Dranem (1869-1935) was a French comic singer, stage, and film actor who was active in variety shows, café-concerts, and operettas. He started his film career with silent shorts for Pathé Frères and played in a series of early sound films by Alice Guy. The advent of sound film in the late 1920s made Dranem again much in demand for screen roles.
French postcard by F.C. & Cie., no. 121. Photo: Paul Darly.
French postcard.
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 79. Photo: Paramount.
Armand Dranem or simply Dranem was born Charles Armand Ménard, in Paris, in 1869. He was the son of a craftsman-jeweler. He was very early attracted by the café-concert. In September 1890, he launched himself on a local amateur stage, La Verrerie. He adopted the singular stage name of Dranem, an anagram of Menard. After his military service, he began working as an apprentice jeweller in a local shop and then became a seller of orthopaedic instruments.
In 1894, Dranem made his professional stage debut at the Concert de l'Epoque. In 1895, he performed with fellow newcomers Félix Mayol and Max Dearly in the Concert Parisien. One day in 1896, at the Carreau du Temple, he started to wear a strange outfit: a small skimpy jacket, yellow and green striped pants which are too wide and too short, enormous shoes without laces and a strange little hat. With his cheeks and nose covered in red, he came running on stage as if chased. He started to sing with his eyes closed, which he opened only to simulate the fear of spouting such incongruities. It was a triumph.
The genus Dranem was born. from where he went on to become a leading music hall entertainer in his own comic absurdist genre. In 1899, he was signed to perform at the famous Eldorado Club, the temple of the café-concert. There he appeared regularly for the next twenty years. Dranem's comedic singing routine brought a loyal following and his work made him a very wealthy man. He also appeared under the direction of the director Antoine in Molière's comedy 'Le médecin malgré lui', at l'Odéon, in 1910. The critics reacted with rave reviews.
In 1910 he purchased the Château de Ris in the town of Ris-Orangis south of Paris and established a charitable foundation to operate the large building as a senior citizen home for retired performers. President Armands Fallières opened the home in 1911. On the grounds, a bandstand and an open-air theatre provided entertainment. He then turned to the operetta. He shared the poster with Maurice Chevalier in 'Là-Haut' and shone in many musicals written by Albert Willemetz.
His Dranem Foundation continued to operate until the year 2000 and the property remains a government-operated retirement home open to all members of the public. During World War I, Dranem continued his benevolence by performing for the troops at music halls and for wounded soldiers at military hospitals.
French postcard by A.N., Paris / R.P.I., no. 251. Photo: Paul Darby. Caption: IV. En fait d'ortograph! graph!
French postcard. A.N [Noyer], Paris, No. 17. Photo G.L. Manuel Frères, Paris.
French postcard by A.N., Paris. 'Maquette de Giris'.
French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 410. Photo: Studio V. Henry. Dranem and Suzette O'Nill in the stage operetta 'Louis XIV' (1929)
Dranem also acted and sang in live theatre and in film. According to Alison McMahan in her study on Alice Guy, Dranem already acted in 1900 in the Pathé silent Ma Tante/My Aunt, though Laurent Mannoni in the Encyclopedia of Early Cinema dates this film as 1903. According to Mannoni, Pathé launched his film career in 1901 with Le salut de Dranem/Dranem's Salute (Ferdinand Zecca, 1901), followed by several silent shorts by Pathé, sometimes with Dranem in drag, but often Dranem as the title character as well. Mannoni mentions Histoire grivoise racontée par une concierge/Saucy Story as Told by the Concierge (?, 1902), Ma Tante/My Aunt (Ferdinand Zecca, 1903), Le mitron/The Baker's Boy (Ferdinand Zecca, 1904), Le rêve de Dranem/Dranem's Dream (Ferdinand Zecca, 1906) to Le tondeur galant/The Gallant Shearer (1912).
IMDb also lists Les souliers de Dranem/Dranem's shoes (Ferdinand Zecca, 1908), Dranem fait ressemeler ses ribouis (?, 1910), Le mariage de Dranem/Dranem's wedding (Ferdinand Zecca, 1912) and Dranem sténo-dactyle/Shorthand Typist Dranem (?, 1912), and the Molière adaptation Le médecin malgré lui/The doctor in spite of himself (?, 1913). McMahan also mentions Man Eating Pomegranates (1903). In 1905, Dranem also performed in a series of 11 early sound films, 'Phonoscènes', directed by Alice Guy for Gaumont: Allumeur Marche, Le trou de mon quai, Valsons, V'la retameur, Les p'tits pois, L'enfant du cordonnier, Etre légume, Le cucurbitacée, Le boléro cosmopolite, Bonsoir, M'sieurs, dames, Le Vrai Jiu-jitsu, and Five O'Clock Tea.
