Goodbye Michou, for 60 years a symbol of the Parisian cabaret - Lifestyle

'Michou', the man symbol of the most traditional Parisian cabaret, owner of the place that bore his name - ' Chez Michou' , in the heart of Montmartre - has disappeared at 88 years old and who has welcomed every evening for 63 years VIPs and ordinary people at his tables, personally presenting the show that was staged from time to time. Among other things, 'Chez Michou' was inspired by the Cage aux folles , the cabaret at the center of the film "The bad habit ".
Always dressed in blue from head to toe, including glasses, Michou (stage name of Michel Catty), created the "transformist" cabaret , offering since the first post-war shows with men disguised as women, many years before the wave of "drag queens". Since 1956, his little club has always been full, the "Michettes" on stage - very well dressed - amused those present at the tables with sometimes fierce parodies of the characters of the moment. Always "without making fun of or being vulgar", added Michou, who has always defined himself as "the best known homosexual in France".
Arriving in Paris from the north of the country at the age of 17 just after the war, he began to manage the future "Chez Michou" which was then a simple bar, at 80 Rue des Martyrs. In 1956, on Shrove Tuesday, he launched the challenge to two other friends, dressing up as a famous woman. And he chose Brigitte Bardot. A resounding success and from the evening afterwards everyone on stage dressed up, with wigs and false eyelashes, waiters and barmen included.
'Chez Michou ", over the years, has rivaled the other symbolic places of the Parisian cabaret from the Moulin-Rouge to the Lido, to the Crazy Horse. In 2005, Michou received the honor of the Legion of Honor, but he never lost sight of the his origins simple: every month, he invited the elderly of the Montmartre district who could not afford his show to the cabaret. For his 80 years, watered by rivers of champagne (he drank alone, he said, two and a half bottles at the day), Michou was celebrated by personalities such as Jean-Paul Gaultier and Nana Mouskouri. There, he also announced the release of his memoirs ("The Blue Prince of Montmartre") and his last wishes: to be buried in a blue coffin and end of the activity of his cabaret from the day of his death ":" I want him to disappear with me ", he said.