André Deed
French postcard, no. 3. Cliché X.
André Deed (1879-1940) was one the most popular comedians in French and Italian silent cinema under the names of Boireau and Cretinetti. He also was a film director and scriptwriter.
Born Henri André Augustin Chapais, in Le Havre on 22 February 1879, and after lyceum in Nice, André Deed started his career around 1900 as a circus acrobat and music-hall singer. In 1901 he did his first steps in the movie world in supporting roles, working for film pioneer Georges Méliès. In 1906 he started his own series of short comedies at Pathé Frères, around a comic character designed by himself: Boireau. Between 1906 and 1908 he made some 27 films for Pathé, directed by pioneer filmmakers like Georges Hathot and Georges Monca, though of several films no director is known.
Because of the huge popularity of the Boireau comedies, in 1908 the Torinese company Itala lured him to Italy, where Deed started the series of Cretinetti [which more or less stands for ‘little stupid’]. He not only acted but also directed his own films now. Just like in the French films, Deed behaved in a quite anarchic way, creating destruction and pursuits all over. Between 1909 and 1911 and between 1915 and 1920 Deed interpreted some 90 shorts with Cretinetti, such as the absurdist Cretinetti e le donne (1910), in which fanatic women tear the man to pieces. In the end, all his loose limbs gather again. Boireau and Cretinetti were famous in the whole world under different names: Foolshead in English, Müller in German, Toribio in Spanish, Turíbio in Portuguese, Lehmann in Hungary, Glupyuskin in Russia, and so on. In Turin Emilio Ghione and Alberto Collo starting their career in Deed’s films. He also met there his future wife Valentina Frascaroli, who would perform in many of his films.
In 1912 Deed went back to Pathé to perform as Boireau again, and as Cretinetti was named Gribouille in France, his first film for Pathé was entitled Comment Gribouille redevient Boireau/ How Gribouille became Boireau again (1912). Frascaroli collaborated under the character name of Gribouillette. From 1912 on Deed would make some 70 shorts again as Boireau. In 1913 Deed and Frascaroli did a big European and Latin American theatrical tour. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Deed was drafted first, but in 1915 Itala producer Giovanni Pastrone called him back to Italy, where he a.o. directed and played in the war propaganda film La paura degli aereomobili nemici (1915) and Cretinetti e gli stivali del brasilero (1916), which had Bartolomeo Pagano alias Maciste in a supporting part as a police officer, plus special effects by Segundo De Chomon. Afterward, Deed returned in France where he served in various sections of the army, though it is unknown whether he fought in the trenches. In 1918 he married Frascaroli and in 1919 he was demobilised.
In 1920-1921 Deed started a trilogy of Italian fantasy-adventure-films: Il documento umano (1920), L’uomo meccanico (1921) and Lo strano amore di Mado. The latter was never realised, while a copy of L’uomo meccanico was found and restored by the Cineteca Comunale di Bologna. It is a film about an indestructible robot which in the end only creates havoc. Deed returned to France, where he still acted in films, in the early sound era as well, but only in minor parts. Eventually, he became nightwatch at the Pathé studios. By the late 1930s, Deed was so forgotten, that André Siscot indicated he died in 1938, even if that happened two years after. Official documents though are not entirely clear about the exact date of Deed’s passing: 4 October 1940. He was buried in Paris, while his wife Valentina Frascaroli survived him; she died in 1955.
Sources: Italian, French and English Wikipedia, IMDB.
André Deed
French postcard, no. 3. Cliché X.
André Deed (1879-1940) was one the most popular comedians in French and Italian silent cinema under the names of Boireau and Cretinetti. He also was a film director and scriptwriter.
Born Henri André Augustin Chapais, in Le Havre on 22 February 1879, and after lyceum in Nice, André Deed started his career around 1900 as a circus acrobat and music-hall singer. In 1901 he did his first steps in the movie world in supporting roles, working for film pioneer Georges Méliès. In 1906 he started his own series of short comedies at Pathé Frères, around a comic character designed by himself: Boireau. Between 1906 and 1908 he made some 27 films for Pathé, directed by pioneer filmmakers like Georges Hathot and Georges Monca, though of several films no director is known.
Because of the huge popularity of the Boireau comedies, in 1908 the Torinese company Itala lured him to Italy, where Deed started the series of Cretinetti [which more or less stands for ‘little stupid’]. He not only acted but also directed his own films now. Just like in the French films, Deed behaved in a quite anarchic way, creating destruction and pursuits all over. Between 1909 and 1911 and between 1915 and 1920 Deed interpreted some 90 shorts with Cretinetti, such as the absurdist Cretinetti e le donne (1910), in which fanatic women tear the man to pieces. In the end, all his loose limbs gather again. Boireau and Cretinetti were famous in the whole world under different names: Foolshead in English, Müller in German, Toribio in Spanish, Turíbio in Portuguese, Lehmann in Hungary, Glupyuskin in Russia, and so on. In Turin Emilio Ghione and Alberto Collo starting their career in Deed’s films. He also met there his future wife Valentina Frascaroli, who would perform in many of his films.
In 1912 Deed went back to Pathé to perform as Boireau again, and as Cretinetti was named Gribouille in France, his first film for Pathé was entitled Comment Gribouille redevient Boireau/ How Gribouille became Boireau again (1912). Frascaroli collaborated under the character name of Gribouillette. From 1912 on Deed would make some 70 shorts again as Boireau. In 1913 Deed and Frascaroli did a big European and Latin American theatrical tour. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Deed was drafted first, but in 1915 Itala producer Giovanni Pastrone called him back to Italy, where he a.o. directed and played in the war propaganda film La paura degli aereomobili nemici (1915) and Cretinetti e gli stivali del brasilero (1916), which had Bartolomeo Pagano alias Maciste in a supporting part as a police officer, plus special effects by Segundo De Chomon. Afterward, Deed returned in France where he served in various sections of the army, though it is unknown whether he fought in the trenches. In 1918 he married Frascaroli and in 1919 he was demobilised.
In 1920-1921 Deed started a trilogy of Italian fantasy-adventure-films: Il documento umano (1920), L’uomo meccanico (1921) and Lo strano amore di Mado. The latter was never realised, while a copy of L’uomo meccanico was found and restored by the Cineteca Comunale di Bologna. It is a film about an indestructible robot which in the end only creates havoc. Deed returned to France, where he still acted in films, in the early sound era as well, but only in minor parts. Eventually, he became nightwatch at the Pathé studios. By the late 1930s, Deed was so forgotten, that André Siscot indicated he died in 1938, even if that happened two years after. Official documents though are not entirely clear about the exact date of Deed’s passing: 4 October 1940. He was buried in Paris, while his wife Valentina Frascaroli survived him; she died in 1955.
Sources: Italian, French and English Wikipedia, IMDB.