The Richard Bonnot Era : The Beginning of The End
For Les Charlots, 1986 was the beginning of the end. After a hiatus following Rinaldi's departure, Jean Sarrus and Gérard Filipelli replaced him with a friend, singer / comedian Richard Bonnot. In the following years, the three of them recorded a few more songs (including "Pour pas qu'l'amour Capote", written for an AIDS awareness campaign) but not enough material to produce a new album. They toured very sporadically in smaller venues with little or no success, playing their old hits. But without Rinaldi's voice (replaced by Bonnot's), the group almost sounded like a cover band.
In 1988, their old friend Antoine invited Sarrus, Filipelli and former member Luis Rego to play on his latest album, Antoine Retrouve Les Problèmes. It marked the first time that Les Charlots performed under the name Les Problèmes since 1966. Rinaldi was also invited but he was filming his hit TV series and couldn't appear on the album.
In 1992, the reformed trio (Sarrus, Filipelli and Richard Bonnot) appeared in the group's fifteenth and final film, the ill-fated and embarrassing Le Retour des Charlots, directed by Sarrus himself. Once again, the trio was joined by former member Luis Rego in a supporting part. It was their first film in eight years.
Years later, Gérard Filipelli jokingly declared that "that last film with Richard Bonnot was a joke, it was just an opportunity for us to go on a paid vacation." (The film was shot on location in Portugal.) On the poster, Richard Bonnot's face was intentionally blurred to make him look like the more popular Rinaldi. With almost no press and a limited release, Le Retour des Charlots was a critical and box office failure. At that time, Sarrus and Rinaldi were not on speaking terms. Jean-Guy Fechner was asked to make a cameo in the film but a scheduling conflict prevented the reunion. The film was sanked by Rinaldi's absence, lame gags and a mediocre script. Now way too old to play young dreamers, burdened with the presence of Richard Bonnot who couldn't act or sing to save his life, the group split shortly after that.
Having appeared in the least successful of all their films and barely remembered for his contributions on the last songs, Richard Bonnot is never really considered by fans of Les Charlots as a true member of the group. After the group split in 1992, he made a few appearances as a comedian on television but his career remains pretty obscure.
Jean Sarrus and Gérard Filipelli are the only two members who appeared in every single one of the group's 15 films.
Gérard Rinaldi appeared in 14 of them, Jean-Guy Fechner in 9 and Luis Rego in 4.
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