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Austrian postcard by Kellner Postkarten, Wien (Vienna), no. 422. Photo: Jupiter-Film Ges.M.B.H. Bruce Low in Geld aus der Luft/Money from the air (Géza von Cziffra, 1954).
Bruce Low (1913-1990) was a Dutch schlager and gospel singer and actor who had an impressive career in West Germany and Austria.
Bruce Low was born Ernst Gottfried Bielke on a coffee plantation in Paramaribo, Surinam - then part of The Netherlands in 1913. He spent his childhood in Surinam together with his three sisters and brother. Their father, Hermann Moritz Bielke, worked as a missionary with the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine. Their mother Lydia née Reusch was born in Hong Kong, her father came from Württemberg and was also a missionary. From 1921, Bruce attended grammar school in Zeist, the Netherlands, played tenor saxophone in the school jazz band and was a member of the local church choir. After his final exams in 1932, he studied sports at the Deutsche Hochschule für Leibesübungen (DHfL) in Berlin. But a serious injury while trampolining put an end to his studies as a sports teacher. Instead, he took singing lessons from the singing teacher Jacques Stückgold at the Hochschule für Musik. Low continued his studies in the Netherlands and also sang in a chamber choir. His performing career only took shape after the war. He organised shows for the Americans in the Netherlands, contracted music groups, was an emcee and sang spiritual songs, also for the radio. As a result, he was hired in 1949 for a show with African folk songs in Vienna. He appeared in front of the audience dressed as a black man with blackface in the Al Johnson manner and received an offer for a recording contract. His first records contained Western-style cowboy songs, such as '(Ghost) Riders in the Sky' and 'Heimweh nach Virginia'. In 1950, the man with the sonorous bass voice had his first success in Germany with 'Leise rauscht es am Missouri''. In 1953, more hits followed, such as 'So viel Wind und keine Sege'(So Much Wind and No Sail)" and his legendary 'Tabak und Rum' (Tobacco and Rum). Two years later, 'Das alte Haus von Rocky Docky', the cover version of 'This Ole House' became a box office hit. In 1956 he took third place in the newly created German Hit Parade with "Wenn die Sonne scheint in Texas" and climbed to second place with "Und es weht der Wind". His interpretation of the legendary hit "Es hängt ein Pferdehalfter an der Wand", a cover version of Carson Robison's song 'There's a Bridle Hangin' on the Wall', with which the Dutch band Kilima Hawaiians had already caused a furore in Germany in 1953, became his greatest success.
In 1958 Bruce Low took part in the preliminaries for the Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands, with 'Neem Dat Maar Aan Van Mij' but came in 10th. Bruce Low also made several guest appearances as a singer in the popular German-language musical entertainment films of the 1950s and 1960s, for example in Königin der Arena/Queen of the Arena (Rolf Meyer, 1952) with Maria Litto and Hans Söhnker, Wenn am Sonntagabend die Dorfmusik spielt/When The Village Music Plays on Sunday Nights (Rudolf Schündler, 1953) starring Rudolf Prack, or the operetta adaptation Blume von Hawaii/The Flower of Hawaii (Géza von Cziffra, 1953) starring Maria Litto. He also performed his hit songs in several Schlager films. As an actor he appeared in the successful drama Die endlose Nacht/The Endless Night (Will Tremper, 1963) a wounderful one-night-at-the-airport film with Karin Hübner and Harald Leipnitz. He later also appeared in two other films by Tremper, the comedy Sperrbezirk/Sperrbezirk, the business of immorality (Will Tremper, 1966) with Harald Leipnitz and Mir hat es immer Spaß gemacht/How Did a Nice Girl Like You Get Into This Business? (Will Tremper, 1970) starring Playboy bunny Barbi Benton and Broderick Crawford. After the stage musical 'Kiss me Kate' in the German translation by Marcel Prawy became an extraordinary success in the Wiener Volksoper, Prawy went to work on the Leonard Bernstein musical 'Wonderful Town' (1956), also in the Wiener Volksoper. Bruce Low played the lead role of Bob Baker as Olive Moorefield's partner.
