A music-hall actor and singer, Andrex appeared in some sixty films and specialized in humorous songs. Andrex, whose real name was André Alexis Jaubert, was born in Marseille on January 23, 1907, where he met and befriended Fernandel. Encouraged by Maurice Chevalier, he began singing in his hometown, at the Alcazar, before moving to Paris, where he performed in the early 1930s at the Concert Mayol, then at the ABC, Bobino and Théâtre de l'Empire. After his first film appearance in 1931, he appeared in twenty-nine films starring Fernandel, including Marcel Pagnol's Angèle (1934), Jean Renoir's Toni (1935), Ignace (1937), Fric-frac (1939), as well as Marc Allégret's Gribouille with Raimu (1937), Renoir's La Marseillaise and Marcel Carné's Hôtel du Nord in 1938. Alongside his acting career, he enjoyed success in the music hall with songs such as "Prosper" (1935), "Comme de bien entendu" with Arletty (from the film Circonstances atténuantes, 1939), "Chez Bébert (le monte-en-l'air)" (1942), "Monsieur Jo" (1943), "Y'a des zazous" (1944), "Aux quatre coins à Paris" (1946) and "L'Aspirine" (1953). He performs operetta arias such as "La Samba brésilienne", from Quatre jours à Paris (1948), and others from Une de la Canebière or Au pays du soleil. Alongside his leading man in Fernandel's Simplet (1942), he went on to play numerous roles, notably in La Cuisine au beurre (1963), with Bourvil, as well as Henri-Georges Clouzot's Manon (1949), Sacha Guitry's Si Paris nous était conté (1955), Monsieur with Jean Gabin (1964) and Jean-Pierre Mocky's La Bourse et la vie (1966). On television, Andrex appeared in 1970 in the series Les Enquêtes du commissaire Maigret and Jean Renoir's film Le Petit théâtre. On stage, in Virginie by Michel André (1956) and Capoulet (1972). Married to actress Ginette Baudin (1921-1971), in the 1970s he continued to record songs from the Belle-Époque, the Années folles and the interwar years. After a final role in Juliet Berto's Cap canaille (1983), Andrex died of a heart attack on July 10, 1989, aged 82.
