Jean Gabin

Infobox actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Jean Gabin


imagesize = 200px
caption =
birthdate = May 17 1904
location = Paris, France
deathdate = death date and age |1976|11|15|1904|5|17
deathplace = Neuilly-sur-Seine
yearsactive = 1930- 1976
birthname =
othername =
homepage =
academyawards =

Jean Gabin (May 17, 1904 – November 15, 1976) was a major French actor and war hero.

Biography

Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, France, he grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, about 22 mi (35 km) north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he worked as a laborer, but at age 19 entered show business with a bit part in a Folies Bergères production. He continued performing in a variety of minor roles before going into the military.

After completing his military service, Gabin returned to the entertainment business, working under the stage name of Jean Gabin at whatever was offered in the Parisian music halls and operettas imitating the singing style of Maurice Chevalier which was the rage at the time. He was part of a troupe that toured South America and upon returning to France found work at the Moulin Rouge. His performances started getting noticed and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928.

Two years later, he easily made the transition to talkies in a 1930 Pathé Frères production titled "Chacun sa Chance". Playing secondary roles, Gabin made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. However, he only gained real recognition for his performance in "Maria Chapdelaine", a 1934 production directed by Julien Duvivier. Cast as a romantic hero in a 1936 war drama titled "La Bandera", this second Duvivier-directed film established Gabin as a major star. The following year, he teamed up with Duvivier again, this time in the highly successful "Pépé le Moko" that became one of the top Grossing Films of 1937 worldwide; its popularity brought Gabin international recognition. That same year, he starred in the Jean Renoir masterpiece "La Grande Illusion", an anti-war film that was a huge box office success and given universal critical acclaim, even running at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. This was followed by another Renoir's great success: "The Human Beast" ("La Bête Humaine"), a film noir tragedy based on the novel by Émile Zola and starring Gabin and Simone Simon.

Flooded with offers from Hollywood, for a time Gabin turned them all down until the outbreak of World War II. Following the German occupation of France, he joined Jean Renoir and Julien Duvivier in the United States. Divorced from his second wife in 1939, during his time in Hollywood, Gabin began a torrid romance with actress Marlene Dietrich. However, his films in America proved less than successful.

A difficult personality, he did serious damage to his Hollywood career while working for RKO Pictures. Scheduled to star in an RKO film, at the last minute he demanded Dietrich be given the co-starring role. The studio refused. After Gabin remained steadfast in his demand, he was fired, and the film project was shelved.

Undaunted, Jean Gabin joined General Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces and earned the Médaille Militaire and a Croix de Guerre for his wartime valor fighting with the Allies in North Africa. Following D-Day, Gabin was part of the military contingent that entered a liberated Paris. Captured on film by the media is a scene where an anxious Marlene Dietrich is waiting in the crowd when she spots Gabin onboard a battle tank and rushes to him.

In 1946, Gabin was hired by Marcel Carné to star in the film, "Les Portes de la Nuit", but his conduct got him fired again. He then found a French producer and director willing to cast him and Marlene Dietrich together, but their film "Martin Roumagnac" was not a success and their personal relationship soon ended. Following another box office failure in 1947, Gabin returned to the stage, but there too, the production was another financial disaster. Nevertheless, he was cast in the lead role of the 1949 René Clément film "Au-Delà Des Grilles" that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Despite this recognition, the film did not do well at the French box office, and the next five years brought little more than repeated box office failures.

Gabin's career seemed headed for oblivion. However, he made a comeback in the 1954 film, "Touchez pas au grisbi". Directed by Jacques Becker, his performance earned him critical acclaim, and the film was a very profitable international success.Later, worked once again with Jean Renoir in French Cacan, with Maria Felix and Françoise Arnauld. Over the next twenty years, Gabin made close to 50 more films, including many for Gafer Films, his production partnership with fellow actor Fernandel.

His co-stars included leading figures of post-war cinema such as Brigitte Bardot ("En cas de malheur") and Alain Delon ("Le Clan des Siciliens" and "Deux hommes dans la ville").

Gabin died of a heart attack in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. His body was cremated and with full military honours, his ashes were dispersed into the sea from a military ship.

Considered one of the great stars of French cinema, he was made a member of the Legion of Honor. The Musée Jean Gabin in his native town, Mériel, contains his story and features his war and film memorabilia.

