André Charlot

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Eugène André Maurice Charlot (26 July 1882 – 20 May 1956) was a French-born impresario known primarily for the musical revues he staged in London between 1912 and 1937. He later worked as a character actor in numerous American films.

André Charlot
Charlot in 1912
Born
Eugène André Maurice Charlot

(1882-07-26)26 July 1882
Paris
Died20 May 1956(1956-05-20) (aged 73)
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Actor and theatre manager
SpouseFlorence Gladman (m. 1956)
Children2

Born in Paris, where his father was a theatre manager, Charlot made most of his pre-Second World War career in the West End of London, where he successfully imported and adapted the Parisian genre of intimate revue. He was known for his ability in talent spotting and played an important part in the early careers of many performers, composers and writers, including Jack Buchanan, Noël Coward, Jack Hulbert, Gertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, Jessie Matthews and Ivor Novello.

Life and career

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Early years

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Charlot was born in Paris on 26 July 1882, the eldest of three children of Jules Charles Maurice Charlot and his wife, Jeanne Sargine née Battu.[1] Charlot senior was a theatre manager and secretary of the Parisian Association of Theatre Directors; his wife was the daughter of a Swiss goldsmith. It was an affluent household, based in the Rue Boissy d'Anglas near the Place de la Concorde, with staff including an English governess for the children.[1][2]

Charlot studied first at the Lycée Condorcet and then at the Paris Conservatoire before working for his father. His biographer James Ross Moore records that by 1902 Charlot was writing theatrical news and gossip for Parisian magazines and travelling to London to sign talent for the Théâtre du Châtelet.[1] In 1905 he was appointed assistant manager, under his father, of the newly restored Théâtre du Palais-Royal,[3] after which he moved to the Folies-Bergère in 1908 as business manager.[1] In 1910 he opened a theatrical agency in Paris. On 5 August 1911 he married an English dancer, Florence Gladman (1891–1956).[2] They had one son and one daughter.[4]

Among those for whom Charlot's agency provided performers was the English actor and impresario George Grossmith, Jr. who invited Charlot to work for him in London. From 1912 to 1914 Charlot was the manager of the Alhambra in Leicester Square, one of the West End's larger theatres, with a capacity of 4,000,[5] presenting spectacular, large-scale shows.[1]

Peak years

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In 1914 the British impresario Charles B. Cochran had an unexpected box-office success in the West End with what Moore calls a "bare-bones" revue.[1] His Odds and Ends, starring his discovery Alice Delysia, dispensed with spectacular décor and huge casts in favour of a more intimate style with modest staging – one critic commented that Cochran had spared no economy in mounting the revue.[6] The style appealed to the public and the show ran for more than 500 performances.[6] Charlot, familiar with intimate revue from his years in Paris,[4] was quick to follow Cochran's example in London.[7]

 
Gertrude Lawrence in Charlot's London Calling (1923)
 
Lawrence with Noël Coward in London Calling

The writer Eric Maschwitz says of Charlot:

Endowed with an almost feminine artistic taste and a shrewd eye for theatrical talent on the performing side, he produced between 1915 and 1935 thirty-six revues in the west end of London [including] 5064 Gerrard (1915), Some (1916), Buzz-Buzz (1918), Jumble Sale (1920), Pot Luck and A to Z (1921), Charlot's Revue 1924–5, Charlot's Show of 1926, Charlot's Masquerade (1930), and Charlot's Char-a-Bang! (1935).[4]

For his revues Charlot chose theatres of modest size, such as the Vaudeville, which seated 700.[8] A typical Charlot show featured a small orchestra, and onstage up to six stars backed by an ensemble who could all sing, dance and act. Imaginative lighting replaced opulent stage sets, allowing for quick changes of scene between short sketches. Moore writes that to this formula Charlot added an "undefinable style".[1]

Charlot was adept at discovering and encouraging new talent. Among the performers he featured at or near the beginning of their careers were Binnie Hale, Gertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, Jessie Matthews, Phyllis Monkman, Jack Buchanan and Jack Hulbert. His writers included Ronald Jeans and Dion Titheradge; among the composers were Ivor Novello and Philip Braham; and, as writer, composer and performer, there was Noël Coward, who co-wrote and co-starred in Charlot's London Calling (1923–24), for which Fred Astaire provided choreography.[1][9]

Coward learned from Charlot that it was not enough for a revue to have first-rate songs and sketches: it was vital to present them in the most effective order. Coward recalled:

He would have the names of all the numbers in the revue printed on separate cards, place them on his desk and then, as though playing Patience, juggle with them and go on moving them about, shifting them again and again until he was satisfied that they were in the right running order.[10]

Charlot kept his revues fresh by renewing the numbers during a run. There were, for instance, three editions of London Calling with new songs and sketches added to the second and third.[11]

Charlot had a major success on Broadway with Charlot's Revue of 1924, a compilation of numbers and sketches, mainly by Coward, from Charlot's West End shows.[12] It took New York by storm – The Daily News reported "The Charlot Revue sets crowd cheering" [13] – established Buchanan, Lawrence, Lillie and Matthews on the New York stage and, in the words of the theatre historians Mander and Mitchenson, "at last established intimate revue on the other side of the Atlantic".[12] The show ran on Broadway for 298 performances and then went on tour in the US and Canada.[14]

