Belgian-born actor and baritone singer. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1912, at age 11, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts. He filed his declaration of intention to become a U.S. citizen in New Hampshire in 1924, and his petition for naturalization in Los Angeles in 1939. In the 1940s, he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he continued acting on stage. Per his obituary, he also acted in about 50 European films while staying for two years in Italy, where he also entertained soldiers in mental hospitals; he and other entertainers in the military also put on shows for troops in hospitals during World War II. He legally changed his name from Joseph/Josef Peter Meersman to Richard French with his 1939 naturalization, but reverted to his birth name in later life, and to Peter Meersman for later credits. He was married twice, first to Muriel Gretchen Barr (1903-1984) in 1926, with whom he had a stillborn son, Peter, in 1932; Muriel filed for divorce in 1941. He then married La Una Gay Parkes (1909-1994) in 1943, with whom he had two children, La Una Key Meersman and Joseph Peter Meersman, Jr.; it appears they split some time before Dick's passing in 1972. He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.
Most online sources list his birth date as 19 October 1904, his death as 04 December 1958 in Coopersville, Michigan, USA, and his full name as Peter J. Meerman. The birth date and the death date and place all apply to a different, Michigan-born person named Peter Jay Meerman. Strangely, these other online sources do correctly list "our" Dick's birthplace as Saint-Nicolas, Belgium, while retaining the rest of the aforementioned incorrect info that applies to Peter Jay Meerman, which leads me to suspect whoever added this info ascertained it all based on a 1946 airplane passenger manifest for "our" Dick, which lists his name as "Richard French; aka Peter J. Meerman [sic - actually Meersman]" and his occupation as actor. Although said manifest lists "our" Dick's correct birth date of 03 January 1901, someone likely took the "Peter J. Meerman" from that record and found the other man who had that name (despite the differing birth date), hence the resultant incorrect information at other online sources.
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