Patof

Patof
Le cirque du Capitaine
Patofville
Patof raconte
Patof voyage
character

Patof The King of Clowns
First appearance January 1972
Portrayed by Jacques Desrosiers
Aliases Gregor Patof
Occupation Clown
Nationality Russian

Patof is a character in the highly successful Canadian children's television series Patofville. He was portrayed by actor-comedian Jacques Desrosiers.

Children's TV shows

In January 1972, the clown Patof makes his appearance in the serie Le Cirque du Capitaine on the Quebec French station CFTM-TV Channel 10. Until 1978, he will host successively the series Patofville, Patof raconte and Patof voyage.[1]

Patof had for habit to tell jokes and stories to the children by using multiple puns. He often ended his numbers by exclaiming: "On m'applaudit!!!" (we applaud me!!!).

He had a successful recording career during the seventies. Songs like Patof Blou (1972), Patof le roi des clowns (1972), Patofville (1973), L'éléphant Tic-Tac (1973), La plus belle poupée du monde (1973), Bienvenue dans ma bottine (1974), Gros minou (1975) and Bonjour Patof (1975) are among his greatest hits.

Patof participated in the Shriners Circus in 1973 and 1974 at the Montreal Forum. During his first passage, he recorded an English single called "The King of Clowns" especially for his little English speaking friends.[1]

Some of the adventures of Patof were informed on record and comic strips: Patof en Russie, Patof chez les esquimaux, Patof chez les coupeurs de têtes, Patof dans la baleine, Patof chez les petits hommes verts, Patof chez les cowboys, Patof raconte, Patof découvre un ovni, Patof en Chine and Patof chez les dinosaures.

The Legend of Patof

His name is Patof, Gregor Patof. He was born in Bobruisk in the vast steppe of Belarus. Patof's father was a clown and his mother, a clown's wife. They both worked for the Great Moscow circus. Little Patof lost his father at the age of 6 and his mother few years after, reportedly died of laughter after seeing a bearded woman.[2]

Now an orphan without his father and mother, he stayed for a moment in the circus. But in this environment, everything reminded him his parent and that is why he made the decision to go away to be able to forget. However, he did not wish to change climate and that is why he chooses to come to Montreal in Canada, a city as cold as Moscow.[2]

He was lucky to meet "Capitaine Bonhomme" who, always ready to help, supplies him a little of work of clown on the television. He rapidly became the youngsters' idol. With his many personal appearances – without pay – in hospitals, orphanages and parochial centers, etc. he easily and rapidly became an idol for all young Quebecers and even for youngsters living outside our boundaries.[3]

Besides being a clown, Patof is also the mayor of Patofville, a young and fancy city filled with surprises for young and old alike. With his many friends and co-citizens Boulik, Polpon, Itof, he makes sure Quebec keeps its reputation of being a unique Province as far as Joie de Vivre is concerned.

Characters

Patof

Gregor Patof is a Russian clown and the central character of Patofville, of whom he is also the mayor. He appears for the first time in the television series "Le cirque du capitaine". His costume is constituted by red pants and a tweed fitted coat with collar and matched cuffs. He wears enormous red shoes, named also "tatanes". In Patofville, he lives in a big yellow bootee.

At the same time as his functions of mayor, he is also the director of the Patof Circus.

Polpon

Mister Polpon is the Police and Fireman Chief of Patofville. He's a key character in the series, because he is the best friend and confidant of Patof. He lives in a huge teapot, which is also a prison.

Itof

General Itof is a Russian spy who has for mission to return Patof in Moscow. Inventor, imitator and a practical joker, he is also a master in the art of disguise. He wears cossack's traditional costume as well as a surprising mustache, which seems to transforms according to its humors. In Patofville, he lives in a huge pumpkin.

Boulik

Boulik (Boulik Scavanovitch of its real name) is the faithful dog of Patof. He is a speaking dog stemming from the famous Toutousavanski race. He becomes crazy when he sees a cat...