According to Maschwitz, Charlot was the first leading London producer to recognise the potentialities of broadcasting, associating himself actively with the production of almost fifty Charlot's Hour programmes for BBC radio.[4]

Later years

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With the Great Depression, theatre attendance dropped dramatically, and Charlot was forced into temporary bankruptcy after the failure of his revue Wonder Bar in 1930. That same year he collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock, Hulbert, and Paul Murray on direction of the film Elstree Calling.[15] After producing a series of smaller London revues, he moved to Hollywood, where between 1942 and 1955 he appeared in 50 films, often in small, uncredited roles. According to Moore his most memorable role was the probably "the fearsomely condemning cardinal" in The Song of Bernadette.[1]

Charlot had taken British citizenship in 1922,[4] and American citizenship in 1944.[1] He died in Hollywood on 20 May 1956 and was buried there on 25 May.[1]

Films

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Year Title Role Notes
1942 The Falcon's Brother Leon Savitski Uncredited
Here We Go Again Indian Chief Uncredited
Arabian Nights Bidder Uncredited
1943 The Falcon Strikes Back Bruno Steffen
They Came to Blow Up America Zugholtz
Above Suspicion Paris Cafe Manager Uncredited
The Constant Nymph Dr. Renee
Thumbs Up E. E. Cartwright
The Man from Down Under Father Antoine
The Fallen Sparrow Pete Uncredited
Melody Parade Carroll White
The Song of Bernadette Bishop of Nevers Uncredited
1944 Passage to Marseille Judge Uncredited
Action in Arabia Andre Leroux
The Heavenly Body Dr. Burns Uncredited
Summer Storm Mr Kalenin
1945 Delightfully Dangerous Prof. Bremond Uncredited
Lady on a Train Man with Carnation Uncredited
The Dolly Sisters Monsieur Philippe Uncredited
Paris Underground Patriot Uncredited
This Love of Ours M. Flambertin
Yolanda and the Thief Dilettante Uncredited
What Next, Corporal Hargrove? Restaurant Proprietor Uncredited
1946 O.S.S. French Importer Uncredited
Deadline for Murder Gordon Uncredited
Rolling Home Dr Clark
The Razor's Edge Bishop at Elliott's Deathbed Uncredited
Temptation Prof. Dupont
The Falcon's Adventure Enrico Braganza Uncredited
1947 The Foxes of Harrow Dr. Terrebone Uncredited
Song of Love Pompous Gent Uncredited
Mourning Becomes Electra Dr. André Hamel - Christine's Father Uncredited
1948 Saigon Priest Uncredited
Julia Misbehaves Theater Doorman Uncredited
1949 The Great Sinner Distinguished Man Uncredited
I Was a Male War Bride French Minister Uncredited
That Forsyte Woman Gallery Director in Paris Uncredited
1950 Under My Skin Waiter Uncredited
Annie Get Your Gun French President Emile Loubet Uncredited
The Toast of New Orleans Dignified Man Uncredited
Breakthrough
The Du Pont Story Peter Bauduy
1951 Rich, Young and Pretty Justice of the Peace Uncredited
The Law and the Lady Maire D'Hotel Uncredited
Here Comes the Groom French Doctor Uncredited
Flame of Araby Court Physician Uncredited
1952 Lovely to Look At Creditor Uncredited
The Snows of Kilimanjaro Guest Uncredited
1953 The Mississippi Gambler Keith Uncredited
1954 Rhapsody Stage Doorman Uncredited
1955 Interrupted Melody Monsieur Bertrand Uncredited, (final film role)
Source: British Film Institute.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Moore, James Ross. Charlot, (Eugene) André Maurice (1882–1956), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2011. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  2. ^ a b " Eugène André Maurice Charlot", Paris, France, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1555-1929, via Ancestry Institution. Retrieved 3 February 2024
  3. ^ "La soirée", Le Figaro, 13 October 1905, pp. 3–4
  4. ^ a b c d e Maschwitz, Eric. "Charlot, André Eugene Maurice (1882–1956)", Dictionary of National Biography, 1971 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  5. ^ Mander and Mitchenson (1968), p. 45
  6. ^ a b Mander and Mitchenson (1971), p. 29
  7. ^ Mander and Mitchenson (1971), p. 30
  8. ^ Parker, p. 1164
  9. ^ Mander and Mitchenson (2000), pp. 74–77
  10. ^ Mander and Mitchenson (1971), p. vii
  11. ^ Mander and Mitchenson (2000), p. 77
  12. ^ a b Mander and Mitchenson (1971), p. 32
  13. ^ Mantle, Burns. "The Charlot Revue sets crowd cheering", The Daily News, 10 January 1924, p. 26
  14. ^ "Charlot's Revue of 1924", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 4 February 2024; "Charlot's Revue", St Louis Globe-Democrat, 21 December 1924; and "His Majesty's", The Montreal Star, 24 November 1924, p. 6
  15. ^ "Elstree Calling (1930)". Archived from the original on 30 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Andre Charlot". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018.

Sources

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Further reading

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