Pierre Fresnay | |
|---|---|
 Pierre Fresnay in 1939. | |
| Born | Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach 4 April 1897 Paris, France |
| Died | 9 January 1975 (aged 77) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, film director |
| Years active | 1910–1974 |
| Spouse(s) | Rachel Berendt Berthe Bovy |
Pierre Fresnay (4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor.
Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. [1] He joined the company at what later was the Théatre de Paris, only to shortly after at the Conservatoire, becoming a pensionnaire of the Comédie-Française in early 1915, returning to it after three years military service in 1919. [1] Before his departure from the Comédie-Française in 1926 Fresnay had played 80 parts in Paris, excelling especially in the works of Alfred de Musset. [1] After playing small roles, in 1915 he was engaged as a pensionnaire without taking an audition at the Comédie-Française, moving up to Mario in Le Jeu de l'amour et du hasard and the title role in Britannicus . After the armistice he appeared as Clitandre in Les Femmes savantes , as well as other juvenile leads. These included Perdican ( On ne badine pas avec l'amour by Musset), Valentin (Il ne faut jurer de rien by Musset, which he also directed), Fortunio ( Le Chandelier by Musset). [2] Alongside contemporary creations, his Comédie-Française career continued with Chatterton (Vigny), becoming a valued member of the troupe due to his intelligent acting, the flexibility of his talent, and quality of his diction ("l'intelligence de son jeu, la souplesse de son talent et l'excellence de sa diction"). Upon leaving the Comédie-Française his stage work was found at the Variétés in Guitry plays, then as Marius in the Pagnol trilogy. [2]
During the 1920s, Fresnay appeared in many popular stage productions. In 1927 Marion Fawcett was producing plays at the Theatre Royal in Huddersfield in her "International Masterpieces Seasons". She produced a play in which Fresnay delivered his lines in French. The play was "Game As He Played It". [3]
He took the title role of Marcel Pagnol's Marius (1929), which ran for over 500 performances, also taking this role in the 1931 film adaptation of the play. He reprised the character in the next two parts of Marcel Pagnol's Marseilles Trilogy, Fanny (1932) and César (1936). [4]
In 1932 Yvonne Printemps's marriage to Sacha Guitry broke up, and Printemps became Fresnay's personal and professional partner. [5]
He took over the lead role in Noël Coward's Conversation Piece when the author moved on in April 1934. Fresnay won excellent reviews, and his stage partnership with Printemps was greatly admired. [6] In the same year Printemps and Fresnay had a screen hit in Abel Gance's La dame aux camélias. Between then and 1951 they appeared together in eight films. [7] In 1934 he appeared briefly in Alfred Hitchcock's first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much . In 1937, he portrayed the aristocratic French military officer Captain de Boeldieu in Jean Renoir's masterpiece La Grande Illusion . [4]
In 1947, he played Vincent de Paul in Monsieur Vincent , for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. His portrayal was described in Sight and Sound as "one of the most perfect pieces of work to be seen for many years in any clime". [8] He also portrayed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Albert Schweitzer in Il est minuit, Docteur Schweitzer (1952). La Valse de Paris gave Fresnay the chance to play in a "stylised musical" as a "delightful, lightly caricatured portrayal of Offenbach", alongside Printemps. [9]
A soldier in the French Army during World War I, he returned to his career a hero. However, under the German occupation of World War II, he worked for the Franco-German film company Continental, making Henri-Georges Clouzot's Le Corbeau and other films. [4]
Fresnay's appearances in films produced by German film company Continental during the war, especially Le Corbeau, caused his summons, brief imprisonment, and condemnation by a purge tribunal after the liberation. Despite the parallels between the poison-pen letters in Le Corbeau (in which he played the leading role) and the widespread letters of denunciation in Occupied France, Clouzot's film was banned in France for more than 20 years. [10]
Printemps and Fresnay starred in Oscar Straus's Drei Waltzer, given in French as Trois valses on the Parisian stage and on film ( Les trois valses ). The critic Richard Traubner commented in 2006 that because of the performances of Printemps and Fresnay the film still "hangs over anyone who dares revive the operetta on stage". [11]
As well as theatre work covering 130 plays, he appeared in over 70 films, some still classics, and at the end of his life on television such as Le Neveu de Rameau . [2]
In 1954, he published his memoirs, Je suis comédien (Eng. I am an actor). Fresnay continued to perform regularly in film and on stage through to the 1960s. In the 1970s, he appeared in a few films for television. From then on, he lived with the French actress and singer Yvonne Printemps for the rest of his life, co-directing the Théâtre de la Michodière in Paris with her until his death in 1975. [1]
He died of respiratory problems, aged 77, on 9 January 1975, at Neuilly-sur-Seine and he is interred alongside Printemps in the local cemetery. In his autobiography (My Name Escapes Me), Alec Guinness states that Fresnay was his favourite actor. [12]
Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest "I think my name is to be pronounced fray-nay. At least, it is the way I pronounce it." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936).
