From the S&S archives: The indestructible Maurice Chevalier

"Life is wonderful at any age if you don't ask for more than your share," said Maurice Chevalier, who at 76 is in a position to speak about the ages of life with some authority.

"It's only when a man reaches 40 that he suddenly realizes he will never be young again," said the famous entertainer.

"That's when you go to your tailor and ask for the latest fashion and you go to your barber and ask for a crew cut.

"If you have a tendency to be too heavy around the middle, you try to hold it in. You are beginning to cheat.

"You are still a strong man, but that number 40 scares you."

Chevalier said that at 76 he has only one remaining ambition of any consequence — to act a good "old man" role in the movies.

"I mean — a substantial role about an old man, not just another grandfather part or the part of somebody's uncle," he said. "I really am searching for a significant role in which I can play an old man."

The silver-haired singer and dancer, who lived in the United States from 1928 to 1935 at the height of his career, said he thinks the Camp des Loges audience of 300 women who flocked to an officers wives club luncheon recently was the largest group of women he ever faced at one time.

"It was enough to frighten a brave man," he said afterward.

Then Chevalier was off to America once more for presentation of his one-man show in Baltimore, Washington, Puerto Rico and in Hollywood, where a picture of his life is being planned.

"Retirement is out of the question for me," he said.

Chevalier described some of the ages he has passed through as follows:

"When you are 45 you try to forget it.

"When you are 50 you start talking to yourself. If your hair leaves you in the center, maybe you can wear a crewcut toupee.

"At 55 you don't know how to explain it, but your legs are becoming a little stiffer and you hear a kind of a bell that tells you troubles are not far away. If you want to hide your stomach, it's a hell of a job. You have to choose between looking good and talking badly because when you pull in your stomach it's such a strain that you lose your natural voice. If you have some business deal while in this fix, you lose your shirt.

"When you are 60, you are beginning instinctively to choose between the things you like best and the things you can do without. You economize. You know that you can still do this and still do that, but not at the same time.

"At 65, the shadows are falling. You taste a little of everything, but only taste. You begin to get panicky.

"At age 70, you walk up to the looking glass and say, 'Well my dear fellow, that's it.' You are old and had better accept it. You don't run after anything or anybody. When you are 70 you could very well become a saint. It's easy. If things don't come your way, you just don't meet them."