The advancing rock and roll wave seemed to end his career, so Bruce Low started writing articles for the Munich magazine Jasmin under the pseudonym Thomas Gallauner. At the "Karl May Festival in Berlin he portrayed Old Shatterhand in 'Winnetou' (1966) and 'Der Schatz im Silbersee' (1968), alongside Gustavo Rojo as Winnetou. At the beginning of the 1970s, his voice was in demand again and he performed mainly new, partly traditional gospels. With songs such as 'Noah' (1971), 'Das Kartenspiel' (1974) and 'Die Legende von Babylon' (1978), he hit the charts once more. He appeared as a guest in several television broadcasts and was asked as a presenter for circus broadcasts. He also had several appearances in the ZDF quiz show Der große Preis. He returned to the cinemas in several films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. First, he played in the TV two-parter Welt am Draht/World on a Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973) and later in the films Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox and His Friends (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1975) and Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Wedding of Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979) starring Hanna Schygulla. In 1976 he participated again in the preliminaries of the Eurovision Song Contest, now in West Germany, with the song 'Der Jahrmarkt unserer Eitelkeit' (The Fair of Our Vanity). However, he only reached 9th place among twelve participants and the Les Humphries Singers participated for Germany with "Sing Sang Song and reached 12th place. In the 1980s it became quieter again around the singer. Two years before his death, he published his memoirs under the title: 'Es hängt ein Pferdehalfter an der Wand - das Lied meines Lebens'. In 1990, Bruce Lowe died after a long illness at the age of 76 in a Munich hospital. At his own request, the artist, who was married to his wife Marion, had his body cremated and scattered in a meadow in the Netherlands.
Sources: Stephanie D'Heil (Steffi-Line - German), Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3056.
John Saxon (1935) passed away on Saturday 25 July 2020. He worked on over 200 film and TV projects during the span of seven decades. His portrayal of a brutal Mexican bandit opposite Marlon Brando in The Appaloosa (1966) earned him a Golden Globe. The Italian-American actor played in many Italian films, mainly in Spaghetti Westerns. The rugged star also kicked around with Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon and appeared in three Nightmare on Elm Street films for director Wes Craven. John Saxon was 83.
John Saxon was born Carmine Orrico in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935. He was the eldest of three children of immigrants from Calabria, Italy. His father was a house painter. Walking out of a cinema after skipping class at New Utrecht High School, he was spotted by a male modeling agent and then appeared in magazines like 'True Romances'. Wikipedia: "According to Robert Hofler's 2005 biography, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson, agent Willson saw Saxon's picture on the cover of a detective magazine and immediately contacted the boy's family in Brooklyn. He brought the 18-year-old Orrico to Hollywood and renamed him Saxon." He started his Hollywood career as a juvenile delinquent in Running Wild (Abner Biberman, 1955) starring Mamie van Doren. Thanks to 'hunk' assignments in films like Summer Love (Charles F. Haas, 1958), The Restless Years (Helmut Käutner 1958), and The Reluctant Debutante (Vincente Minnelli, 1958), Saxon was briefly the object of many a teenage crush. Although he worked in these years with many notable directors including Blake Edwards, John Huston, Frank Borzage, and Otto Preminger, he never developed into a major star.