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | Quand même | Henri Pouctal | ||
| 1921 | L'essor | Charles Burguet | ||
| 1922 | The Black Diamond | Bouvier | André Hugon | |
| The Mysteries of Paris | François Germain | Charles Burguet | ||
| 1924 | Le petit Jacques | Paul Laverdac | Georges Lannes | |
| La mendiante de Saint-Sulpice | Charles Burguet | |||
| Les premières armes de Rocambole | Jean Robert | Charles Maudru | ||
| The Loves of Rocambole | Jean Robert | Charles Maudru | ||
| 1929 | A Foolish Maiden | Gaston de Charance | Luitz-Morat | |
| 1930 | Ça aussi!... c'est Paris | Antoine Mourre | ||
| 1931 | Marius | Marius Olivier, César's son | Alexander Korda | |
| 1932 | Fanny | Marius Olivier, César's son | Marc Allégret | |
| 1933 | Âme de clown | Jack | Marc Didier | |
| 1934 | La Dame aux camélias | Armand Duval | Fernand Rivers and Abel Gance | |
| The Man Who Knew Too Much | Louis Bernard | Alfred Hitchcock | ||
| 1935 | Kœnigsmark | Raoul Vignerte, French teacher | Maurice Tourneur | |
| 1936 | Le roman d'un jeune homme pauvre | Maxime Hauterive de Champcey | Abel Gance | |
| Under Western Eyes | Razumov | Marc Allégret | ||
| César | Marius Olivier, César's son | Marcel Pagnol | ||
| 1937 | Street of Shadows | Captain Georges Carrère | Georg Wilhelm Pabst | |
| La Grande Illusion | Captain Boeldieu | Jean Renoir | ||
| The Silent Battle | Bordier | Pierre Billon | ||
| 1938 | The Puritan | Le commissaire Lavan | Jeff Musso | |
| Chéri-Bibi | Francis dit Chéri-Bibi | Léon Mathot | ||
| Alert in the Mediterranean | Le commandant Lestailleur | Léo Joannon | ||
| Adrienne Lecouvreur | Maurice de Saxe | Marcel L'Herbier | ||
| Three Waltzes | Octave, Philippe et Gérard de Chalencey | Ludwig Berger | ||
| 1939 | The Phantom Carriage | David Holm | Julien Duvivier | |
| 1941 | Le Duel | Father Daniel Maurey | Pierre Fresnay himself | |
| The Last of the Six | Le commissaire Wensceslas Voroboevitch dit Monsieur Wens | Georges Lacombe | ||
| Le briseur de chaînes | Marcus | Jacques Daniel-Norman | ||
| 1942 | The Strangers in the House | Le narrateur | Henri Decoin | Uncredited |
| Le journal tombe à cinq heures | Le reporter Pierre Rabaud | Georges Lacombe | ||
| The Murderer Lives at Number 21 | Monsieur Wens | Henri-Georges Clouzot | ||
| 1943 | La Main du diable | Roland Brissot | Maurice Tourneur | |
| The Stairs Without End | Pierre | Georges Lacombe | ||
| I Am with You | François | Henri Decoin | ||
| Le Corbeau | Doctor Rémy Germain | Henri-Georges Clouzot | ||
| 1944 | Traveling Light | Gaston | Jean Anouilh | |
| 1946 | La fille du diable | Ludovic Mercier / Saget | Henri Decoin | |
| Le visiteur | Sauval | Jean Dréville | ||
| 1947 | Monsieur Vincent | Vincent de Paul | Maurice Cloche | |
| 1948 | Les condamnés | Jean Séverac | Georges Lacombe | |
| Combourg, visage de pierre | François-René de Chateaubriand | Jacques de Casembroot | Voice | |
| 1949 | Barry | Le père Théotime | Richard Pottier | |
| At the Grand Balcony | Gilbert Carbot | Henri Decoin | ||
| Vient de paraître | Moscat | Jacques Houssin | ||
| 1950 | The Paris Waltz | Jacques Offenbach | Marcel Achard | |
| Justice Is Done | Narrator | André Cayatte | Uncredited | |
| God Needs Men | Thomas Gourvennec | Jean Delannoy | ||
| 1951 | Monsieur Fabre | Jean-Henri Fabre | Henri Diamant-Berger | |
| The Voyage to America | Gaston Fournier | Henri Lavorel | ||
| Great Man | Le professeur Louis Delage | Yves Ciampi | ||
| 1952 | Il est minuit, docteur Schweitzer | Le docteur Albert Schweitzer | André Haguet | |
| 1953 | Napoleon Road | Édouard Martel | Jean Delannoy | |
| 1954 | The Unfrocked One | Maurice Morand | Léo Joannon | |
| 1955 | Les évadés | Lt Pierre Keller | Jean-Paul Le Chanois | |
| Les aristocrates | Marquis de Maubrun | Denys de La Patellière | ||
| 1956 | If All the Guys in the World | Narrator | Christian Jaque | Voice, Uncredited |
| L'homme aux clefs d'or | Antoine Fournier | Léo Joannon | ||
| The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Narrator | Jean Delannoy | ||
| 1957 | The Ostrich Has Two Eggs | Hippolyte Barjus | Denys de La Patellière | |
| A Bomb for a Dictator | Luis Vargas | Alex Joffé | ||
| 1958 | And Your Sister? | Bastien du Boccage | Maurice Delbez | |
| Le insaziabili | Joseph Andrieu | Léo Joannon | ||
| 1959 | Les affreux | César Dandieu | Marc Allégret | |
| 1960 | La 1000eme fenêtre | Armand Vallin | Robert Ménégoz | |
| The Old Guard | Baptiste Talon | Gilles Grangier | ||
| 1969 | Dieu a choisi Paris | Récitant | Philippe Arthuys | Voice |
Henri-Georges Clouzot was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his work in the thriller film genre, having directed The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, which are critically recognized as among the greatest films of the 1950s. He also directed documentary films, including The Mystery of Picasso, which was declared a national treasure by the government of France.
