# Florelle > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Florelle > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Florelle.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florelle > Source revision: 1339540054 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|French actress and singer (1898–1974)}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Florelle | image = Florelle en 1939 (Studio Harcourt).jpg | caption = Florelle in 1939 | birth_name = Odette Élisa Joséphine Marguerite Rousseau | birth_date = {{birth date|1898|08|09|df=yes}} | birth_place = [Les Sables-d'Olonne](/source/Les_Sables-d'Olonne), [Vendée](/source/Vend%C3%A9e), France | death_date = {{death date and age|1974|09|28|1898|08|09|df=yes}} | death_place = [La Roche-sur-Yon](/source/La_Roche-sur-Yon), Vendée, France | resting_place = | nationality = | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|singer}} | years_active = 1911–1956 | website = | spouse = {{marriage|Marcel Foucret|1934|1944|end=div}} }} '''Florelle''' (born '''Odette Élisa Joséphine Marguerite Rousseau''', 9 August 1898 – 28 September 1974) was a French [soprano](/source/soprano) singer and actress. She gained fame as Polly Peachum in the French film ''[The Threepenny Opera](/source/The_Threepenny_Opera_(1931_film))'', after which she had numerous other film roles. In the 1940s, she retired from the stage, but continued to make film appearances during the war.{{Cite Grove |last=O'Connor |first=Patrick |title=Florelle, Odette}} == Early life == She was born as Odette Élisa Joséphine Marguerite Rousseau on 9 August 1898 in [Les Sables-d'Olonne](/source/Les_Sables-d'Olonne), [Vendée](/source/Vend%C3%A9e). She came from a wealthy family living in the district of La Chaume, the oldest in the town of Sables-d'Olonne. Her father, an employee of the town hall, left his job to go into business and the family came to live in Paris; her mother worked at the café ''La Cigale''. == Career == Odette began her stage career at the age of 13, singing at the [Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique](/source/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_de_l'Ambigu-Comique) and the [Moulin Rouge](/source/Moulin_Rouge). She is notably the partner of [Raimu](/source/Raimu) beginning in a sketch entitled "Le Marseillais et la Parigote". She worked in different establishments, then, in 1914, left for her first tour abroad with the troupe of "L'Européen"; It was then that she adopted the pseudonym of Florelle, named after a singer in the troupe, Jean Flor. The tour was interrupted at the beginning of August in Vienna, Austria, by the outbreak of [World War I](/source/World_War_I). After the war, she was noticed by [Maurice Chevalier](/source/Maurice_Chevalier), with whom she participated in three films in the early 1920s. Florelle nevertheless remained attached to the music hall; in 1925, she was chosen as an understudy for [Mistinguett](/source/Mistinguett) and as such was the leader of the [Moulin-Rouge](/source/Moulin-Rouge) revue "This is Paris" in a tour of South America. Back in Paris, she conducted a second version of "This is Paris" from 1927; in 1928–29, she again toured internationally in Europe; It was then that she was noticed by the Austrian filmmaker [Georg Wilhelm Pabst](/source/Georg_Wilhelm_Pabst). During the 1930s, she devoted herself a lot to the cinema, where her activity was intense from 1930 to 1936; after ''[L'Opéra de quat'sous](/source/The_Threepenny_Opera_(1931_film))'', she toured again with Pabst (''[L'Atlantide](/source/L'Atlantide_(1932_film))''), but also with [Robert Siodmak](/source/Robert_Siodmak) (''[Tumultes](/source/Storms_of_Passion)''), [Raymond Bernard](/source/Raymond_Bernard_(filmmaker)) (''[Les Misérables](/source/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_(1934_film))''), [Fritz Lang](/source/Fritz_Lang) (''[Liliom](/source/Liliom_(1934_film))'') and [Jean Renoir](/source/Jean_Renoir) (''[The Crime of Monsieur Lange](/source/The_Crime_of_Monsieur_Lange)''). On stage, in 1934 she played the title role of the musical ''Marie Galante'' by [Jacques Deval](/source/Jacques_Deval), in which she found the music of [Kurt Weill](/source/Kurt_Weill), but was not met with success. She recorded several discs, whether related to the films she was filming or not. Florelle's career subsequently declined; her only notable post-war film was ''[Gervaise](/source/Gervaise_(film))'' (1956) by [René Clément](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Cl%C3%A9ment). == Death == She lived for a few years running a café in Sables-d'Olonne. She returned to Paris for a while, then returned to Les Sables, living until her death in [La Roche-sur-Yon](/source/La_Roche-sur-Yon), [Vendée](/source/Vend%C3%A9e), at age 76 in a certain oblivion and, it seems, in poverty. == Selected filmography == {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Director(s) ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- |- | 1912 | ''[The Mask of Horror](/source/The_Mask_of_Horror)'' | | [Abel Gance](/source/Abel_Gance) | Credited as Mlle Rousseau |- | rowspan=3| 1930 | ''[The Prosecutor Hallers](/source/The_Prosecutor_Hallers)'' | Agnès | [Robert Wiene](/source/Robert_Wiene) | |- | ''[Love Songs](/source/Love_Songs_(1930_film))'' | | rowspan=2| [Robert Florey](/source/Robert_Florey) | rowspan=2| Alternative-language version of the German film
''[Rendezvous](/source/Rendezvous_(1930_film))'' |- | ''[My Wife's Teacher](/source/My_Wife's_Teacher)'' | |- | rowspan=5| 1931 | ''[Venetian Nights](/source/Venetian_Nights_(film))'' | | [Pierre Billon](/source/Pierre_Billon_(director))