John Saxon is now best known for his work in Westerns like Joe Kidd (John Sturges, 1972) starring Clint Eastwood, and Horror films, such as the Italian Giallo, La ragazza che sapeva troppo/The Girl Who Knew Too Much (Mario Bava, 1963) with Leticia Roman, and Queen of Blood (Curtis Harrington, 1966) with Basil Rathbone and Dennis Hopper. Saxon appeared in many Italian films, mainly in Spaghetti Westerns like I tre che sconvolsero il West (Vado, vedo e sparo)/One Dollar Too Many (Enzo G. Castellari, 1968) and such police thrillers as Napoli violenta/Violent Naples (Umberto Lenzi, 1976). He also co-starred with Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly in the classic Hong Kong martial arts action film Enter the Dragon (Robert Clouse, 1973). Saxon portrayed Roper, a degenerate gambler who participates in a martial arts tournament. Another classic genre film is Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in which he played the heroine's (Nancy Thompson) father. Saxon played the cop Donald Thompson also in the third film in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, where he's eventually killed by Freddy Krueger's skeleton. He later returned to play a version of himself in New Nightmare (1994). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Fans could watch Saxon's expertise as an actor increase (and his hairline recede) during his three-year (1969-1972) stint as Dr. Ted Stuart on the NBC television series The Bold Ones. He later had a recurring role on Dynasty as Rashid Ahmed, a powerful Middle East tycoon who romanced Alexis Colby (Joan Collins). In 1988, John Saxon made his directorial debut with the low-budget feature Death House." His last film was The Extra (Mike Donahue, 2015), but at the time of his death, he was filming the Sci-Fi-film After the Thunderstorm (Gary Wasniewski, 2021). John Saxon died of pneumonia on 25 July 2020 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA, at the age of 84. He was married three times, to screenwriter Mary Ann Murphy, airline attendant turned actress Elizabeth Saxon and, since 2008, cosmetician Gloria Martel. He had one son, Antonio Saxon, with his first wife Mary Ann Saxon.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Jon C. Hopwood (IMDb), Mike Barnes (The Hollywood Reporter), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Christopher Andrew Loar: playwright, actor, comedian
writingmymindblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/one-cup-of-coffee....
Since today's Movie Saturday, here's my top ten actors! I'm also going to include the film (or 1 TV show in this case) where this actor shined the most along side their name, check it out!
1. Paul Rudd (Ant-Man)
2. John C. Reilly (Check it Out! With Dr. Steve Brule) (yeah it's a TV show, but I love him in this role so much!)
3. Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy)
4. Will Ferrell (Anchorman)
5. John Goodman (The Big Lebowski)
6. Michael Shannon (Midnight Special)
7. Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski)
8. Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction)
9. Sylvester Stallone (Rocky)
10. Michael Keaton (Birdman)
(MANDATORY CREDIT David Montgomery/Getty Images) English actor Bob Hoskins, 1985. (Photo by David Montgomery/Getty Images)
Spanish collector's card. La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, No. 46.
American actor John Leslie 'Jackie' Coogan (1914-1984) began as a child actor in silent films. He was Charlie Chaplin's irascible sidekick in The Kid (Charles Chaplin, 1921) and played the title role in Oliver Twist (Frank Lloyd, 1922). Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester in the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966). In the interim, he sued his mother and stepfather over his squandered film earnings ($48 million to $65 million adjusted for 2012 dollars) and provoked California to enact the first known legal protection for the earnings of child performers, widely known as 'the Coogan Act'.
British double card by Danilo, London, no. SW039. Photo: Lucasfilm. Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars - Episode I - The Phantom Menace (George Lucas, 1999).
George Lucas's epic space opera Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) is the fourth film in the Star Wars film series and set 32 years before the original trilogy, during the era of the Galactic Republic. It is the first film of the prequel trilogy and the first chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". The film stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and the young Jake Lloyd.
The evil Trade Federation, led by Nute Gunray, creates turmoil in the Galactic Republic by blockading the planet Naboo in protest of recent legislation taxing major galactic trade routes. Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) are sent to confront the leaders. Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid), a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation's secret benefactor, orders the Viceroy to kill the Jedi and begin an invasion with an army of battle droids, but the Jedi escape and flee to Naboo. Along with their new Gungan friend, Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), they head to Naboo to warn Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo (Natalie Portman), but droids have already started to capture Naboo and the Queen is not safe there. Eventually, they land on Tatooine, where they become friends with a young boy known as Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd). Qui-Gon is curious about the boy and sees a bright future for him. The group must now find a way of getting to Coruscant and finally solve this trade dispute, but there is someone else hiding in the shadows. Are the Sith really extinct? Is the Queen really who she says she is? And what's so special about this young boy? May he bring balance to the Force?
