.
THE WORLD’S FIRST CABARET
CAN CAN SUPER STAR
THE RISE AND FALL OF LA GOULUE, CREATOR OF THE FRENCH CAN CAN AND QUEEN OF PARIS (1866 - 1929)
By Maximillien de Lafayette, Paris, 1984.
THE SUPER STAR OF LE MOULIN ROUGE. THE
WEALTHY QUEEN OF MONTMARTRE CABARETS WHO BECAME THE SADDEST SHADOW OF
POVERTY IN THE STREETS OF PARIS
Photos: Mademoiselle La
Goulue, the Super Star of the French Can Can. Quite a woman, quite a character
and quite a human tragedy!
La Goulue arriving at the
Moulin Rouge with Two Women, 1892 by Toulouse-Lautrec. The Museum of Modern
Art, New York.
Photo: La Goulue, painting by Toulouse-Lautrec, who adored her.
WHO IS LA GOULUE?
IMPOVERISHED BEGINNING: She lived the two lives of Cabaret: The happy one of a rich and famous dancer on stage and the tragic one in her real life, when her last impoverished days ended her up in the streets of Paris, where she died totally forgotten, homeless and toothless. Nee Louise Weber (Her real name), she was born in Clichy, France, on July 13, 1866. Her mother was a “Blanchisseuse”, and she worked as a cleaning lady in a laundry. Her father, unknown. Not much is known about La Goulue's early childhood, but the "mairie" (Municipality office records) dossiers show that she was born to a Jewish family from Alsace that eventually moved to Paris. The little La Goulue's greatest joy came from dressing up in that laundry customers pricey clothes, and pretending to be a super star, a great dancer on the most prestigious stage in Paris. She loved to dance, and she danced wherever and whenever she could. At age 16, she began to work as a "blanchisseuse" with her mother in that miserable laundry, and behind her mother's back, the impoverished girl began to sneak off with a 16 year old lover, Edmond, to a dance hall dressed in one of their customer's "borrowed" dresses. To earn extra Francs, La Goulue sold roses on rue de la Goutte d’Or. From time to time, La Goulue danced at small and obscure clubs around Paris, and it did not take her long to become popular in those milieux. She was liked and noticed for both her dancing skills and delightfully audacious behavior. But she was still far away from fame and fortune. In her extravagant and audacious routine, La Goulue used to tease the male audience by swirling her raised snow-white dress to reveal embroidered hearts on her panties. And she did not hesitate to perform high front kicks while flipping off a man's hat with her toe. Because of her habit of constantly picking up customers glasses and quickly downing whatever they contained while dancing, journalist Gabriel Astruc, affectionately, nicknamed her, "La Goulue", meaning the Glutton.
Photo:
Auguste Renoir.
STROKE OF LUCK: By pure stroke of fate, La Goulue met France’s great, Auguste Renoir and became one of his models. Renoir introduced her to a group of local artists and photographers (Known as la louée) who eventually paid her a few Francs to pose for them. History showed that, Achille Delmaet , husband of Marie Juliette Louvet *, would later become famous as the photographer who had taken many nude photographs of La Goulue. Her income as a model allowed her to buy fashionable clothes suitable to frequent places and parks where people of culture and social status mingle and gather. In one of the scattered parks, she encountered Joseph Oller, a co–owner of the prestigious "Le Moulin Rouge". Taken by her wit and joie de vivre, he engaged her in 1889, as a dancer at "Le Moulin Rouge", where she performed almost every night for 6 consecutive years. Quite a record! Her salary? Eight hundred Francs per month. Tips? Almost two thousands Francs. Nifty sum in those days!
THE RISE OF LA GOULUE
Photos:
La Goulue, when she was on the top of the world.
THE BEGINNING OF AN ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER, FAME, SUCCESS AND FORTUNE:
At
"Le Moulin Rouge",
Louise Weber (La
Goulue) was taken under the wing of Jacques Renaudin, whose stage name was "Valentin
Le Decosse" (1843-1907), a colorful wine
merchant who danced in his spare time at "Le Moulin Rouge" and at other
well-established Parisian cabarets. At "Le Moulin Rouge", when it first
opened, La Goulue and Renaudin performed
an early and innovative form of Can Can,
known to the locals as the "chalut." The two dancers were instant stars but it was
La Goulue who stole the
show. Renaudin was conservative. La Goulue was outrageous, and her
"scandalously" flirting conduct captivated the audience. "Le Moulin Rouge"
booked
Louise Weber as a permanent headliner, and her name appeared on the
posters and stage bill of the legendary French cabaret as "The Main Attraction
Artist" of the Moulin Rouge Nightly Show. She is set!
Overnight, La Goulue became a cabaret sensation. The Parisian press
gave her the title of “La reine de la sensualite Parisienne”, meaning
the queen of the Parisian sensuality.
THE FALL OF LA GOULUE
Photos:
La Goulue at Le Moulin Rouge, posters by Toulouse-Lautrec who adored her
and immortalized her in his paintings and "affiches".
LA GOULUE LEAVES THE MOULIN ROUGE: A BIG BIG MISTAKE!!
