Félix Mayol

Félix Mayol was born on Nov 18, 1872 in France. Félix Mayol's big-screen debut came with La dame de chez Maxim's directed by Alexander Korda in 1933, strarring L'évêque.

Félix Mayol (1872-1941) was a popular French singer of the Belle Epoque. Born in Toulon, he had modest debuts on the stages of Toulon and Marseille but became a success in Paris in 1895 as a singer performing in a campy, effeminate way. An anecdote published in his memoirs reports that for lack of finding a camellia, that the elegant men wore at the time on the revers of their frock coat, he took a bit of lily of the valley which became his emblem. The improbable hair tassel he wore (and which gave him the nickname of "the red-toupeed artist" or "flame of punch") became so famous that it inspired many imitators. He knew his first great success in 1896 with La Paimpolaise by Théodore Botrel. In 1900, after a brief stint at the Eldorado where he sang À la cabane bambou, he was engaged by La Scala. It was there that he created the title that would make him both rich and famous: Viens, poupoule! (1902), an adaptation of a German song arranged by Henri Christiné and Alexandre Trébitsch. He returned in 1905 with La Matchiche, the adaptation of a fashionable Spanish dance song. The same year, he performed at Gaumont in 14 phonoscènes under the direction of Alice Guy, such as La Paimpolaise. These were short sound films using a sound on disc system. Several still exist. Already, Mayol had to his credit many recordings on cylinders and on discs.