Alison MacMahan writes: "Dranem was a very energetic performer, moving around the entire stage, combining whole body language with pantomime and caricature. Although he wore the same 'bum' or 'clown' costume in each of his films, he had a different prop (a bucket, a poncho, a vegetable) in each one." In the 1920s Dranem only acted in two films: he had a small part in La clé de voute/The Keystone (Roger Lion, 1925) with Gina Palerme, but he had the lead in the late silent comedy J'ai l'noir ou Le suicide Dranem/Dranem's suicide (Max de Rieux, 1929), in which Dranem is an unfortunate ostrich breeder.
The advent of synchronised sound film in the late 1920s made Dranem much in demand for screen roles featuring his singing routines. In the early 1930s, he played in some 13 films, of which several with himself in the lead, such as La poule/The Hen (René Guissart, 1932) with Arlette Marchal, and Ah! Quelle gare!/Ah! What a girl! (René Guissart, 1933) with Jeanne Boitel, or at least as the main male antagonist. Dranem acted in the sound film until his death.
In 1891, Dranem married Lucie Isembert, who after a union of twenty-two years requested and obtained a separation in 1916 from bed and board and ordered her husband to pay a pension of 500 francs per month. IMDb mentions Ana Ruiz y Miyares as his wife from 1918 to 1923. In 1923 he met singer and actress Suzette O'Nill. They married in 1927, and he adopted her daughter, Francis Florence O'Neill (1921). The couple stayed together till his death. Dranem died in Paris in 1935 at the age of sixty-six and was buried at the Château de Ris. That same year, he was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor. At his request, he is buried in the park of Ris Orangis with his wife.
French postcard. Photo Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. "Quand Paris est la ville lumière, Campari est le Roi des Amers."
French postcard by David Campari, Paris. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. Caption: Quand Paris est la ville lumière, Campari est le Roi des Amers.
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 740. Photo: Paramount.
French card by Editions Salabert, Paris, 1932. Photo: Paramount. Dranem sings the foxtrot 'J'en suis un' in the operetta film Il est Charmant/He is Charming (Louis Mercanton, 1932). Words: Albert Willemetz. Music: Raoul Moretti.
Sources: Alison McMahan (Alice Guy-Blaché. Lost Visionary of the Cinema), Laurent Mannoni (Encyclopedia of Early Cinema), Wikipedia (English and French), and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 29 January 2024.
French postcard by F.C. & Cie., no. 121. Photo: Paul Darly.
French postcard.
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 79. Photo: Paramount.
His own comic absurdist genre
Armand Dranem or simply Dranem was born Charles Armand Ménard, in Paris, in 1869. He was the son of a craftsman-jeweler. He was very early attracted by the café-concert. In September 1890, he launched himself on a local amateur stage, La Verrerie. He adopted the singular stage name of Dranem, an anagram of Menard. After his military service, he began working as an apprentice jeweller in a local shop and then became a seller of orthopaedic instruments.
In 1894, Dranem made his professional stage debut at the Concert de l'Epoque. In 1895, he performed with fellow newcomers Félix Mayol and Max Dearly in the Concert Parisien. One day in 1896, at the Carreau du Temple, he started to wear a strange outfit: a small skimpy jacket, yellow and green striped pants which are too wide and too short, enormous shoes without laces and a strange little hat. With his cheeks and nose covered in red, he came running on stage as if chased. He started to sing with his eyes closed, which he opened only to simulate the fear of spouting such incongruities. It was a triumph.
The genus Dranem was born. from where he went on to become a leading music hall entertainer in his own comic absurdist genre. In 1899, he was signed to perform at the famous Eldorado Club, the temple of the café-concert. There he appeared regularly for the next twenty years. Dranem's comedic singing routine brought a loyal following and his work made him a very wealthy man. He also appeared under the direction of the director Antoine in Molière's comedy 'Le médecin malgré lui', at l'Odéon, in 1910. The critics reacted with rave reviews.
In 1910 he purchased the Château de Ris in the town of Ris-Orangis south of Paris and established a charitable foundation to operate the large building as a senior citizen home for retired performers. President Armands Fallières opened the home in 1911. On the grounds, a bandstand and an open-air theatre provided entertainment. He then turned to the operetta. He shared the poster with Maurice Chevalier in 'Là-Haut' and shone in many musicals written by Albert Willemetz.
His Dranem Foundation continued to operate until the year 2000 and the property remains a government-operated retirement home open to all members of the public. During World War I, Dranem continued his benevolence by performing for the troops at music halls and for wounded soldiers at military hospitals.
