Christian Duvaleix

A "funny face", Christian Duvaleix was for nearly four decades a faithful companion of French light théâtre (Alfred Adam's "Sylvie et le fantôme" in 1942, Sacha Guitry 's "Deburau" in 1950, Gaby Bruyère's "Ange pur" in 1966), music-hall (he was a member of Robert Dhéry's famous company of loonies "Les Branquignols" from 1948), stand-up comedy and radio. He was also present in many a movie comedy, (Robert Dhéry's Crazy Show (1949), The American Beauty (1961) and Shut Up, Gulli (1974); Norbert Carbonnaux's The Pirates of the Bois du Bologne (1954)), imposing a rather subtle style of comic effects. He also appeared in three of Jean-Pierre Mocky's movies, but paradoxically enough, not in comedies, A Couple (1960), Solo (1970) and No Pockets in a Shroud (1974). And he was often chosen for supporting roles in international English-speaking productions such as Paris When It Sizzles (1964) and Isadora (1968) for his typically French looks. Born in Tunis in 1923, he was the son of another comedian, Albert Duvaleix and the father of painter Jean-Pierre Duvaleix. The 'Like Father LIke Son' chain was not really broken with Jean-Pierre, since both Albert and Christian had been amateur artists themselves. Christian Duvaleix was only 56 when he died. He is buried beside his father in the cemetery of Garches, near Paris.