Raimu

Orson Welles once called beloved French character star Raimu (né Jules Auguste Cesar Muraire) "the greatest actor who ever lived." It is hard to argue the compliment of one genius to another. The jowly, cigar-chomping comedian was born in Toulon, France on December 17, 1883 of very humble means, his father making ends meet as an upholsterer. Raimu began his stage career at age 16 as a music hall extra imitating famous French comic idols. Using the stage name of Raimut (he later dropped the "t"), he eventually gained a following in dance halls, cafe concerts, nightclubs and pubs as an entertainer but cemented his reputation on the Parisian comedy stages. Around this time, he also began to appear in minor roles in silent film shorts (1911-1917), but nothing much came from them and he left the screen. Continuing to thrive on the live stage, Raimu's serious intentions as an actor were solidified with the 1929 stage production of the Marcel Pagnol play "Marius," which told story of a wand