Yvonne Printemps was a French singer and actress who achieved stardom on stage and screen in France and internationally.
The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state theatre in France to have its own permanent troupe of actors. The company's primary venue is the Salle Richelieu, which is a part of the Palais-Royal complex and located at 2, Rue de Richelieu on Place André-Malraux in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.
Benoît-Constant Coquelin, known as Coquelin aîné, was a French actor, "one of the greatest theatrical figures of the age."
Édouard Bourdet was a 20th-century French playwright.
Josep Maria Flotats i Picas is a Spanish actor and theatre director.
Louis Beydts was a French composer, music critic and theatre director, born 29 June 1895 in Bordeaux and died on 15 August 1953 at Caudéran in Gironde.
Mozart is a comédie musicale in three acts with music by Reynaldo Hahn and words by Sacha Guitry, a pastiche of the composer's early works to fit beside arias written for Yvonne Printemps. The story concerns the fictional adventures of Mozart on a visit to the French capital.
The Paris Waltz is a 1950 French-Italian historical musical film directed by Marcel Achard and starring Yvonne Printemps, Pierre Fresnay and Jacques Charon. It portrays the life of the nineteenth century composer Jacques Offenbach.
The Murderer Lives at Number 21 is a 1942 French comedy thriller film by director Henri-Georges Clouzot. Adapted by Belgian writer Stanislas-André Steeman and Clouzot from Steeman's 1939 book of the same title, it was Clouzot's debut feature film as a director. The film is about the hunt by detective Wens for the murderer Monsieur Durand, who leaves calling cards and manages to be everywhere at once. With the aspiring actress Mila Malou, Wens follows clues to a seedy boarding house where he hopes to find the murderer.
L'amour masqué is a comédie musicale in three acts with music by André Messager and a French libretto by Sacha Guitry, based on the work by Ivan Caryll. It was originally to be called J'ai deux amants – the title of a song for Elle in act 1. Messager's orchestration, on a smaller-scale than usual, was necessitated by the size of the pit at the Théâtre Édouard VII, and modelled on the pit bands which played for silent films of the time.
Denis Podalydès is a French actor and scriptwriter of Greek descent. Podalydès has appeared in more than 140 films and television shows since 1989. He starred in The Officers' Ward, which was entered into the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
Léocadia is a play by Jean Anouilh that premiered at the Théâtre de la Michodière in Paris on 2 December 1940. It is one of Anouilh's Pièces roses, together with Humulus le muet (1932), Le Bal des voleurs (1938), and Le Rendez-vous de Senlis (1941). For the occasion, Francis Poulenc composed one of his most celebrated songs, "Les Chemins de l'amour", sung by Yvonne Printemps.
Georges Grey, born Georges-Jean-Joseph Gacon (1911–1954) was a French actor. In 1948 he starred in the film The Lame Devil under Sacha Guitry.
Eugène-Charles-Joseph Silvain was a French stage actor, pensionnaire of the Comédie française, sociétaire then dean of the compagny from 1878 to 1928.
Hippolyte Le Roux was a 19th-century French actor and playwright.
Georges Alain Thierry Feydeau was a French actor, director and writer. He was a grandson of the playwright Georges Feydeau, and appeared in several of his grandfather's works, and directed new productions of two of them.
Hervé Pierre is a French actor and theatre director. He joined the Comédie-Française in 2007 and became a member in 2011.
Rebecca Marder is a French film and stage actress.
The Last of the Six is a 1941 French mystery thriller film directed by Georges Lacombe and starring Pierre Fresnay, Michèle Alfa and Suzy Delair. It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Andrej Andrejew. It is based on the 1931 novel The Six Dead Men by the Belgian writer Stanislas-André Steeman.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Biographical dictionaries | |
| Other | |
