Mistinguett
(Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois)
* April 5th 1875, Enghien-les-Bains (France)
† January 5th 1956, Bougival (France)
Most people will know Mistinguett from her famous career as an entertainer at Paris variety stages in the 1920s and 1930s, especially at the Folies Bergère and together with her partner Maurice Chevalier. But she started her career already long before during the Belle Epoque. Her debut was in 1895 at the Casino de Paris. Mistinguett was an outstanding artist as a dancer, singer and actress, mainly at the Folies Bergère, but also at the Moulin Rouge and other music halls. People admired Mistinguett for her performances in phantastic dresses with opulent feather ornaments. She has been in a relationship with Maurice Chevalier for several years. Mistinguett and Chevalier were the most popular entertainers of their time, resembling Gaby Deslys and Harry Pilcer two decades before. Her name derived from a role name, Miss Tinguette, which she turned into Mistinguette and finally Mistinguett. She was also acting in a lot of movies from 1908 until 1955 and was still performing on stage. Mistinguett passed away at age 80.
She was buried at the cemetery of her birth town, Enghien-les-Bains.
Actually it is quite difficult to find vintage original postcards of Mistinguett from her early career for reasonable prices, despite (or because of) her great popularity in France. We focus our postcard collection mainly on her early Belle Epoque career. So if you want to see her gorgeous dresses of the later performances, you have to look at Google or at some of our recommended books.
References:
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Advertisement by Charles Gesmar
for Mistinguett at Casino de Paris 1924-1925
Bibliography:
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Mistinguett: Toute ma vie
(Original French Edition)
René Julliard, Paris 1954
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Pénet, Martin
Mistinguett - La Reine du Music-Hall
Éditions du Rocher, 1995
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Mistinguett: Mein ganzes Leben
(German Edition)
Thomas-Verlag, Zürich 1954
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Mistinguett: Queen of the Paris Night
(English Edition)
Elek Books Ltd 1954
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