| Christina Aziz |
A French actor and singer, born in Paris, France. He was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes and the Honorary Academy Award in 1959. He received a star on the Walk of Fame in 1960. He married actress Yvonne Vallee in 1927, and they separated in 1933, yet he did not marry after that. He is known for The Merry Widow (1934) and Love in the Afternoon (1957).
A French entertainment icon, Chevalier worked as a farmer and a circus acrobat early on in his life. He then started singing in cabarets and appeared in French silent films. After WWI broke out, he joined the French army as an infantryman, but he was captured and placed in a German prisoner camp. After the war ended, he returned to work in short French films, and with the introduction of sound to film, he went to Hollywood.
In 1929, he co-starred with the opera singer and actress Jeanette MacDonald in the film The Love Parade (1929), which achieved great success. They also worked together in other successful films, including Love Me Tonight (1932).
In the late 1930s, he returned to Europe and appeared in many French and English films, but his activity was limited by the outbreak of WWII, during which France was occupied by German forces. He was accused of collaborating with the Nazis during the occupation, but he was acquitted after that, and a long time had passed until he was allowed to leave the country. He then headed again to Hollywood in the 1950s and worked in such films as Gigi (1958). His final work was singing in Disney's film The Aristocats (1970). He died on January 1, 1972 of a cardiac arrest after kidney surgery.
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