Just two days after QUEERGURU interviewed Brit actor MICHAEL MATUS who is about to star in the latest incarnation of the gay classic comedy LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, the very man who inspired the original has died in Paris aged 88.
The legendary singer/drag performer/night club owner MICHOU was known as the Blue Prince on account he only wore blue and completely surrounded himself with the color . He arrived in Paris in the 1950’s and started by performing in cabaret in Montmartre but he very soon bought out the owner and created the Cabaret Michou.
An openly gay man even back then, Michou quickly became an iconic figure in the glamorous demi-monde world of Montmartre’s thriving night club life. He entertained celebrities and aristocrats for decades and was not only was awarded with their friendships but also the Medal of Paris and even the prestigious chevalier de la Légion d’honneur France’s highest owner.
Over recent years most of the old Montmartre night club scene disappeared but Michou and his club remained (and is still open today). Generously once a year he treated all the local senior citizens to a magnificent lunch ….. no wonder they all worshiped him.
Michou was a wonderful old-school flamboyant man who revelled in an exotic lifestyle that has all but disappeared. Both he and his Cabarets were ahead of their time and inspired so many to lead the life that they were really born to have. He will be sorely missed, but he has left an indelible mark that every gay man should be grateful for.
“We are what we are and what we are is an illusion.
We love how it feels
Putting on heels causing confusion.”
Michel Georges Alfred Catty aka MICHOU( 18 June 1931 – 26 January 2020), RIP
Labels: 2020, La Cage Aux Folles, michou, obituary
