He adopted the pseudonym Dumesnil because of the admiration he had to French actor Camille Dumény. He started out as a fanciful singer in a café located in Paris
Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, he was paid in sandwiches and glasses of beer. Dumesnil started on stage in 1927 and divided his career between theater and cinema. Having spent two years at the
Comédie-Française, he played among other things in
Les Tontons flingueurs and provided the French voice of
Charlie Chaplin in
Monsieur Verdoux (1947) and
A King in New York (1957). His role as Duke of Plessis-Vaudreuil in the television series
Au plaisir de Dieu, earned him a resurgence of popularity and the
7 d'Or for best actor. ==Personal life==