"Michou died early this Sunday morning in a hospital in Paris". It is with these words that François Deblaye, press officer for the cabaret and the artist, announced the death of the famous Parisian artist on Sunday, January 27. Victim of respiratory discomfort on Wednesday, he was hospitalized since then and placed on an artificial respirator.
His real name Michel Catty, "Michou" had opened in 1956 his famous cabaret on rue des Martyrs which has welcomed celebrities and strangers every day for more than 60 years, having dinner before the spectacle of transformist artists taking up the songs of the great stars of the time.
Born in Amiens (Somme), the young Michel "goes up to Paris" at 17 years old, where he will finally become the "blue prince of Montmartre", title of his memoirs, in homage to his favorite color, from costume to glasses, under an eternal platinum blonde brushing.
While he manages a bar at 80 rue des Martyrs he cross-dressing with two friends - he is Brigitte Bardot - on the occasion of the Mardi-Gras carnival in 1956.
The success will be fast, the bar will become a cabaret and will offer the first post-war spectacle made up of men dressing up as women to imitate the stars of the time.
"I am fortunate to be a notorious and loved homosexual," said the man who had become a figure of "the hill", which he received once a month in his little establishment for the elderly.
The announcement of his death provoked many reactions, celebrating in particular this figure of "tolerance".
A myth of the Parisian night
"The last dinausore of Parisian nights has left us. Beyond the showman Michou has also been a man of conviction and has always been an advocate for the diversity of genres", wrote the cabaret's artistic director, Oscar Loup , and the "Michettes" troupe, which was to perform the show on Sunday evening, with a tribute to the founder.
Expressing his "deep emotion", the Minister of Culture Franck Riester greeted on Twitter "a generous and mythical figure of the Parisian night. His cabaret will always be synonymous with tolerance and celebration".
Profound emotion at the news of Michou's death. He was a generous and mythical figure of the Parisian night. His cabaret will always remain synonymous with tolerance and celebration. Montmartre has lost its "blue prince". pic.twitter.com/yEi3QF9FCi
- Franck Riester (@franckriester) January 26, 2020Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo paid tribute to "an immense figure of tolerance and the Parisian night".
"Michou will remain the icon of the Parisian cabaret," said singer Mireille Mathieu, a recurring character in the show and who had played in her own Claude Lelouch film her own role alongside her Michou "double". "Playful, full of humor, he was surrounded by the best transformists who imitated the artists perfectly and without vulgarity".
"Michou was Paris! Like me, he saw life in blue," tweeted another figure of Parisian nights, Line Renaud, while the Crazy Horse cabaret saluted "a true legend of the French cabaret, inspiring and visionary for so of generations ".
Michou was Paris! Like me, he saw life in blue. 💙🙏🏻 #adieumichou #michou pic.twitter.com/ajt0VHMfmF
- Line Renaud (@linerenaud) January 26, 2020Michou had recently posted photos on his Facebook page dated January 20 where he is seen losing weight with Brigitte Macron wearing ... blue leather pants.
His cabaret should not survive him. In his memoirs published in 2017, he indicated that he wanted to be buried in a blue coffin and that the cabaret stopped at his death.
"I want this house to disappear with me. It may seem pretentious, but the cabaret will not survive me," he wrote.
AFP
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