French postcard by A.N., Paris / R.P.I., no. 251. Photo: Paul Darby. Caption: IV. En fait d'ortograph! graph!
French postcard. A.N [Noyer], Paris, No. 17. Photo G.L. Manuel Frères, Paris.
French postcard by A.N., Paris. 'Maquette de Giris'.
French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 410. Photo: Studio V. Henry. Dranem and Suzette O'Nill in the stage operetta 'Louis XIV' (1929)
A very energetic performer
Dranem also acted and sang in live theatre and in film. According to Alison McMahan in her study on Alice Guy, Dranem already acted in 1900 in the Pathé silent Ma Tante/My Aunt, though Laurent Mannoni in the Encyclopedia of Early Cinema dates this film as 1903. According to Mannoni, Pathé launched his film career in 1901 with Le salut de Dranem/Dranem's Salute (Ferdinand Zecca, 1901), followed by several silent shorts by Pathé, sometimes with Dranem in drag, but often Dranem as the title character as well. Mannoni mentions Histoire grivoise racontée par une concierge/Saucy Story as Told by the Concierge (?, 1902), Ma Tante/My Aunt (Ferdinand Zecca, 1903), Le mitron/The Baker's Boy (Ferdinand Zecca, 1904), Le rêve de Dranem/Dranem's Dream (Ferdinand Zecca, 1906) to Le tondeur galant/The Gallant Shearer (1912).
IMDb also lists Les souliers de Dranem/Dranem's shoes (Ferdinand Zecca, 1908), Dranem fait ressemeler ses ribouis (?, 1910), Le mariage de Dranem/Dranem's wedding (Ferdinand Zecca, 1912) and Dranem sténo-dactyle/Shorthand Typist Dranem (?, 1912), and the Molière adaptation Le médecin malgré lui/The doctor in spite of himself (?, 1913). McMahan also mentions Man Eating Pomegranates (1903). In 1905, Dranem also performed in a series of 11 early sound films, 'Phonoscènes', directed by Alice Guy for Gaumont: Allumeur Marche, Le trou de mon quai, Valsons, V'la retameur, Les p'tits pois, L'enfant du cordonnier, Etre légume, Le cucurbitacée, Le boléro cosmopolite, Bonsoir, M'sieurs, dames, Le Vrai Jiu-jitsu, and Five O'Clock Tea.
Alison MacMahan writes: "Dranem was a very energetic performer, moving around the entire stage, combining whole body language with pantomime and caricature. Although he wore the same 'bum' or 'clown' costume in each of his films, he had a different prop (a bucket, a poncho, a vegetable) in each one." In the 1920s Dranem only acted in two films: he had a small part in La clé de voute/The Keystone (Roger Lion, 1925) with Gina Palerme, but he had the lead in the late silent comedy J'ai l'noir ou Le suicide Dranem/Dranem's suicide (Max de Rieux, 1929), in which Dranem is an unfortunate ostrich breeder.
The advent of synchronised sound film in the late 1920s made Dranem much in demand for screen roles featuring his singing routines. In the early 1930s, he played in some 13 films, of which several with himself in the lead, such as La poule/The Hen (René Guissart, 1932) with Arlette Marchal, and Ah! Quelle gare!/Ah! What a girl! (René Guissart, 1933) with Jeanne Boitel, or at least as the main male antagonist. Dranem acted in the sound film until his death.
In 1891, Dranem married Lucie Isembert, who after a union of twenty-two years requested and obtained a separation in 1916 from bed and board and ordered her husband to pay a pension of 500 francs per month. IMDb mentions Ana Ruiz y Miyares as his wife from 1918 to 1923. In 1923 he met singer and actress Suzette O'Nill. They married in 1927, and he adopted her daughter, Francis Florence O'Neill (1921). The couple stayed together till his death. Dranem died in Paris in 1935 at the age of sixty-six and was buried at the Château de Ris. That same year, he was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor. At his request, he is buried in the park of Ris Orangis with his wife.
French postcard. Photo Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. "Quand Paris est la ville lumière, Campari est le Roi des Amers."
French postcard by David Campari, Paris. Photo: Studio G.L. Manuel Frères. Caption: Quand Paris est la ville lumière, Campari est le Roi des Amers.
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 740. Photo: Paramount.
French card by Editions Salabert, Paris, 1932. Photo: Paramount. Dranem sings the foxtrot 'J'en suis un' in the operetta film Il est Charmant/He is Charming (Louis Mercanton, 1932). Words: Albert Willemetz. Music: Raoul Moretti.
Sources: Alison McMahan (Alice Guy-Blaché. Lost Visionary of the Cinema), Laurent Mannoni (Encyclopedia of Early Cinema), Wikipedia (English and French), and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 29 January 2024.
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