Georges Milton

Nicknamed "Bouboule" by Maurice Chevalier, Georges Milton was born in Puteaux on September 20, 1886. He entered the music-hall world at the age of seventeen, making his debut at the Casino Montmartre in 1905. Exiled to Russia during the First World War, he returned to France in 1920 to perform at the Casino de la Porte Saint-Martin. After trying his hand at chanson de charme, he finally turned to comedy and operetta. Supported by Maurice Chevalier, he appeared with him in the film Gonzague (1922) and toured the Parisian café-concerts. He led a revue at La Cigale, then turned his attention to theater, in J'te veux (1923), Bouche à bouche (1925) and Le Comte Obligado (1927), an operetta at the Théâtre des Nouveautés in which he created the hit "La Fille du bédouin", following on from 1926's "La Trompette en bois ". Other sung shows followed, including Ralph Benatzky's L'Auberge du cheval blanc (1932) at Théâtre Mogador. Meanwhile, Georges Milton made frequent film appearances, notably as "Bouboule" in Le Roi du cirage (1931), La Bande à Bouboule (1932), Bouboule Ier, roi nègre (1933) and Prince Bouboule (1939). At the height of his fame between the wars, he performed the popular tunes "Si j'étais chef de gare" and "Pouet! Pouet !" (1929), "C'est pour mon papa" (1930) and "C'est papa, c'est parisien" (1931), "Si tous les cocus" and "Totor, t'as tort " (1932), then "Avec les pompiers " (1935). After the operettas L'Amour s'amuse (1940) and Et vive la liberté (1947), and his final roles in Robert Hennion's Ploum ploum tra la la (1946) and Et dix de der (1947), Georges Milton retired in 1948 to settle in Juan-les-Pins. He left for a few Jean-Christophe Averty shows in the 1960s, before passing away on October 16, 1970 at the age of 84.