Editing Maurice Chevalier (section)

==World War II==
Chevalier continued performing for as long as he could freely, retreating to the [[Zone libre|free zone]] in the south of France with his Jewish wife and her parents as well as some friends following the 1940 invasion by [[Germany|German]]  troops. During this time, patriotic songs such as "[[Ça sent si bon la France]]" and "Paris sera Toujours Paris" became popular, and he held charity balls and performed to raise money for resistance efforts. Chevalier consistently refused to perform for the [[Vichy France]] collaborators, and feigned illness, but eventually, out of fear for the safety of his wife and her parents, he reluctantly agreed to a deal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/resistance-and-exile/french-resistance/maurice-chevalier/|title = Maurice Chevalier}}</ref> He refused to perform on the collaborating station [[Radio Paris]], but agreed to perform for prisoners of war at the very camp in which he had been incarcerated during World War I. The performance was given in exchange for the release of ten French prisoners.<ref>''With Love, the Autobiography of Maurice Chevalier'', (Cassell, 1960), Chapter 22.</ref>

In 1942, Chevalier was named on a list of [[French collaboration|French collaborators]] with Germany to be killed during the war, or tried after it.<ref name="derochemont19420824">{{cite magazine| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fk4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA86 |title=The French Underground | magazine=LIFE |date=24 August 1942 | last=deRochemont |first=Richard }}</ref> That year he moved to La Bocca, near [[Cannes]], but returned to the capital city in September. In 1944 when [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces freed France, Chevalier was accused of collaboration.<ref name="Larkin50"/> The August 28, 1944, issue of ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]'', the daily newspaper of U.S. armed forces in the [[European theatre of World War II|European Theater of Operations]], reported in error that "Maurice Chevalier Slain By [[Maquis (World War II)|Maquis]], Patriots Say". Even though he was acquitted by a French convened court, the English-speaking press remained hostile and he was refused a [[Visa (document)|visa]] for several years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/resistance-and-exile/french-resistance/maurice-chevalier/|title=Music and the Holocaust: Chevalier, Maurice|website=Holocaustmusic.ort.org|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref> In a review of the 1969 Oscar-nominated documentary film about French collaboration [[The Sorrow and the Pity|''Le chagrin et la pitié'']] (''The Sorrow and the Pity''), [[Simon Heffer]] draws attention to "a clip of Maurice Chevalier explaining, entirely dishonestly, to an anglophone audience how he had not collaborated."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/second-world-war-film-greatest-documentary-ever-made/ |title=This Second World War film is the greatest documentary ever made |website= Daily Telegraph |date=24 November 2019 |access-date=23 November 2019}}</ref>

[[File:News. Chevalier BAnQ P48S1P16790.jpg|thumb|Drinks after golf in 1948 in Montreal]]
[[File:Desi Arnaz Richard Keith Maurice Chevalier Lucy Goes To Mexico 1958.jpg|thumb|right|[[Desi Arnaz]], [[Richard Keith (actor)|Richard Keith]], and Maurice Chevalier in "Lucy Goes to Mexico", an episode of ''[[The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour]]'' (1958)]]
[[File:Maurice Chevalier 1959.JPG|thumb|Chevalier in 1959]]

In his own country, however, he was still popular. In 1946, he split from Nita Raya and, at the age of 58, began writing his memoirs, which took many years to complete.
[[File:News. Chevalier BAnQ P48S1P16787.jpg|thumb|Playing golf (in plaid) in 1948 in Montreal]]
He started to collect art and paint, and acted in ''[[Man About Town (1947 film)|Le silence est d'or (Man About Town)]]'' (1946) by [[René Clair]].<ref name="Larkin50"/> He toured throughout the United States and other parts of the world, then returned to France in 1948.

In 1944, he had participated in a Communist demonstration in Paris. He was therefore even less popular in the U.S. during the [[McCarthyism]] period; in 1951, he was refused re-entry into the U.S. because he had signed the [[Stockholm Appeal]].

In 1949, he performed in Stockholm in a [[Communist]] benefit against [[nuclear arms]]. Also in 1949, Chevalier was the subject of the first official [[Roast (comedy)|roast]] at the [[New York Friars' Club]], although celebrities had been informally "roasted" at banquets since 1910.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.friarsclub.com/friars_story.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025025010/http://www.friarsclub.com/friars_story.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2008|title=Friars Club|date=October 25, 2008|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref>

In 1952, he bought a large property in [[Marnes-la-Coquette]], near Paris, and named it La Louque,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=48.826496,2.172836&spn=0,0.005659&z=18&layer=c&cbll=48.826555,2.172932&panoid=omkK-C5h5txfVant6KIz9A&cbp=12,9.64,,0,-3.01 | title=Street view, 4 Rue Maurice Chevalier, Marnes-la-Coquette, France | website=Google Maps}}</ref> as a homage to his mother's nickname. He started a relationship in 1952 with Janie Michels, a young divorcee with three children.

In 1954, after the McCarthy era abated, Chevalier was welcomed back in the United States. His first full American tour was in 1955, with [[Vic Schoen]] as arranger and musical director. The [[Billy Wilder]] film ''[[Love in the Afternoon (1957 film)|Love in the Afternoon]]'' (1957) with [[Audrey Hepburn]] and [[Gary Cooper]],<ref name="Larkin50"/> was his first Hollywood film in more than 20 years.<ref name="osborne">Introduction by Robert Osborne, [[Turner Classic Movies]], 11 August 2009</ref>

In 1957, Chevalier was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by [[George Eastman House]] for distinguished contribution to the art of film.

Chevalier appeared in the movie musical ''[[Gigi (1958 film)|Gigi]]'' (1958) with [[Leslie Caron]] and [[Hermione Gingold]], with whom he shared the song "I Remember It Well", and several [[Walt Disney]] films.<ref name="Larkin50"/> The success of ''Gigi'' prompted Hollywood to give him an [[Academy Honorary Award]] that year for achievements in entertainment.<ref name="Larkin50"/> In 1957, he appeared as himself in an episode of ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]'' titled "Jack in Paris". He also appeared as himself in an episode of ''[[The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour]]'', titled "Lucy Goes to Mexico".