Born Philippe Mathevet on March 7, 1927, in Paris, France, Philippe Clay was a
singer, actor, and mime. After serving military duty in the Second World War, he
returned to France and enrolled at the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art
dramatique. There, he learned diction and mime and acted in several plays
between 1945 and 1949. In 1950, he began a three-year stint at the Théâtre du
Palais de Chaillot. Discovered in 1947 during a talent competition, he began to
perform in cabarets before moving on to perform at Trois Baudets and La Fontaine
des Quatre Saisons at the dawn of t...