Maurice Baquet is a cellist, actor, sportsman and French entertainer, born May 26, 1911 in Villefranche-sur-Saône and died July 8, 2005 in Noisy-le-Grand. Maurice Baquet was married twice: with Jacqueline Figus (1920-2011) from October 31, 1944 to June 20, 1959, with whom they had a daughter, Sophie, and with Maria Yakimova from February 20, 1964 until her death. The couple had four children: Anne, Gregori. All of them, as well as Sophie, born from her first marriage, are actors and singers — Stéphane, light designer and Dimitri, show producer. ... A native of Beaujolais, he took cello lessons at the Lyon conservatory and then those in Paris where he was in the same class as Henri Betti, Paul Bonneau, Léo Chauliac, Henri Dutilleux, Louiguy, Pierre Spiers and Raymond Trouard and where he won first prize. This did not prevent him from failing the entrance examination for the orchestra of the Paris Opera, which motivated him to give up a classical career. However, he does not leave his cello behind. On the contrary, the instrument accompanies him throughout his life and we remember the wink that Joseph Losey allowed him during a short but moving sequence in Monsieur Klein. In the early 1930s, he rubbed shoulders with Pierre and Jacques Prévert, Roger Blin and joined the famous October Group, an agitprop group, closely linked to the French Communist Party. He set up his career as an actor there and devoted himself to beautiful texts, in particular the poems of Aragon and Paul Éluard. In 1935, he made his first feature film under the direction of Marc Allégret, Les Beaux Jours. A filmography of more than 80 titles follows. His head as a resourceful and facetious kid also earned him the role of Bibi Fricotin, then that of Ribouldingue in two films by Marcel Aboulker. At the theater, he plays in the operettas Andalousie and Gipsy by Francis Lopez. He also performed at the cabaret, sometimes accompanied on tap dance by Jacqueline Figus, his wife since 1944. He also participated in ski mountaineering competitions, as well as more humorous performances, such as his ski descent from the stairs of the Butte Montmartre in 1946. In the same vein, he also skied down the stairs from the Maison de la Radio, following a bet. In 1947, he presented with the whimsical Saint-Granier a bicycle-ski allowing to go down the slopes. Friend of Roger Frison-Roche, we find him in the credits of Premier de cordée (1944). In 1955, he co-directed Stars and Tempests with Gaston Rébuffat and Georges Tairraz, which won the Grand Prix at the Trente Festival. On July 13, 1956, he made the first ascent of the south-east face of the Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix with Gaston Rébuffat, sequences of which can be seen in Entre terre et ciel. He was also a friend of Robert Doisneau, who photographed him extensively6 and with whom he produced a work entitled Ballade pour violoncelle et chambre noire, which testifies to their friendship. He died at the age of 94 and is buried in the cemetery of Beauregard (Ain).

Filmography

• 2021Morceaux de Cannes
• Dieu seul me voit (Versailles-Chantiers) - version interminable — Mr. Crémieux
• 1998Only God Sees Me — Mr Crémieux
• 1993La Braconne — The grandfather
• 1993Roulez jeunesse ! — François
• 1989Grimpeur Étoile
• 1986Le Débutant — Maurice
• 1985Les Rois du gag — Robert
• 1985Strictement personnel — Le concierge
• 1985Tailleur pour dames — Bassinet
• 1984Vive les femmes ! — Albert, cafe owner
• 1982Salut, j'arrive — Man with the cello
• 1982The Angel — Le premier bibliothécaire
• 1982Tête à claques — Neighbor
• 1981Le Roi des cons — Le patron de l'hôtel
• 1981Madame Claude 2 — Le professeur de Violoncelle
• 1979Le Divorcement — Luthier
• 1979The Adolescent — Jules, le cantonnier
• 1976Let's Make a Dirty Movie — Un flic
• 1976Mr. Klein — Musician (uncredited)
• 1970Alice au pays des merveilles — Father Guillaume
• 1969Z — Heroic Bricklayer
• 1964Little Claus and Big Claus — Le petit Claus
• 1962Mandrin — 'Court-Toujours'
• 1960Stowaway in the Sky — Mechanic
• 1957A Night at the Moulin Rouge
• 1955The Impossible Mr. Pipelet — Jojo, le fils aîné de Robert et Mathilde
• 1951Andalusia — Pepe
• 1951Bibi Fricotin — Bibi Fricotin
• 1951El sueño de Andalucía — Pepe
• 1950Le Trésor des Pieds-Nickelés — Ribouldingue
• 1950The Sad Sack — Turlot
• 1948Les Aventures des Pieds-Nickelés — Ribouldingue
• 1948My Treasure
• 1948Sextette — Rondo
• 1947Mystery Tour — Teddy
• 1946Driving Lesson — Jean
• 1946Pas un mot à la reine mère — The reporter
• 1945The Last Metro — Henri Remonge
• 1944Coup de tête — The conductor (uncredited)
• 1944First in Line — Boule
• 1943Adieu Léonard — Lantern seller
• 1943Départ à zéro — Colibri
• 1943Le Chant de l'exilé — Gaspard Duval dit Pas Béni
• 1942Frédérica — Un ami de Gilbert
• 1942The Trump Card — Mickey
• 1942Twisted Mistress — Firmin
• 1940They Met on Skis — Boulot
• 1939Place de la Concorde — Papillon
• 1938Final Accord — Serge Didot
• 1938Hatred — le joueur d'harmonica
• 1938Youth in Revolt — Arthur
• 1937Alibi — Gérard
• 1937Ballerina — Machinist
• 1937Lady Killer — Le soldat malade
• 1936Girls of Paris — Gaston
• 1936Hélène — Durant Tout Court
• 1936The Crime of Monsieur Lange — Charles, concierges' son
• 1936The Lower Depths — Aliocha, le fou accordéoniste
• 1935Happy Days — Toto
• 1935Sacrifice of Honor

Appearances as themselves (20)

• 2023Maurice Baquet, The Accorded — Self (archive footage)
• 2015Chamonix - Mont Blanc, Une histoire de conquêtes — Self (archive footage)
• 2009The World of Gaston Rébuffat — Self (archive footage)
• 2008Faszination Bergfilm - Himmelhoch und Abgrundtief — Self (archive footage)
• 1998Pierre Fatumbi Verger: Messenger Between Two Worlds — Self
• 1993Jean Renoir: Part One - From La Belle Époque to World War II — Self
• 1992Babilée '91 — Self - Actor
• 1988Baquet's Comeback — Self
• Sacrée soirée — Self
• Champs-Elysées — Self
• Les Rendez-vous du dimanche — Self
• Midi Première — Self
• Le Grand Échiquier — Self
• Samedi soir — Self
• 1961Entre Terre et Ciel — Self
• Discorama — Self
• 1959Perilous Assignment — Self - Guide's Client
• 1955Stars and Storms — Self
• 1944Autour d'un Film de Montagne — Self
• 1934Three Lives and a Rope — Self