Raymond Devos

Raymond Devos 9 November 1922 15 June 2006 was a BelgianFrench humorist standup comedian and clown He is best known for his sophisticated puns and surreal humour Devos was born in Mouscron Belgium close to the French border Both his parents were French and he moved to Tourcoing France at the age of two Seven years later his family moved to Paris During the Second World War he was sent like many young men of his generation to Germany to work On his return to France he took acting and mime lessons at the Étienne Ducroux school where he met Marcel Marceau In 1948 he was part of a burlesque trio in the older sense of the word burlesque Devoss career took off in the 1950s when he began writing his own one man shows and was the opening act for Maurice Chevalier Although his act still involved elements of his early years as a clown such as juggling he was mostly recognized because of his mastery of the French language His unique brand of surreal humour and sophisticated puns garnered him much respect throughout the Francophone world Devos is a leading character in Alejandro Jodorowskys surrealist 1957 debut short film Les têtes interverties a mime adaptation of Thomas Manns 1940 play The Transposed Heads Perhaps his bestknown international appearance is a cameo in JeanLuc Godards Pierrot le Fou 1965 as a man sitting on a harbourside who is obsessed with the memory of a mysterious love song He performed for the last time in 1999 in Pariss Olympia Theater He died in SaintRémylèsChevreuse Yvelines France Because he was born in Belgium the nationality of Devos was often and still is a source of confusion Some media reported his death by referring to Belgian comic Devos or French and Belgian comic Devos He also has a DutchFlemish family name Devos was born of French parents and raised in France but was always respectful of his country of birth and once quipped that he was still after all a fake Belgian Source Article Raymond Devos from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30