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Maurice Chevalier was a legendary entertainer who is known today for his wonderful French and American movies of the 1930s and 1940s (and his reemergence in the 1950s and 1960s in American movies). But for decades before that, he was a legendary stage performer in France. In 1909, when he was 21, he became the partner of 18 year old Frehel, who was a popular French singer and actress. They performed together (both on and off the stage) for two years, and then Chevalier left her for Mistinguett, a 36 year old French superstar, and they too performed on and off the stage, and a devastated Frehel tried to commit suicide and had drug and alcohol problems the rest of her life. Chevalier then became a major French solo act, and in the late 1920s, he started making movies, and he became an international star through the beginning of World War II. His career was tarnished during World War II when he was accused of collaborating with the Nazis, but he was forgiven after the war, and he resumed his wonderful career, especially with notable performances in Gigi and in some Walt Disney movies. Some of his movies include: Big Pond (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), Love Me Tonight, Love in the Afternoon, Love Parade (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), and The Smiling Lieutenant. He passed away in 1972 at the age of 83.

Important Added Info: Note that this letter has been personally autographed (signed) by Maurice Chevalier! He entirely hand wrote it to his agent and good friend Paul Kohner in 1959, telling him he had just seen "The Pleasure of His Company" on stage and that he thought it would be "an ideal vehicle" for him to star in. He mentions that he would "have to be a bit thinner and look a bit younger, but that should not be so difficult". In fact, the movie was made two years later, and Fred Astaire got the part that Chevalier wanted. Note that this item comes from the estate of Paul Kohner, who had a remarkable life! Kohner was born in Czechoslovakia in 1902, and he was a journalist working at his father's newspaper. He came to Hollywood after interviewing Carl Laemmle, who gave him a job as a publicity man. He became the head of Universal's European department in Berlin, and returned to the U.S. in the early 1930s, and left Universal in 1938, becoming a publicity agent. Among his clients were some of the greatest film stars ever, including Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, and also great directors such as John Huston and Billy Wilder. He had close personal friendships with many of his clients, and he saved every bit of correspondence and paper work from his agency! He was married to actress Lupita Tovar from 1932 until his death in 1988. Amazingly, after his death, few institutions showed interest in his immense files, and only a small amount ended up being saved, with a lot literally thrown away! Our consignor purchased the item offered here from Mr. Kohner's estate in 1989, and he has held it until now, when he has consigned several items from Mr. Kohner's estate to eMoviePoster.com, and each item is being auctioned separately.

As is true of all the signed items we are currently auctioning, we give every buyer 30 days in which to review what they purchased and they can return any item as long as it is within 30 days of the end of the auction.

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