Selected filmography

* 1930: "Ohé! les valises"
* 1930: "On demande un dompteur" or "Les lions"
* 1930: "Méphisto" (by Henri Debain and Georges Vinter)
* 1930: "Chacun sa chance"
* 1934: "Maria Chapdelaine"
* 1935: "Golgotha" (by Julien Duvivier)
* 1935: "La Bandera"
* 1936: "The Lower Depths" ("Les Bas-fonds")
* 1937: "Pépé le Moko"
* 1937: "The Grand Illusion" ("La Grande illusion")
* 1937: "Le Messager"
* 1937: "Gueule d'amour"
* 1938: "Port of Shadows" ("Le quai des brumes")
* 1938: "The Human Beast" ("La Bête humaine") (by Jean Renoir)
* 1939: "Le Jour se lève" ("Daybreak") (by Marcel Carné)
* 1942: "Moontide"
* 1946: "Martin Roumagnac" ("The Room Upstairs") (by Georges Lacombe)
* 1949: "The Walls of Malapaga" ("Italian": "Le mura di Malapaga", "French": "Au-delà des grilles") (by René Clément)
* 1951: "His Last Twelve Hours"
* 1952: "Le Plaisir" (by Max Ophüls)
* 1954: "Touchez pas au grisbi" ("Don't Touch the Loot") (by Jacques Becker)
* 1954: "Razzia sur la chnouf" ("Razzia in Paris") (by Henri Decoin)
* 1955: "French Cancan" (by Jean Renoir)
* 1956: "Voici le temps des assassins" (by Julien Duvivier)
* 1958: "Les Misérables"
* 1959: "Archimède, le clochard" ("The Magnificent Tramp") (by Gilles Grangier)
* 1960: "Le Président" (by Henri Verneuil)
* 1961: "Le cave se rebiffe" "(The Counterfeiters of Paris)" (by Gilles Grangier)
* 1962: "Un singe en hiver" (by Henri Verneuil) with Jean-Paul Belmondo
* 1962: "Le Gentleman d'Epsom" (by Gilles Grangier)
* 1963: "Mélodie en sous-sol" (by Henri Verneuil)
* 1963: "Maigret voit rouge" (by Gilles Grangier)
* 1964: "Monsieur" (by Jean-Paul Le Chanois)
* 1964: "L'Âge ingrat" (by Gilles Grangier)
* 1965: "Le Tonnerre de Dieu" (by Denys de La Patellière)
* 1965: "Du rififi à Paname" (by Denys de La Patellière)
* 1966: "Le Jardinier d'Argenteuil" (by Jean-Paul Le Chanois)
* 1967: "Le Soleil des voyous" (by Jean Delannoy) with Robert Stack
* 1968: "Le Pacha" (by Georges Lautner)
* 1968: "Le Tatoué" (by Denys de La Patellière)
* 1969: "Sous le signe du taureau" (by Gilles Grangier)
* 1969: "Le Clan des Siciliens" (by Henri Verneuil) with Alain Delon
* 1970: "La Horse" (by Pierre Granier-Deferre) - Auguste Maroilleur
* 1971: "Le Chat" - Julien Bouin
* 1971: "Le Drapeau noir flotte sur la marmite" - Victor Ploubaz
* 1972: "Le Tueur" - Commissaire Le Guen
* 1973: "L'Affaire Dominici" - Gaston Dominici
* 1973: "Deux hommes dans la ville" - Germain Cazeneuve
* 1974: "Verdict" - Leguen
* 1976: "Échos de plateau"
* 1976: "L'Année sainte" - Max Lambert

References

External links

*
* [http://www.musee-gabin.com/ The Jean Gabin Museum of Mériel]
* [http://www.jeangabinbook.com/ A complete filmography of Jean Gabin]

Further reading

*"World's Coolest Movie Star: The Complete 95 Films (and Legend) of Jean Gabin", by Charles Zigman (Allenwood Press 2008). Features introductions by Gabin's co-stars Michele Morgan and Brigitte Bardot, and an 'appreciation' by David Mamet.

Persondata
NAME= Gabin, Jean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= May 17 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH= Paris, France
DATE OF DEATH= death date and age |1976|11|15|1904|5|17
PLACE OF DEATH= Neuilly-sur-Seine