French cinema mourns its last 'Grand Duc': Jean-Pierre Marielle
By RFI 4/25/2019
Jean-Pierre Marielle, one of France's best loved actors, died on Wednesday, aged 87 after a long illness. He starred in more than 100 comedies and dramas, and was the last of the "Grand Ducs" - the film by Patrice Leconte in which he starred alongside Philippe Noiret and Jean Rochefort.
"We always have the impression that the actors we love are immortal," said fillmaker Patrice Leconte on Wednesday shortly after the death of Jean-Pierre Marielle, describing his friend as a "charming ogre".
Of himself, Marielle said he'd "been reproached for many things in my life, but never for failing to be original".
Tall, broad-shouldered, with a salt and pepper beard and ironic look, he had strong presence on stage and screen which attracted filmmakers like Leconte and Bertrand Tavernier.
Success didn't come quickly though. He was 42 before he got recognition in the profession for his role in Tavernier's Que la f'te commence.
His early successes were in mainly comic roles such as the exuberant lover and umbrella seller in the 1975 "Les galettes de Pont-Aven" by Joel Sria. Such roles seem heavy and sexist now but these were the swinging seventies where men could sit around drinking beer, munching slices of saucisson and making bawdy jokes.
"I've tended to play the ordinary Frenchman, the clumsy womaniser from the suburbs," Marielle said "but my passion has been more with theatre than film."
"He had the power that only theatre produces," said actor Fabrice Luchini on RTL.
Theatre may have been his passion but film made him famous. He was nominated for a Cesar (France's Oscar) for his role as the unforgettable music teacher in Tous les matins du monde by Alain Corneau. It was a blockbuster in 1991.
But despite both critical and popular acclaim he never would get a Cesar.
He was more successful on television, winning an award for best actor in 1993 for The Controversy of Valladolid, adapted from the novel by Jean-Claude Carriere.
And in 1994 he won France's top theatre award - the Moliere - for his role in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming.
A leading member of the "Bande Bebel"
Marielle was one of the last surviving members of the ???Bande Bebel, a group of actors who met at the Conservatoire national superieur d'art dramatique de Paris in the 1950s. It included Jean-Paul Belmondo, Claude Rich, Philippe Noiret and Jean Rochefort. And later Annie Girardot, Francoise Fabian and Jean-Pierre Mocky.
As students, they would meet outside of acting school to perform in bistros and on the streets of Paris.
"I'm devastated," said Belmondo on Thursday. "Jean-Pierre was more than a friend. I was his shadow, he was mine. France has lost a great actor."
R.I.P. Jean-Pierre Marielle
Whether they are behind the camera or in front of it, this is the place to discuss all filmmakers regardless of their role in the filmmaking process.
Jump to
- Announcements
- ↳ General Announcements
- Introductions
- ↳ Let Me Introduce Myself...
- The Academy Awards
- ↳ The 10th Decade
- ↳ 97th Academy Awards
- ↳ 96th Academy Awards
- ↳ 95th Academy Awards
- ↳ 94th Academy Awards
- ↳ 93rd Academy Awards
- ↳ 92nd Academy Awards
- ↳ 91st Academy Awards
- ↳ The 9th Decade
- ↳ 90th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 90th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 89th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 89th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 88th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 88th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 87th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 87th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 86th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 86th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 85th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 85th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 84th Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 84th Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 83rd Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 83rd Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 82nd Nominations and Winners
- ↳ 82nd Predictions and Precursors
- ↳ 81st and Other 9th Decade Discussions
- ↳ The 8th Decade
- ↳ The Damien Bona Memorial Oscar History Thread
- ↳ Other Oscar Discussions
- General Film Discussions
- ↳ 2020s
- ↳ Coming Soon
- ↳ 2024
- ↳ 2023
- ↳ 2022
- ↳ 2021
- ↳ 2020
- ↳ 2010s
- ↳ 2019
- ↳ 2018
- ↳ 2017
- ↳ 2016
- ↳ 2015
- ↳ 2014
- ↳ 2013
- ↳ 2012
- ↳ 2011
- ↳ 2010
- ↳ 2000s
- ↳ 2009
- ↳ 2008
- ↳ 2000 - 2007
- ↳ The First Century
- ↳ Dream Projects
- ↳ The People
- ↳ Other Film Discussions
- Miscellaneous Discussions
- ↳ Help Forum
- ↳ DVD Discussions
- ↳ Current Events
- ↳ Broadcast Media
- ↳ The Cam Dagg Memorial Theatre and Literature Forum
- ↳ General Off-Topic