Fernandel is one of the most popular French artists of his generation, as much for his musical work as for his films. Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin was born in Marseille on May 8, 1903, to a family originally from Piedmont, Italy. He began performing at an early age, accompanying his father, an amateur actor and singer. Following in his father's footsteps, he won first prize for child prodigies at Marseille's Théâtre du Châtelet. He became a comic trouper, performing in cafés, concerts and weddings. He married at the age of 22 and inherited his stage name from his mother-in-law, who, seeing him arrive to see her daughter one day, shouted: "Tiens, voilà le Fernand d'elle". After his military service, Fernandel performed at the Marseilles Odéon and was spotted by the head of Paramount, who signed him for a national tour. Thanks to director Marc Allégret, he made a discreet film debut in Le Blanc et le Noir in 1930. The following year, he appeared alongside Michel Simon in On Purge Bébé and Jean Gabin in Cœur de Lilas. In 1932, he starred in Le Rosier de Madame Husson . His career took off with a string of successes: Josette (1937), Angèle (1934), Regain (1937), Le Schpountz (1938), La Fille du Puisatier (1940) and Topaze (1951). He also pursued a singing career, often integrating songs into his films, such as"Ignace" (1937) or "On m'appelle Simplet", from the 1942 film Simplet . But his greatest success came in 1939 with a humorous song written by Albert Willemetz and Charles-Louis Pothier, with music by Casimir Oberfeld, "Félicie aussi". After the war, she was back in the limelight with films such as L'Auberge Rouge (1951), Ali Baba. et les Quarante Voleurs (1954) and, above all, La Vache et le Prisonnier (1959). Her musical career also reached its peak with the 78-turn La Caissière du Grand Café in 1947, the stories told in Lettres de Mon Moulin in 1955, "Les Trois messes basses " in 1956, the Fables de La Fontaine series in 1958 and "L'Arlésienne" in 1960. His popularity reached new heights on the silver screen with the Don Camillo series, which ran from 1951 to 1970, in which he played a priest. This role earned him an audience with Pope Pius XII in 1953. The final part, Don Camillo et les Contestataires , could not be completed due to the actor's cancer. He died of generalized cancer in Paris on February 26, 1971.
