André Robert Raimbourg (July 27, 1917 - September 23, 1970), better known as "Bourvil", was a French actor, comedian and singer from Prétot-Vicquemare, Normandy.
He worked as a baker before World War II, then embraced a stage artist career by imitating Fernandel in cabarets. When imitations of Fernandel became old-fashioned, he shifted to play naive, good-natured chaps, which would remain his famous Signature Style. He came to have a very prolific movie career in The '50s and The '60s.
His comedic style had the most success when he was paired in an Odd Couple with fellow big French stars, such as the hammier and more nervous Louis de Funès in Le Corniaud and La Grande Vadrouille (both times by director Gérard Oury), the imposing Jean Gabin in The Trip Across Paris, the more meridional (and longtime idol of his) Fernandel in La Cuisine au beurre or the dashing Jean-Paul Belmondo in The Brain. He didn't limit himself to comedies however, and proved to be equally talented in more serious and dramatic roles, such as Hardboiled Detective Inspector Mattei in Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle).
The most famous international production he appeared was The Longest Day, where he played the Mayor of Colleville, a Resistance operative who destroys German communication lines and welcomes the Allies on Sword Beach with a bottle of Champagne (and speaks English with a thick French accent).
His stage music career didn't stop even as he appeared in movies, as he also had a successful career as a singer. He performed about 300 songs between 1945 and 1970.
He passed away from multiple myeloma on 23 September 1970 at the age of 53.
Selected Filmography:
- Crazy for Love (1952) as Hippolyte Lemoine
- The Three Musketeers (1953) as Planchet
- The Trip Across Paris (1956) as Marcel Martin
- Les Misérables (1958) as Thénardier
- The Mirror has two Faces (1958) as Pierre Tardivet
- Le Bossu (1959) as Passepoil
- Le Capitan (1960) as Cogolin
- The Longest Day (1962) as the Mayor of Colleville
- La Cuisine au beurre (1963) as André Colombey
- The Sucker (1965) as Antoine Maréchal
- La Grande Vadrouille (1966) as Augustin Bouvet
- The Brain (1969) as Anatole
- Le Cercle rouge (1970) as Inspector Mattei
- Atlantic Wall (1970) as Léon Duchemin
Tropes & Trivia in his works:
- Posthumous Credit: Both Le Cercle rouge and Atlantic Wall were released after his passing.
- What Could Have Been: He was originally cast as Blaze in Delusions of Grandeur which would have reunited him with Louis de Funès and director Gérard Oury after The Sucker and La Grande Vadrouille, but he died before filming began, and Yves Montand replaced him.
