Bourvil

Bourvil was born on Jul 27, 1917 in France. Bourvil's big-screen debut came with Croisières sidérales directed by André Zwobada in 1942, strarring Un scientifique (as Alain Grimor). Bourvil is known for Les Misérables directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois, Jean Gabin stars as Jean Valjean and Bernard Blier as Javert (père et fils). The most recent award Bourvil achieved is Venice Film Festival. The upcoming new movie Bourvil plays is Les Misérables which will be released on Jan 01, 1989.

At the age of three, André Zacharie Raimbourg and his family moved to a town in the region of Normandy called Bourville. He finished school at the age of 15 and began to work as a baker. He was already playing harmonica, mandoline and cornet when he engaged himself in a village band. In the beginning of 1940 while in the army making music-hall show for the troops, he changed his name into Andrel like his idol Fernandel from whom he was singing the songs. He began to write his own songs, making a name by himself, and so in 1942 took a new name, further from "Fernandel": Bourvil(le). He was recognized as a stand-up comic, dressed as a farmer grown too fast for the shirt he wears, hair coming down on his forehead, a simple minded but crafty naive. At the end of the war the radio extended his fame. His first parts on the screen were based only on this character. It's only in 1956 with La Traversée de Paris (1956) of Claude Autant-Lara that he really began to give his real potential as an actor on the screen. His greatest popular successes will come under the direction of Gérard Oury.