René François Artois
| René Artois | |
|---|---|
| 'Allo 'Allo! character | |
René Artois, shown here in the intertitle of Puddings Can Go Off
|
|
| First appearance | Pilot: The British Are Coming |
| Last appearance |
A Winkle in Time The Best of 'Allo 'Allo! The Return of 'Allo 'Allo! |
| Portrayed by |
Gorden Kaye Jeffrey Holland (play) |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Café Owner/Womanizer/ Hero of the Resistance. |
| Family |
Edith Melba Artois ( Old Decrepit Wife) |
| Nationality |
 French |
Edith Melba Artois ( Old Decrepit Wife)
Yvette Carte Blanche (Mistress/Wife after eloping)
René François Artois is a fictional character, the main character in the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!, which ran from 1982 to 1992. The character was played by Gorden Kaye. In the 2009 stage production of 'Allo 'Allo!, the part was played by Jeffrey Holland.
The character is loosely based on Albert Foiret, the café owner at the centre of the action in an earlier BBC drama series, Secret Army.
Artois (usually referred to as René, but codenamed Nighthawk by the Résistance) is the owner of the Café René in the occupied French town of Nouvion, during World War II. He leads an extremely complex life, where the day to day problems of the ongoing war and his home life bring numerous consequences. During one episode, in which René Artois was alleging to his own fictitious twin brother (also called René), he claimed he was originally from Nancy and that he and his brother "were both " (a double entendre referring to Lieutenant Gruber's implied homosexuality).
Café René is regularly frequented by the German forces. René has to be polite to them (as they are winning the war); but also has to be careful not to be seen as a collaborator. The fact that the café's cabaret is performed by his tone-deaf wife, Madame Edith, goes some way towards protecting his claim that he remains impartial as possible. Actually, René's waitresses, Yvette and Maria, are responsible for entertaining the Germans upstairs with the flying helmet, egg whisk and wet celery. The local commandant, Colonel Von Strohm, and his assistant Captain Hans Geering are two of the most frequent visitors to the café. In a war where money means very little; René trades the girls' services for wartime luxuries such as butter, sugar, paraffin and gasoline.
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