

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

as Buteux in ''

La fille de Madame Angot ''La fille de Madame Angot'' (''Madame Angot's Daughter'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Charles Lecocq with words by Clairville, Paul Siraudin and Victor Koning. It was premiered in Brussels in December 1872 and soon became a success in ...

'' in 1918 and as the caissier in ''

Les brigands ''Les brigands'' (''The Bandits'') is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Meilhac and Halévy's libretto lampoons both serious drama (Schiller's play ''The Robbers'') ...

'' in 1931.Wolff S. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique.'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953. Dranem died in Paris in 1935 at the age of sixty-six and was buried at the Château de Ris.

Selected filmography

* ''

King of the Hotel ''King of the Hotel'' (French:''Le roi des palaces'') is a 1932 British-French comedy film directed by Carmine Gallone and starring Jules Berry, Betty Stockfeld and Armand Dranem.Crisp p.309 It was based on a play by Henry Kistemaeckers. The ...

'' (1932) * ''

Monsieur Albert ''Monsieur Albert'' is a 1932 French comedy film directed by Karl Anton and starring Noël-Noël, Betty Stockfeld and Marcel Barencey.Oscherwitz, Dayna & Higgins, MaryEllen. ''The A to Z of French Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009. p. 167. It w ...

'' (1932) * '' Miche'' (1932) * ''

He Is Charming ''He Is Charming'' (French: ''Il est charmant'') is a 1932 French musical comedy film directed by Louis Mercanton and starring Meg Lemonnier, Henri Garat and Louis Baron fils.Waldman p.43 It was one of a large number of operetta films made durin ...

'' (1932) * ''

Ciboulette ''Ciboulette'' is a French opérette in three acts, music by Reynaldo Hahn, libretto by Robert de Flers and Francis de Croisset, first performed at the Théâtre des Variétés, in Paris, on 7 April 1923. One of the most elegant and refined compo ...

'' (1933) * ''

Court Waltzes ''Court Waltzes'' (french: La guerre des valses) is a 1933 musical film directed by Ludwig Berger and Raoul Ploquin and starring Fernand Gravey, Armand Dranem and Madeleine Ozeray. It was the French-language version of '' Waltz War'', made b ...

'' (1933)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dranem 1869 births 1935 deaths French male singers French male stage actors French male silent film actors French male film actors Male actors from Paris 20th-century French male actors