La Goulue's fame allowed her to play hardball with the Cabaret owners. Not only, she refused to comply with the regulations of the cabaret where she worked, but, quite frequently, she did the opposite. She was not good at taking orders. She could not stand being bossed by somebody else. So, having achieved both fame and fortune, on April 6, 1895, Louise Weber left Le Moulin Rouge and began to work on three very ambitious projects; 1- Belly Dancing, 2-Entertainment, 2-"Fêtes foraines" (fairground booth), 3- Partnership in animal-taming act. And later on, she invested a huge amount of money, literally, all her earnings and savings into a show that toured France as a part of a large fair, but unfortunately, her adoring fans who used to line up to buy tickets at the Moulin Rouge did not like the new setting and entertainment formula. Her show turned into a catastrophic failure. Louise Weber was the product of "Le Moulin Rouge". And without "Le Moulin Rouge", Louise Weber was a colorful character, in other words: RIEN! (Nobody). At least, this is what many French entertainers and cabaret owners thought. History proved them right! Following the closure of her show, La Goulue became bitter and disillusioned . She disappeared from the public eye. Suffering from depression, and financial difficulties, alcohol began taking over her life. Two years later, Louise Weber returned to Paris and decided to open her own cabaret, hoping to cash on what left from her energy, joie de vivre, fame and eccentricity. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side. She failed miserably. Very few customers came to see her at her new cabaret. Louise Weber tried other ventures, and the curse of failure followed her everywhere and ruined every single project she worked on until her death. She became totally depressed and alcoholic.
Louise said "God, I do not know what religion you follow. Are you Catholic? Are you a Jew? I have no clues. This is why, I divided my donation between a church and a synagogue. But when I die, please have mercy on my soul."
In June 1899, she joined a Parisian character as a partner in an impresario agency. It did not take long to convince her partner, Monsieur Pezon to open a new night club. But once again, the cabaret did not succeed. She failed big time. She had no understanding of business, whatsoever. Finally, she decided to leave Paris for good, more bitter than ever. In 1903, she met a shady character, a third class gigolo who did not treat her right, and now, Louise Weber became totally dependant on alcohol. Her beauty became to fade away and her health deteriorated. Those who saw her in that condition and state of mind could not recognize her. All her so-called friends deserted her. She was alone. Age too caught up with her and without a job or a source of income, what was left from what she earned at "Le Moulin Rouge" and the fortune she had amassed from dancing for years, began to disappear...In April of that year, she asked her friend, Toulouse-Lautrec to design ornamental screen panels for a small barrack she turned into a Middle Eastern belly dancing joint. It did work for a while, but once again, the business failed. Poor Louise Weber, she tried everything to promote that business. She used to stand outside the joint and dance in the street in front of her joint for a few minutes to attract customers (SEE VIDEO ON THE NEXT PAGE). But her public performance turned into a public joke and humiliation. This loving woman needed a professional advice, but she would not listen to those who knew the business. She was surrounded by losers, alcoholics, gigolos and shady character of the night. People she could identify with in her struggles and frightening loneliness. In December, she gave birth to Simon Victor, an illegitimate son of an unknown father. She used to tell the neighbors "Simon is a prince...his father is a prince." Illusion, fantasy or masquerading the truth, nobody knew and nobody cared, because Louise Weber was nobody in their eyes. Nobody, simply because she is no longer the sparkling star of "Le Moulin Rouge" and the wealthy Queen of Paris nightlife. Around 1990, she met a man who was in the troubadours business. He adopted her son and gave him his name. And despite his modest means, he gave Louise some money to cover her urgent and immediate financial needs and pay her debts. Instead, she went to pay the medical bills of one of the prostitutes she knew years ago. And what was left, she donated to a synagogue and a local church. Allegedly, Louise said "God, I do not know what religion you follow. Are you Catholic? Are you a Jew? I have no clues. This is why, I divided my donation between a church and a synagogue. But when I die, please have mercy on my soul." In 1901, Louise Weber married José Droxler, seven years younger than her. She lived in quasi poverty with him until he died in 1923. And soon later, her son died too. Louise disappeared from the eye of the public
THE MISERY AND TRAGIC END OF LA GOULUE
