Raymond Devos

Raymond Devos

Birth : 1922-11-09, Mouscron, Belgium

Death : 2006-06-15

History

Raymond Devos (9 November 1922 – 15 June 2006) was a Belgian-French humorist, stand-up comedian and clown. He is best known for his sophisticated puns and surreal humour. Devos was born in Mouscron, Belgium, close to the French border. Both his parents were French and he moved to Tourcoing, France, at the age of two. Seven years later, his family moved to Paris. During the Second World War he was sent, like many young men of his generation, to Germany to work. On his return to France, he took acting and mime lessons at the Étienne Ducroux school, where he met Marcel Marceau. In 1948, he was part of a burlesque trio (in the older sense of the word burlesque). Devos's career took off in the 1950s when he began writing his own one man shows and was the opening act for Maurice Chevalier. Although his act still involved elements of his early years as a clown (such as juggling) he was mostly recognized because of his mastery of the French language. His unique brand of surreal humour and sophisticated puns garnered him much respect throughout the Francophone world. Devos is a leading character in Alejandro Jodorowsky's surrealist 1957 debut short film Les têtes interverties (a mime adaptation of Thomas Mann's 1940 play The Transposed Heads). Perhaps his best-known international appearance is a cameo in Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le Fou 1965 as a man sitting on a harbourside who is obsessed with the memory of a mysterious love song. He performed for the last time in 1999 in Paris's Olympia Theater. He died in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, Yvelines, France. Because he was born in Belgium, the nationality of Devos was often, and still is, a source of confusion. Some media reported his death by referring to "Belgian comic Devos" or "French and Belgian comic Devos". He also has a Dutch/Flemish family name. Devos was born of French parents and raised in France, but was always respectful of his country of birth and once quipped that he was still, after all, a "fake Belgian". Source: Article "Raymond Devos" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Profile

Raymond Devos

Movies

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Self (archive footage)
In May 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became President of the Republic and wanted to bring about a new era of modernity. One of his first decisions was to break up the ORTF with the creation of three new television channels: TF1, Antenne 2 and FR3. Three new public channels but autonomous and competing. It is a race for the audience which is engaged then, and from now on the channels will make the war! This competition will give birth to a real golden age for television programs, with variety shows in the forefront. The stars of the song are going to invade the living rooms of the French for their biggest pleasure. This unedited documentary tells the story of the metamorphosis of this television of the early 1970s, between freedom of tone, scandals, political intrigues and programs that have become mythical.
Les 60 ans du one-man-show
Self
J'ai des doutes : Devos-Morel
Writer
François Morel-Raymond Devos, Raymond Devos-François Morel, and the loop has come full circle! Because the actor's new creation, Molière 2019, borrows from the illustrious artist the title of one of his famous sketches in which he questions the universe, the madness of existence, the incommunicability with his unequaled talent. Fascinated by this great clown with "a touch of madness capable of blocking the well-oiled mechanics of logic, reality, everyday life", François Morel immersed himself body and soul in his texts to invent a musical show in his homage . Devilishly cheerful! 100 ème représentation au Théâtre de Caen
Raymond Devos, un hommaginaire
Comiques de toujours, coffret Vol. 1 à 4
Self (archive footage)
Raymond Devos : Les 100 plus grands sketches
Raymond Devos - 80 ans, 80 sketches
Raymond Devos - Au Théâtre De La Porte Saint Martin
Writer
Raymond Devos - Au Théâtre De La Porte Saint Martin
Raymond Devos à l'Olympia
Writer
Raymond Devos à l'Olympia
Self
Michel Sardou - Show Sardou
Self
Raymond Devos - À l'Olympia
Raymond Devos - À l'Olympia
Writer
Raymond Devos - Au Palais Royal
Writer
Raymond Devos - Au Palais Royal
Lui-même
Raymond Devos - Au Théâtre Montparnasse
Writer
Raymond Devos - Au Théâtre Romain Rolland De Villejuif
Writer
Raymond Devos - Au Théâtre Romain Rolland De Villejuif
Raymond Devos - Au Théâtre Montparnasse
Raymond Devos - Au Théâtre Antoine
Writer
Raymond Devos - Au Théâtre Antoine
Lui-même
The Right of the Maddest
Scenario Writer
The guardian of a nursing home lends a compassionate ear to the complaints of two new pensioners who love each other and have only one dream: to see the sea. To help them realize their dream, the brave man steals the car of the director. She quickly discovers the crime and drags her pale husband to the pursuit of the trio, aboard a tanker truck...
The Right of the Maddest
Le surveillant
The guardian of a nursing home lends a compassionate ear to the complaints of two new pensioners who love each other and have only one dream: to see the sea. To help them realize their dream, the brave man steals the car of the director. She quickly discovers the crime and drags her pale husband to the pursuit of the trio, aboard a tanker truck...
Pierrot le Fou
L'Homme du Port (uncredited)
Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
Teuf-teuf
An automobile tribute
Vous n'avez rien à déclarer ?
Le peintre, prix de Rome
Le Sicilien
Henri
This Pretty World
The Severed Heads
A short mime adaptation of a Thomas Mann story about a Parisian urchin who makes her living selling human heads. Lost for nearly 50 years, the movie was found in 2006 by the son of Ruth Michelly and Saul Gilbert when he found it in his mom's attic in Munich.