BIOGRAPHY :
Bourvil, whose real name André Raimbourg, was born on 27 July 1917 to Prétot-Vicquemare in Seine-Maritime (France). His father was killed during the Great War and his mother married a farmer from the village of Bourville. This is where Bourvil will grow later draw his pseudonym the name of this village. Apprentice baker, he dreams of following a career like he admires Fernandel. It becomes comical troupier and participates in several shows for the army then it engages in the radio brackets. The war put a stop to his early career and Bourvil occurs in nightclubs for a living. In 1943, he married Jeanne Lefrique and settled in Vincennes. Bourvil honed his kind of character, sometimes silly or naive, but always simple and that the audience can identify.

It is this simplicity that will appeal to the public in 1945 with the song "The Crayons". If the stamps are not yet up to par, Bourvil is a name and slowly rotates in a dozen films before getting his first big role in "Le Passe-Muraille" in 1951. Alongside his career in cinema, Bourvil does not abandon the theater or it will operate mainly in the fifties and the song with nearly three hundred songs recorded. In the early sixties, Bourvil has become a must. His encounter with the screen with Louis de Funès in 1964 in "The Corniaud" will bring a new impetus to the popular actor already widely recognized. They are found in 1966 in "La Grande Vadrouille" which will remain until 2008 the record box-office with french over 17 million viewers. At the height of his glory, Bourvil will enchainer success: "The Brain", "Le Cercle Rouge" or "Atlantic Wall". The latter two films being released a few weeks after Bourvil died of cancer on 23 September 1970. André Bourvil remains one of the favorite actors of French and marked his name in history of cinema.