Frightened, depressed, alcoholic and destitute, Louise Weber returned to Montmartre on February 17, 1928. She returned not as a diva, but as a miserable and very poor woman trying to make a living by selling cashews, peanuts, cigarettes, and matches on the terraces of cheap cafes and sometimes, on a street corner near "Le Moulin Rouge" where, once upon a time, she reigned as the Queen of Paris nightlife and entertainment... and made headlines. She was not allowed to step in. She stayed outside, on the corners of streets, and nearby garbage cans, selling those filthy matches and Gauloise cigarettes. She loved to stand outside, at the entrance of "Le Moulin Rouge", to be part of the "le beau monde", meaning the chic and well to do society. She stood there for hours, trying to sell her cigarettes, matches boxes and peanuts, while inside "Le Moulin Rouge", Mistinguette, the new superstar was taking the cabaret by storm, exactly as she did, years ago...Sometimes, few people passing by recognized her and asked for her autograph. No one came to her rescue. Except Maurice Chevalier and Jean Gabin (The famous French movie star and lover of Marlene Dietrich) who on four or five occasions brought her inside "Le Moulin Rouge" where they used to perform and presented her to the audience of "Le Moulin Rouge". No one recognized the heavily overweight, poorly dressed and former Queen of Paris. The once upon a time, the Toast of Paris, Louise Weber has become one of the poverty frightening shadows in the dark alleys of Paris.Flat broke, sick and completely forgotten. She died one year later on January 29, 1930 and was buried in the Cimetière de Pantin * in the Paris suburb of Pantin, and much later her remains were transferred to the Cimetière de Montmartre. Louise Weber has become a frightening reminder and a living example of destiny mockery, hardship of life and self destruction. She died in the street of a broken heart, without a single dime in her pocket, homeless and alone. Before she closed her eyes for the last time, she asked God to keep a small corner for her in his paradise. La Goulue who was larger than life when she was on the top of the world, became smaller than the box of matches she sold in the streets of Paris, when she went down the drain. When Louise Weber became ill, lonely, poor and hungry, nobody was there to give her a helping hand. The former queen of the Nights of Paris, the friend, the woman with THE big heart who took care of the homeless and needy, died alone in the streets of Paris, nearby a garbage can and paint tubes of a miserable homeless artist. She died without a name, unknown and completely forgotten...and she had hard time convincing the priest who gave her the last holy sacrament that she was indeed Louise Weber, the once upon a time, the queen of Paris.
AFTER HER DEATH
In 1992, thanks to her grand grand son, Michel Souvais, Louise Weber was exhumed, and Jacque Chirac, then, the mayor of Paris ordered the transfer of her ashes to the "Cimetière de Montmartre." The inauguration of her new tomb was a state official ceremony. All Paris was there, including the presidents of all the associations and companies operating in the district of Montmartre, Members of the French Parliament, Jacques Chirac himself, the garde champêtre Anatole and buddy Mick, the international media, dozens of TV networks correspondents, the famous Poulbots, approximately 2,500 persons and...the new owners of "Le Moulin Rouge". The legendary French actress Arletty, once said: "It was La Goulue who inspired Toulouse-Lautrec!" according to Michel Souvais, then, secretary of Arletty.
Tomb of Louise Weber "La Goulue", Queen of Montmartre and Creator of the French Can Can...
| Flowers left by a fan, Vanessa Montacuto, for Louise Weber (La Goulue) at her tomb with a heart felt and touching note |
|
Translation: What a humble tomb for the one who once was the queen of the night of Paris! You had an awful destiny, poor La Goulue! You had it all and you ended up with nothing, fat and ugly, left from the hand of all men who loved you. Sleep with God in heaven, should he wanted to welcome you, because of your life. Signed Vanesa Montacuto. |
Quelle
tombe aussi humble pour celle qui a été la reine de la nuit de Paris! Tu as
eu une affreuse destinée, pauvre La Goulue! Tu l'avais tout et tu as fini
avec rien de tout, grosse et laide, laissé de la main de tous les hommes qui
t'avaient aimé. Dors avec Dieu au Paradis s'Il y a voulu t'admettre, à cause
de ta vie.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
*Marie Juliette Louvet (May 9, 1867 - September 24, 1930) was mistress of Prince Louis II of Monaco and was the mother of his only child, Princess Charlotte of Monaco. Known as Juliette, Louvet was the daughter of Jacques Henri Louvet (1830 - 1910) and his first wife, Joséphine Elmire Piedefer (1828-1871). She married photographer Achille Delmaet on October 6, 1885 (his best known photographs are nudes of La Goulue, a cancan dancer of the Moulin Rouge). The Delmaets were divorced on January 14, 1893; they had two children, Georges (1884-1955) and Marguerite (1886-1894). Juliette Louvet became an entertainer of sorts, reportedly a cabaret singer (other sources identify her as a laundress and a dressmaker), then was Prince Louis' lover. She gave birth to their daughter, Charlotte, in Algeria on September 30, 1898.
*The Cimetière de Pantin in the town of Pantin in the suburbs of Paris, France opened on November 15, 1886 and is the largest cemetery in the city, occupying 1.07 km². Located in the north-eastern section of the city, Pantin is a garden style burial grounds with more than 8,000 trees and streets that allow access by motor vehicles. It is one of the least known of the many famous Parisian cemeteries, but amongst the notables interred here are:
- Jeanne Aubert (1906-1988), actress
- Jacques Audiberti (1899-1965), writer
- Damia (1892-1978), singer
- Fratellini family members , circus family
- Fréhel (1891-1951), singer
- Helno (1963-1993), singer
- Véra Korène (1901-1996), Russian-born actress
- Ginette Leclerc (1912-1991), actress
- Jean-Pierre Melville (1917-1973), film director/producer, Resistance fighter
- La Goulue (1866-1929), Cancan dancer (original burial site)
- Jules Védrines (1881-1919), aviator
- Jean d'Yd (1880-1964), acto