ABOVE: Mistinguett
Mistinguett - France’s Original Showgirl
An unlikely star, Mistinguett began her life as plain Jeanne Bourgeois, an ordinary looking child who dreamed of being a star some day. Her first job however was as a flowerseller. Not daunted, she sang loudly as she sold her flowers, and used the money to buy singing lessons until finally in 1885 she got a job in a small cabaret. The owner thought her prominent buck teeth made her look English, and christened her ‘Miss Hellyet’. She wasn’t much of a success.
Not very pretty, sadly lacking in vocal talent and not much of a dancer either, she changed her name to ‘Miss Tinguette’ and slogged away in small venues adding funny lines to her act and trying out bits of comedy and impersonations until finally she developed a powerful, erotic, flirty stage persona that the public adored.
She had learned how to project her personality. She could carry an entire show. It didn’t matter that her voice wasn’t up to much, that her dancing wasn’t spectacular, that her face wasn’t her fortune. She had re-invented herself and at that point became a huge star. She topped the bill at the Moulin Rouge, the Café de Paris and all the big venues of the time.
When she met Maurice Chevalier in 1911 at the Folies Bergère they began a hugely public affair that lasted for ten years. When it ended, they kept up a correspondence for nearly 50 years and she later said of him: “He was more than a partner, he was my whole life.”
After her death Chevalier admitted that she had been the love of his life having given him two things: success and love. ‘La Miss’ worked steadily through World War I, making films as well as starring in cabarets and thrilling audiences with her stage presence and magnificent costumes. Her legs were insured for the fabulous sum of 500,000 French francs and she had invented the ‘showgirl’ style which has become so iconic that stars like Kylie Minogue still use it on stage today.
Mistinguett was the first performer to wear huge heavy headdresses with ostrich feathers and paste diamonds. She was the first star to make her entrance down a flight of stairs. She was the first one to wear a diamond-encrusted frock split to the thigh with a long sparkling tail dragging on the ground behind her. “I love money,” she said. “I love to wash my hands in it.”
She was the highest-paid female entertainer in the world, and toured the USA and South America to packed houses. Her final New York appearance was in 1951, where she was still flashing her pins to admiring audiences at the age of 75.
She recorded what came to be regarded as her signature song, Mon Homme, in 1920 but was still performing it up until a few months before her death at the age of 80.
Apart from her show business fame, she remains legendary for her numerous love affairs with men including the future King Edward VII, and Alfonso XIII of Spain.
She was buried in the cemetery in Enghein-les-Bains, not far from where she was born.
FACT FILE
Birthplace
Enghein-les-Bains, Val d’Oise, Île-de-France (born 5 April 1875; died 5 January 1956)
Visit
L’Hôtel is an extraordinary hotel where visitors fight for the privilege of sleeping in what was Mistinguett’s room. For a thoroughly decadent (and expensive) treat book well ahead. Visit www.l-hotel.com
On the trail of French cabaret with all its glitter and tacky charm, try Le Moulin Rouge. Champagne lunch and a show starts at €125. Visit www.moulinrouge.fr. Otherwise, the Folies Bergère has seats from €20 available via their website www.foliesbergere.com
Books, CDs and posters
The Mistinguett Legend, a biography by David Bret published in 1990 by St Martin’s Press is still widely available as are her recordings (now remastered on CD). Original posters swap hands for up to £5,000 each, but reproductions are available for a fraction of that price.