Following the release of Return of the Jedi (1980), talks of a follow-up were proposed, but George Lucas was unmotivated to return to the franchise. During the hiatus, the backstories he created for the characters, particularly Anakin's own backstory, sparked interest in him to develop a prequel trilogy during the 1990s. After he determined that computer-generated imagery (CGI) had advanced to the level he wanted for the prequel trilogy's visual effects, Lucas began writing The Phantom Menace in 1993, and production began in 1994. Filming started in 1997—at locations including Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert. The film marked Lucas' first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following the original Star Wars (1977). The film's premiere in 1999 was extensively covered by media and was widely anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated. Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews. Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace (1999) is worth a watch, but it is one of the weaker episodes of the Star Wars saga. On a visual and technical level, it looks terrific, with splendid special effects, stunning cinematography and fine scenery and costumes. The script is fairly decent, perhaps lacking the sophistication of Star Wars - A New Hope (1977) or Return of the Jedi (1980), but does have some memorable lines. The action is constantly exhilarating, and Darth Maul, well-played by Ray Park is a very good villain. Most of the performances are very good, especially Natalie Portman as Queen Padma who looked stunning and Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker who shone with his confident charm. And the music score by John Williams was outstanding, definitely one of his best works.
Bethany Cox at IMDb: "However, there were things about this film that did disappoint. One is despite the awesome visuals, strong music score and good characters, the story never quite distinguished itself. It did take a while to get going, and when it did try to get going and you could tell it wanted to, it was further disadvantaged by the uneven pacing." Roger Ebert: "If it were the first "Star Wars" movie, "The Phantom Menace" would be hailed as a visionary breakthrough. But this is the fourth movie of the famous series, and we think we know the territory; many of the early reviews have been blase, paying lip service to the visuals and wondering why the characters aren't better developed. How quickly do we grow accustomed to wonders. (...) the stories of the "Star Wars" movies have always been space operas, and that the importance of the movies comes from their energy, their sense of fun, their colorful inventions and their state-of-the-art special effects. I do not attend with the hope of gaining insights into human behavior. Unlike many movies, these are made to be looked at more than listened to, and George Lucas and his collaborators have filled "The Phantom Menace" with wonderful visuals." Despite the mixed reception, The Phantom Menace was a box-office success and broke numerous box-office records during its debut. It grossed more than $924.3 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1999, the second-highest-grossing film worldwide and in North America (behind Titanic), and the highest-grossing Star Wars film at the time (inflation notwithstanding). A 3D reissue, which earned an additional $102.7 million and brought the film's overall worldwide takings to over $1 billion, was released in 2012.
Sources: Bethany Cox (IMDb), Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert.com), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. C. 65, 1963. Photo: United Artists. George Chakiris in West Side Story (Robert Wise, 1961).
American dancer, singer and actor George Chakiris (1934) had his biggest success as Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks gang in the celebrated film musical West Side Story (1961). Later he starred with Catherine Deneuve in another classic, the charming French musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967).
George Chakiris was born in Norwood, Ohio, in 1934. His parents were Steven and Zoe (née Anastasiadou) Chakiris, immigrants from Greece. Chakiris studied at the American School of Dance. He made his film debut at the age of 12 singing in the chorus of the biopic Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947), a biography of Robert and Clara Schumann (Katherine Hepburn). Following his graduation from high school, he supported his night-time dancing, singing and dramatic lessons with a daytime job clerking in a Los Angeles department store. For several years he appeared in small, unbilled roles, usually as a dancer or a member of the chorus in various musical films. He was one of the tuxedoed dancers in Marilyn Monroe's Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953), and appeared as a dancer alongside Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, 1954) in the Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me number. He can also be seen in the funeral dance in the MGM musical Brigadoon (Vincente Minnelli, 1954). In 1957, he made his debut as a dramatic actor in a small part in the war drama Under Fire (James B. Clarke, 1957). The following year, he traveled to New York hoping for a Broadway ‘break.’ Hearing that Jerome Robbins was casting the London company of West Side Story, he auditioned and was awarded the co-starring role of Riff, leader of the Anglo gang, the Jets. He played the part for almost two years on the West End stage. Chakiris also co-starred in the film version, West Side Story (Robert Wise, 1961). He now played Bernardo, leader of a rival Puerto Rican gang of immigrants, the Sharks. For this magnetic role and his silky yet explosive dance style, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe. The romantic musical drama became the second highest grossing film of the year in the United States. West Side Story was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10, including Best Picture.