Robert Wiene | French-language version of the film
''[The Love Express](/source/The_Love_Express)'' |- | ''[My Aunt from Honfleur](/source/My_Aunt_from_Honfleur_(1931_film))'' |Albertine |[André Gillois](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Gillois) | |- | ''[The Threepenny Opera](/source/The_Threepenny_Opera_(1931_film))'' | Polly Peachum | [G. W. Pabst](/source/G._W._Pabst) | French-language version |- | ''[About an Inquest](/source/About_an_Inquest)'' | Erna Kabisch | [Henri Chomette](/source/Henri_Chomette)
[Robert Siodmak](/source/Robert_Siodmak) | French-language version of the film ''[Inquest](/source/Inquest_(1931_German_film))'' |- | ''[Montmartre](/source/Montmartre_(1931_film))'' | Irène | [Raymond Bernard](/source/Raymond_Bernard_(filmmaker)) | |- | rowspan="6" | 1932 | ''[The Nude Woman](/source/The_Nude_Woman_(1932_film))'' | Lolette | [Jean-Paul Paulin](/source/Jean-Paul_Paulin) | |- | ''[Passionately](/source/Passionately_(film))'' |Ketty Stevenson |[René Guissart](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Guissart_(director)) | |- | ''[The Improvised Son](/source/The_Improvised_Son)'' | Maud | [René Guissart](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Guissart_(director)) | |- | ''[The Wonderful Day](/source/The_Wonderful_Day_(1932_film))'' | Gladys | [Yves Mirande](/source/Yves_Mirande)
[Robert Wyler](/source/Robert_Wyler) | Remake of the 1929 [silent film of the same title](/source/The_Wonderful_Day_(1929_film)) |- | ''[Monsieur, Madame and Bibi](/source/Monsieur%2C_Madame_and_Bibi)'' | Anne Weber | [Jean Boyer](/source/Jean_Boyer_(director))
[Max Neufeld](/source/Max_Neufeld) | French-language version of the German film
''[A Bit of Love](/source/A_Bit_of_Love)'' |- |''[Tumultes](/source/Tumultes_(1932_film))'' |Ania |[Robert Siodmak](/source/Robert_Siodmak) |French-language version of the German film ''[Storms of Passion](/source/Storms_of_Passion)'' |- | 1933 | ''[La dame de chez Maxim's](/source/La_dame_de_chez_Maxim's_(1933_film))'' | La Môme Crevette | [Alexander Korda](/source/Alexander_Korda) | French-language version of the film
''[The Girl from Maxim's](/source/The_Girl_from_Maxim's_(1933_film))'' |- | rowspan=2|1934 | ''[Les Misérables](/source/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_(1934_film))'' | [Fantine](/source/Fantine) | Raymond Bernard | |- | ''[The Last Night](/source/The_Last_Night_(1934_film))'' |Evelyne Ebert |[Jacques de Casembroot](/source/Jacques_de_Casembroot) | |- | rowspan=2|1935 | ''[Lovers and Thieves](/source/Lovers_and_Thieves)'' |Irma Lurette |[Raymond Bernard](/source/Raymond_Bernard_(filmmaker)) | |- | ''[Wedding Night](/source/Wedding_Night_(1935_film))'' |Sidonie de Valpurgis |[Georges Monca](/source/Georges_Monca) | |- | 1936 | ''[The Crime of Monsieur Lange](/source/The_Crime_of_Monsieur_Lange)'' | Valentine Cardès | [Jean Renoir](/source/Jean_Renoir) | |- | 1937 | ''[The Dark Angels](/source/The_Dark_Angels_(film))'' |Aline |[Willy Rozier](/source/Willy_Rozier) |- | 1952 | ''[Three Women](/source/Three_Women_(1952_film))'' | | [André Michel](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Michel_(director)) | |- | rowspan=2| 1956 | ''[Blood to the Head](/source/Blood_to_the_Head)'' | Sidonie Vauquier | [Gilles Grangier](/source/Gilles_Grangier) | |- | ''[Gervaise](/source/Gervaise_(film))'' | Maman Coupeau | [René Clément](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Cl%C3%A9ment) | Final film |} == References == {{reflist}} == External links == *{{IMDb name|id=0282653|name=Florelle}} *[http://cinema.encyclopedie.personnalites.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=64025 Florelle – Cinémathèque française] *[http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=900 Photographs and literature] {{Authority control}} Category:1898 births Category:1974 deaths Category:People from Les Sables-d'Olonne Category:Actresses from Pays de la Loire Category:French film actresses Category:French silent film actresses Category:20th-century French actresses --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Florelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florelle) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florelle?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.