At the end of the 19th century, Chocolat was at the height of its glory. The famous black clown is one of the most popular artists of his time. Long forgotten, its history will finally be revealed a century later by the work of the historian Gérard Noiriel, and popularized by the interpretation of the French actor Omar Sy in the film Chocolate, released in 2016. A dazzling career due to his talent, and in particular his way of playing with the racial prejudices existing in France during the Belle Epoque.
“He will be recognized for his talents as an artist”
Because nothing predestined the native of Havana, son of Cuban slaves, to this incredible destiny under the capitals. As a child, Rafaël Padilla* was bought by a rich Spanish settler to work on a farm near Bilbao. He fled around the age of 14, and did odd jobs. During his wanderings, he meets an already famous clown, the British Tony Grice. “He managed to get hired in Paris in the very prestigious New Circus, near rue Saint-Honoré, which was also a music hall. He is first carrying suitcases, then stuntman, that is to say the one who takes slaps, ”says Gérard Noiriel, author of two books on the life of the clown **. Having no civil status, it was at this time that he became “Chocolate”, a pejorative term used to designate blacks.
Only two years after his arrival, in 1888, he already obtained his own show, “Les Noces de Chocolat”, inspired by the famous character from the commedia dell’arte Pierrot. “We called him the black Pierrot,” adds the historian. Its success is already significant. The press hailed his talent. He is the first artist to introduce the cake walk, inspired by the gestures of African-American slaves, twenty years before Josephine Baker, a dance that would give rise to hip hop years later”. Already, the clown tries to thwart the clichés. “At the time, blacks were few in Paris, and their skin color aroused astonishment and laughter. There are these prejudices which compare them to monkeys, or naive big children, with a paternalistic look. But Chocolat will succeed in putting in crisis these prejudices by the dance, the song, and the mime. He will be recognized for his talents as an artist,” he adds.
“Through laughter, he diverts prejudices”
Already famous, Chocolat reached its peak when he formed a mythical duo with the British clown George Foottit, from 1895. Their numbers depict the “white clown” mistreating the poor “clown Auguste”. In the colonial context, the difference in color is an additional element of “humor”. The Chocolat whipping boy is regularly mocked for his black skin in journalistic accounts, like here in everyday life The sun, April 19, 1896 :
“A slap, a cuff, a cymbal strike, and Foottit cavorts in front of the spectators who give him an ovation. [Il] performs a double somersault in the meantime, lands on his legs, smiles graciously at the audience, and still finds time to kick poor Chocolat, the indicated target of mockery and sniffles and who – like said his pleasant executioner – never sees himself white, poor thing! »
But Gérard Noiriel insists on the inventiveness of the duo, which will earn him to be immortalized by the Lumière brothers. It evokes Chocolat’s ability to go, once again, beyond prejudice. “Physical violence already existed in the clown tradition. But they invent the severe father and the mischievous child, who turns away from authority. Chocolat isn’t just a passive whipping boy, it thumbs its nose and also makes people slap in the face”. In the show “Paris Ballon”, in 1905, the duo bypasses stereotypes a little more. “Foottit and Chocolat disguise themselves as women to seduce a handsome Parisian. But they make the wrong makeup and exchange their skin color, giving rise to comic misunderstandings, ”continues the historian. “Chocolate thus succeeded in embodying characters that confused the public compared to the classic roles that were traditionally attributed to blacks. Through laughter, he diverts prejudices”.
Advertising, comics and even the toy industry are taking over the famous duo. He also received the medal of republican merit for his shows in front of sick children, drawing the figure of the therapist clown. “He was a real star, especially among children, who are offered his figurine. But he will know the decline. Little by little, clowns are losing their aura in favor of boxing, cycling, and the beginnings of cinema,” adds Gérard Noiriel.
In November 1909, he even had to respond to the newspaper The weather to deny the announcement of his death, published the day before in the daily. His response, clownish even in the writing, indicates to “the intelijean journalizes” that he is alive and well. “You can add that I haven’t even blanched,” he wrote.
End of life in misery
Prejudices remain tenacious. In his personal life, where his relationship with Marie Hecquet, a white woman, will never be accepted. As in his professional life. Thus, when the story with Foottit ends, Chocolat struggles to obtain the same success in solo. He tries a career in the theater, in vain. “He completely flopped with a play by a great author of the time on Moses, in 1911. The reports in the press are distressing. At the time, a black could be a clown, but not an actor. It was in a way his glass ceiling,” assures Gérard Noiriel.
He returns to the circus with Eugène, one of Marie Hecquet’s sons, whom he adopted. “It was probably his biological father, because Eugene looked like him. Their duet, “Tablette et Chocolat”, was still a way of playing on stereotypes, of having fun”, says the specialist. The clown then sank into depression and alcoholism, marked by the death of his daughter from tuberculosis in 1913. Chocolat died at the age of 49 in misery and anonymity during a tour four years later. , and will be buried in the indigent square of the Protestant cemetery of Bordeaux.
* Rafael is referred to by the surname “Padilla” for the first time in his death certificateNovember 4, 1917.
** “Chocolate nigger clown. The forgotten story of the first black artist on the French scene” (Bayard, 2012), and “Chocolat. The true story of a man with no name”, (Bayard, 2016).