During the rest of the 1960s, George Chakiris was in much demand. He starred as a doctor in the film Diamond Head (Guy Green, 1963) opposite Charlton Heston and Yvette Mimieux, and appeared alongside Yul Brynner in Kings of the Sun (J. Lee Thompson, 1963) and Flight from Ashiya (Michael Anderson, 1964). His fee around this time was a reported $100,000 per film. In Italy he starred opposite Claudia Cardinale in the crime film La ragazza di Bube/Bebo’s Girl (Luigi Comencini,1963). Later he acted in France along with Catherine Deneuve and her sister Françoise Dorléac in the musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort/The Young Ladies of Rochefort (Jacques Demy, 1967). Craig Butler at AllMovie: “When originally released, Jacques Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort suffered in comparison with his earlier The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, but its reputation has grown in the intervening years. Although not without flaws, Rochefort is a tremendously appealing and utterly engaging musical trifle. Breezy and light, Rochefort is also gorgeous and a delight to the eye; Demy's sense and use of color is practically overwhelming, and is as important to the success of the film as any other element.” In France, he also appeared in the spy comedy Le Rouble à deux faces/The Day the Hot Line Got Hot (Etienne Périer, 1968) starring Robert Taylor and Charles Boyer. In addition to film, Chakiris performed on stage in London and around the U.S. and on television. In the early 1960s, he embarked on a career as a pop singer, resulting in a couple of minor hit songs. In 1960, he recorded one single with noted producer Joe Meek.
George Chakiris starred in the first national tour of the Stephen Sondheim musical, Company, touring as Bobby in 1971-72. He worked more in television in the 1970s and 1980s. His television credits include a leading role in an adaptation of Kismet (1967) with Anna Maria Alberghetti and Jose Ferrer, and a co-starring stint with Rosemary Harris and Jeremy Irons in the British historical miniseries Notorious Woman (Waris Hussein, 1975), a dramatization of the life of George Sand. He also played character turns as heels or middle-aged Lotharios on such series as Medical Center (1970-1975), Hawaii Five-O (1972), Wonder Woman (1978), Dallas (1986), Murder, She Wrote (1989), and the daytime soap opera Santa Barbara (1988). He appeared in the final episode of The Partridge Family (1974) as an old flame/suitor to Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones, also a musical theater veteran). Their kiss goodbye was the final scene in the program's run. Chakiris had a recurring role on the TV show Superboy as Professor Peterson during the first two seasons from 1988-1990. His final film role was as a vampire in Pale Blood (V.V. Dachin Hsu, 1990). Chakiris's last screen role was in a 1996 episode of the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. He has given occasional television interviews since then, but is mostly retired. His hobby of making sterling silver jewelry has turned into a new occupation, working as a jewelry designer for his own brand, George Chakiris Collections, consisting of handmade original sterling silver jewelry.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Craig Butler (AllMovie), K. Wiebe (IMDb), TCM, Wikipedia and IMDb.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 128/69, 1969. Photo: Unifrance-Film.
French actor of Spanish origin Louis de Funès (1914-1983) was one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel. In many of his over 130 films, he portrayed a humorously excitable, cranky man with a propensity to hyperactivity, bad faith, and uncontrolled fits of anger. Along with his short height (1.63 m) and his facial contortions, this hyperactivity produced a highly comic effect, especially opposite Bourvil, who always played calm, slightly naive, good-humored men.
