Fernandel (1903-1971)

French comic actor. He is remembered for the funny faces he pulled and his comic grin. Fernandel's acting career began in a troupe of actors playing in various vaudevilles, farces, and operettas, although before that he had worked briefly for a bank in Marseille, France. He quickly gained promotion to the Marseille stage but always preferred the music hall to theatre. In the music hall he sang comic songs that he composed himself. He appeared in over 150 films in 40 years, including three that he directed himself and seven that were directed by French director Marcel Pagnol.

He appeared in Un carnet de bal/The Dance Card (1937), directed by French director Julien Duvivier, which was awarded the best foreign film award at the Venice Film Festival in 1937. Le Petit Monde e Don Camillo/The Little World of Don Camillo (1952) was the first of a series of six films over 19 years about hot-tempered village priest Don Camillo. Other notable films include Le Mouton a cinq pattes/The Sheep Has Five Legs (1954) and Le Voyage du pere/Father's Journey (1966).