Minor characters

Filmography

Television Series

DVD

Discography

Albums

Year Album Label Qc Chart[4] Notes
1972 Patof en Russie Campus N°5
1972 Patof chez les esquimaux Campus
1972 Patof chez les coupeurs de têtes Campus
1972 Patof dans la baleine Campus Top 50
1972 Patof chez les petits hommes verts Campus Top 50
1972 Patof chez les cowboys Campus Top 50
1973 Patof chante 10 chansons pour tous les enfants du monde Campus Top 50
1973 Patofville – Patof chante pour toi Campus Top 50
1974 Bienvenue dans ma bottine Campus Top 50
1974 Itof et la ville souterraine Campus Itof Album
1974 Polpon – Opération bonbon Campus Polpon Album
1974 Amikwan – Koi koi ayaho Campus Top 50 Amikwan Album
1974 L'histoire de Boulik Campus Boulik Album
1975 Bricolons avec Madeleine Campus Madeleine Album
1975 Patof Rock Campus
1975 Itof – Dans ma citrouille Campus Itof Album
1975 Gilbert Chénier – Polpon Campus Polpon Album
1975 Noël Noël Noël avec Patof Campus
1976 Gare... à Patof Campus
1976 Tut-Tut / Fafouin Campus Tut-Tut & Fafouin Album
1976 Super Patof Campus
1980 Nestor et Patof – Pour tous Girafe Top 50 With Nestor

Singles

Year Single Label Qc Chart[4] Notes
1972 Patof Blou (child's version) –
Patof Blou (political version)
Campus N°1
1972 Patof le roi des clowns –
Ballade pour un clown (Dis Patof?)
Campus N°2
1973 The King of Clowns –
Dear Patof
Polydor
1973 Oh! Les enfants –
On m'applaudit
Campus N°14
1973 Patofville –
L'éléphant Tic-Tac
Campus N°15
1973 L'éléphant Tic-Tac (mono version) –
L'éléphant Tic-Tac (mono version)
Campus
"D.J. Special" version
1973 Bonjour les enfants –
La plus belle poupée du monde
Campus N°15
1974 Bienvenue dans ma bottine –
Goodbye, au revoir, dasvidanie!
Campus N°31
1974 Le roi des espions –
Je suis bon malgré tout
Campus
Itof Single
1974 Policier bonbon –
Prudence
Campus
Polpon Single
1974 Une vie de chien –
Je n'aime pas les chats
Campus
Boulik Single
1975 Gros minou –
Bonjour Patof
Campus
1976 Patof Blou –
Patofville –
Bonjour Patof –
Gros minou
Campus


Previously released material, Promo
1976 Faut pas me chercher (Patof & Monsieur Tranquille) –
Mon ami Pierrot
Jades
1980 T'es pas sérieux –
On fait le tour de la terre
Girafe
With Nestor

Compilations

Year Album Label Qc Chart[4] Notes
1974 Patof le roi des clowns Pantin Top 50
1975 22 grands succès de Patof Trans-World
1976 Patofville – Patof et ses amis TeeVee
1977 20 grands succès de Patof, Fafouin, Itof Télé-Métropole Inc.

Collaborations and performances as guest star

Year Album Collaborator Notes
2006 Nestor – Les grands succès Claude Blanchard Featuring the B-side of the album Nestor et Patof – Pour tous (Disques Mérite, Compilation)

Charts

Meritas hit parade chart

At Meritas chart, which was the most reliable chart list in Quebec at the beginning of the 70s, Patof Blou reached #1 during two weeks on September 16, 1972[5][6] and Patof le roi des clowns reached #7 on December 30, 1972. Jacques Desrosiers received two golden records[7] for these two singles.

Reconstituted chart[4]

Songs

Title / Date / Best rank / Weeks on chart

Albums

Title / Date / Best rank / Weeks on Top 30

Bibliography

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jacques Desrosiers, Millionnaire (1981). Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Pierre Richard, 25 ans de télévision au Québec (1986). Retrieved October 3, 2011
  3. 34th Shriners Circus Program at the Montreal Forum, May 29 to June 2, 1974 (1974). Retrieved October 3, 2011
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Palmarès reconstitués de la chanson au Québec
  5. Le palmarès Méritas, 16 septembre 1972, Photo-Vedettes, 16 septembre 1972, page 8.
  6. Le palmarès Méritas, 23 septembre 1972, Photo-Vedettes, 23 septembre 1972, page 8.
  7. In Québec at the time, the benchmark for a gold record was 100,000 sales.

External links