Louis de Funès (French pronunciation: [lwi də fynɛs]) was born Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza in Courbevoie, France in 1914. His father, Carlos Luis de Funès de Galarza had been a lawyer in Seville, Spain, but became a diamond cutter upon arriving in France. His mother, Leonor Soto Reguera was of Spanish and Portuguese extraction. Since the couple's families opposed their marriage, they settled in France in 1904. Known to friends and intimates as ‘Fufu’, the young De Funès was fond of drawing and piano playing and spoke French, Spanish, and English well. He studied at the prestigious Lycée Condorcet in Paris. He showed a penchant for tomfoolery, something which caused him trouble at school and later made it hard for him to hold down a job. He became a pianist, working mostly as a jazz pianist at Pigalle, the famous red-light district. There he made his customers laugh each time he made a grimace. He studied acting for one year at the Simon acting school. It proved to be a waste of time except for his meeting with actor Daniel Gélin, who would become a close friend. In 1936, he married Germaine Louise Elodie Carroyer with whom he had a son, Daniel (1937). In 1942, they divorced. During the occupation of Paris in the Second World War, he continued his piano studies at a music school, where he fell in love with a secretary, Jeanne Barthelémy de Maupassant, a grandniece of the famous author Guy de Maupassant. They married in 1943 and remained together for forty years until De Funès' death in 1983. The pair had two sons: Patrick (1944) and Olivier (1947). Patrick became a doctor who practiced in Saint-Germain en Laye. Olivier was an actor for a while, known for the son roles in his father's films, including Le Grand Restaurant/The Big Restaurant (Jacques Besnard, 1966), Fantômas se déchaine/Fantomas Strikes Back (André Hunebelle, 1965) starring Jean Marais, Les Grandes Vacances/The Big Vacation (Jean Girault, 1967), and Hibernatus (Edouard Molinaro, 1969) with Claude Gensac as De Funès’ wife, a role she played in many of his films. Olivier later worked as an aviator for Air France Europe.
Through the early 1940s, Louis de Funès continued playing piano at clubs, thinking there wasn't much call for a short, balding, skinny actor. His wife and Daniel Gélin encouraged him to overcome his fear of rejection. De Funès began his show business career in the theatre, where he enjoyed moderate success. At the age of 31, thanks to his contact with Daniel Gélin, he made his film debut with an uncredited bit part as a porter in La Tentation de Barbizon/The Temptation of Barbizon (1945, Jean Stelli) starring Simone Renant. For the next ten years, de Funès would appear in fifty films, but always in minor roles, usually as an extra, scarcely noticed by the audience. Sometimes he had a supporting part such as in the Fernandel comedy Boniface somnambule/The Sleepwalker (Maurice Labro, 1951) and the comedy-drama La vie d'un honnête homme/The Virtuous Scoundrel (Sacha Guitry, 1953) starring Michel Simon. In the meanwhile, he pursued a theatrical career. Even after he attained the status of a film star, he continued to play theatre. His stage career culminated in a magnificent performance in the play Oscar, a role which he would later reprise in the film version of 1967. During this period, De Funès developed a pattern of daily activities: in the morning he did dubbing for recognized artists such as Renato Rascel and the Italian comic Totò, during the afternoon he worked in film, and in the theater in the evening. A break came when he appeared as the black-market pork butcher Jambier (another small role) in the well-known WWII comedy, La Traversée de Paris/Four Bags Full (Claude Autant-Lara, 1956) starring Jean Gabin and Bourvil. In his next film, the mediocre comedy Comme un cheveu sur la soupe/Crazy in the Noodle (Maurice Régamey, 1957), De Funès finally played the leading role. More interesting was Ni vu, ni connu/Neither Seen Nor Recognized (Yves Robert, 1958). He achieved stardom with the comedy Pouic-Pouic (Jean Girault, 1963) opposite Mireille Darc. This successful film guaranteed De Funès top billing in all of his subsequent films.
Between 1964 and 1979, Louis de Funès topped France's box office of the year's most successful films seven times. At the age of 49, De Funès unexpectedly became a superstar with the international success of two films. Fantômas (André Hunebelle, 1964) was France's own answer to the James Bond frenzy and lead to a trilogy co-starring Jean Marais and Mylène Demongeot. The second success was the crime comedy Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez/The Gendarme of St. Tropez (Jean Girault, 1964) with Michel Galabru. After their first successful collaboration on Pouic-Pouic, director Girault had perceived De Funès as the ideal actor to play the part of the accident-prone gendarme. The film led to a series of six 'Gendarme' films. De Funès's collaboration with director Gérard Oury produced a memorable tandem of de Funès with Bourvil, another great comic actor, in Le Corniaud/The Sucker (Gérard Oury, 1964). The successful partnership was repeated two years later in La Grande Vadrouille/Don't Look Now - We're Being Shot At (Gérard Oury, 1966), one of the most successful and the largest grossing film ever made in France, drawing an audience of 17,27 million. It remains his greatest success. Oury envisaged a further reunion of the two comics in his historical comedy La Folie des grandeurs/Delusions of Grandeur (Gérard Oury, 1970), but Bourvil's death in 1970 led to the unlikely pairing of de Funès with Yves Montand in this film. Very successful, even in the USA, was Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob/The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (Gérard Oury, 1973) with Suzy Delair. De Funès played a bigoted Frenchman who finds himself forced to impersonate a popular rabbi while on the run from a group of assassins. In 1975, Oury had scheduled to make Le Crocodile/The Crocodile with De Funès as a South American dictator, but in March 1975, the actor was hospitalised for heart problems and was forced to take a rest from acting. The Crocodile project was canceled.
