Félix Mayol (18 November 1872 – 26 October 1941) was a French singer and entertainer.

Career

Mayol was born in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, France. His parents, amateur singers and actors, arranged for Felix to make his debut stage at six years of age. In 1895, he went to the

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

Quarter of Paris where he began a career in entertainment that spanned more than forty years. He adopted a campy effeminate manner on stage as part of his theatrical persona.Michael Freedland, ''Maurice Chevalier'', Morrow, 1981, p. 28. He sang the famous song "Viens poupoule, viens poupoule, viens...", and performed many songs by

Théodore Botrel Jean-Baptiste-Théodore-Marie Botrel (14 September 1868 – 28 July 1925) was a French singer-songwriter, poet and playwright. He is best known for his popular songs about his native Brittany, of which the most famous is ''La Paimpolaise''. Durin ...

. In the early years of the 20th century some of Mayol's performances were captured by an early form of talking picture. He would record his voice, then the motion picture camera would film him as he lip-synced to the record. Several of his Phonoscènes exist.

Other activities

The teenaged Maurice Chevalier took a risk by impersonating Mayol in small-time cafe entertainments,Hugh MacDiarmid, ''Selected Essays of Hugh MacDiarmid'', University of California Press, 1970, p. 106. Mayol reportedly recognised the young man's talent and gave him his blessing, which led Chevalier to the Casino de Paris and 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 ...

. Shortly after World War I, he purchased a plot of land in Toulon and donated it to the local sports club,

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also known as RCT but usually Toulon; oc, Rugbi Club Tolonenc) is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. A current participant in the first-tier Top 14 competition, they ...

, for the building of a stadium. The facility, named Stade Mayol in his honor, remains in use today (after several renovations) as the home ground for the Toulon

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

team.

Personal life

Mayol never married, and many stories circulated of his homosexual liaisons, including an attempt to seduce Chevalier. His brother, Charles Mayol, founded a music publishing company to print his works.

Selected filmography

* ''

To the Polls, Citizens ''To the Polls, Citizens'' (French: ''Aux urnes, citoyens!'') is a 1932 French comedy film directed by Jean Hémard and starring Léon Belières and Henri Poupon Henri Poupon (1884–1953) was a French stage and film actor.Paietta p.128 He work ...

'' (1932) * '' La dame de chez Maxim's'' (1933)

External links

Notes

1872 births 1941 deaths Musicians from Toulon French male singers French male stage actors French male film actors French male silent film actors 20th-century French male actors {{France-singer-stub