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A child of showmen.

In showmanship terms, his family tree can be traced directly back to

1740 (to an ancestor who trained horses in front of the public). Affirms

Astor,"no other employed French artist can make that claim!" His

great-great-grandfather, Léopold Loyal, once Equerry to the court

of Napoleon III, left that position to simultaneously manage

three circuses. His parents were also pure showmen. His

mother took her first steps on a circus floor when she was

three years old. As for his father, a self-taught musician and singer, having
learned the accordeon "on the job," he had enough talent by the time he had
grown up to be asked to appear in theatres abroad. In fact, it was during their
respective tours of the United States that his parents first met, which earned
André Astor the distinction of being born in California. He is a dual citizen of
France and the United States.

Vocation.

His life as an artist began not with ventrioloquy but with dancing. Accompanied by
his first wife, who was his partner, he performed an acrobatic dancing number in
music halls and variety shows. When he was almost 30, he divorced his spouse,
and, while he was at it, abandoned that career. "I couldn't even conceive of
forming a new team, with a new assistant-even as an artist!" Magic acts tempted
him, but a friend discouraged him: "There are more than 100,000 magicians and
the props are hard to work with." When he was young, his

parents spoke to him enthusiastically about Robert Lamouret,

a well-known ventriloquist. "He sang the Barber of Seville and his dummy, a duck,
made comments. Whenever my parents mentioned it, they had

tears in their eyes-from laughing so hard! I never forgot that.

Early days.

"Ventriloquy may be a gift, but it's mostly work. When you first start out, it's very
difficult and very painful: you can't work continuously for more than five minutes. I
performed my act for the public in the most unlikely places: the most out-of-the-
way cabarets, children's birthday parties, youth clubs, etc., sometimes without
pay. It took me three years to get a booking in the most reputable theatres."

Oscar.

He had to think of a double for Oscar, just in case... . André Astor visited all the
dog training facilities. "I looked at a lot of puppies and then, suddenly, I froze: a
feeling, a current, had just passed through me." It was love at first sight. Her
name is Filitosa de la Porte Blanche; she was three years old, and she

looked at André in a way that no one else had ever done. The double

was so talented that Filitosa-"Zaza" to her close friends-was quick

to take the first Oscar's place, and incidentally, copy his name. "She

always surprises me on the stage," says the ventriloquist." I have the

impression that she really believes what she's saying. Not to mention everything
that she made up all by herself. For example, the way she comes on stage is
absolutely not her usual way of walking. But I didn't train her to do it that way-
she's the one who decided to use that slow, disdainful walk, like a star that won't
perform until she gets enough requests." At one point during the act I was really
lighting the cigarette she was begging for. She smoked it so realistically that I
had to stop doing it. False friends of animals were up in arms."Easy to live with,
"unruffled in a plane," extremely affectionate, Zaza-Oscar is top dog. Her only
drawback is that, contrary to other dogs of her race, she's a miserable hunter.
"Cats, birds," she couldn't care less about," says her master. "To each his
vocation. As for her, she's an artist."