Valentin le désossé - Valentin the Boneless - (1843 – 1907) was the stage name

Stage name

A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

 of Jacques Renaudin, a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Cancan dancer and partner of La Goulue

La Goulue

Louise Weber was a French can-can dancer who performed under the stage name of La Goulue...

.

He was the son of a notary from Sceaux. Not much is known about his early childhood but it is believed that he was a wine merchant by day who was dancing at night on his free time at the bal of the Moulin Rouge, where he met Louise Weber also known as La Goulue. They were dancing together the chahut, a form of Can-can

Can-can

The can-can is a high-energy and physically demanding music hall dance, traditionally performed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts, petticoats, and black stockings...

.

He was tall and slender. His name derived from elasticity of his articulations. He could perform difficult contortions with grace, almost as if he were boneless. He would move from position to position with astonishing beauty. Interestingly, Valentin le désossé was never paid for dancing because he loved to do it and refused pay.

He retired in 1895 and what he did after the Moulin Rouge is not well known.

In films

• Played by Walter Crisham in Moulin Rouge
  Moulin Rouge (1952 film)
  Moulin Rouge is a 1952 film directed by John Huston, produced by Sir John Woolf and James Woolf of Romulus Films and released by United Artists. The film is set in Paris in the late 19th century, following artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the city's bohemian sub-culture in and around the...
  
  , a film by John Huston
  John Huston
  John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
  
  
• Played by Philippe Clay
  Philippe Clay
  Philippe Clay, born Philippe Mathevet, was a French mime artist, singer and actor.He was known for his tall and slim silhouette and for his interpretations of songs by Charles Aznavour, Claude Nougaro, Jean-Roger Caussimon, Boris Vian, Serge Gainsbourg, Jean Yanne, Léo Ferré, Jacques Datin,...
  
   in French Cancan
  French Cancan
  French Cancan is a 1954 French musical film written and directed by Jean Renoir and starring Jean Gabin and María Félix.-Plot:Set in 1890s Paris, Henri Danglard is the owner of a cafe, which features his mistress, Lola, as a belly dancer...
  
  , a film by Jean Renoir
  Jean Renoir
  Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
  
  (the name of the character in the film is Casimir le Serpentin)