Mistinguett was born in Enghien-les-Bains, a small town near Paris, Her parents, Antoine and Jeannette Bourgeois, made mattresses. When she was 12 years old she began to take violin lessons in Paris. One day on the train to Paris, she met a man who wrote songs for nightclubs and theatres in Paris. In 1893 he helped her to get a job at the Casino de Paris, a music hall and cabaret theatre. First she worked backstage. Then in 1895, she became a singer there. She chose the stage name "Mistinguett". 