After his recovery, Louis de Funès collaborated with Claude Zidi, in a departure from his usual image. Zidi wrote for him L'aile ou la cuisse/The Wing and the Thigh (Claude Zidi, 1976), opposite Coluche as his son. He played a well-known gourmet and publisher of a famous restaurant guide, who is waging a war against a fast-food entrepreneur. It was a new character full of nuances and frankness and arguably the best of his roles. In 1980, De Funès realised a long-standing dream to make a film version of Molière's play, L'Avare/The Miser (Louis de Funès, Jean Girault, 1980). In 1982, De Funès made his final film, Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes/Never Play Clever Again (Tony Aboyantz, Jean Girault, 1982). Unlike the characters he played, de Funès was said to be a very shy person in real life. He became a knight of France's Légion d'honneur in 1973. He resided in the Château de Clermont, a 17th-century monument, located in the commune of Le Cellier, which is situated near Nantes in France. In his later years, he suffered from a heart condition after having suffered a heart attack caused by straining himself too much with his stage antics. Louis de Funès died of a massive stroke in 1983, a few months after making Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes. He was laid to rest in the Cimetière du Cellier, the cemetery situated in the grounds of the château. Films de France: “Although fame was a long time coming, Louis de Funès is regarded today as not just a great comic actor with an unfaltering ability to make his audience laugh, but practically an institution in his own right. His many films bear testimony to the extent of his comic genius and demonstrate the tragedy that he never earned the international recognition that he certainly deserved.”
Sources: Steve Shelokhonov (IMDb), Films de France, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Photoshoot with Matthew Raetz
Actor/Model
Learn more about Matt here
and here
Lake Vista
New Orleans, Louisiana
Actor Jacob Marshfield rocking a corset
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Can you help make my next shoots happen and also help towards the cost of hosting the shots on here? My link for ANY donations, however small, is www.buymeacoffee.com/sophiemerlo Thank you!!
Aspiring actor and model. I've been stepping out of my comfort zone and doing more photo shoots lately. Watch out for Matthew, I believe he has it in him to do well in the business. Learn more about him here
City Park
New Orleans, Louisiana
Actor John Joseph Quinlan - Former Cruiser Weight Boxing Champion of The World Character on Set Live Filming Prep @ Dullea's Boxing via Boston Film/Series with Trainer Greg Rich.
12/19/2015
www.johnjosephquinlan.com/actor-john-joseph-quinlan-forme...
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Dirigida por Raúl Alfonso. Entre los actores figuran Tony Leblanc, por entonces un principiante y Paco Martinez Soria. La música del maestro Chapí y otros autores está dirigida por Augusto Algueró.
James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO's The Sopranos helped create one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype on its head, died Wednesday in Italy. He was 51.
Vintage postcard.
French actor Michel Piccoli (1925) has appeared in many different roles, from seducer to cop to gangster to Pope in more than 200 films and TV films. Among the directors he worked with are Jean Renoir, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Luis Buñuel, and Alfred Hitchcock.
Michel Piccoli was born Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli in Paris in 1925 to a musical family. His French mother Marcelle was a pianist and his Italian father Henri Piccoli was a violinist. At boarding school, the introverted teenager Michel developed a profound love for the stage. He later studied drama under Andrée Bauer-Thérond and then trained as an actor at the René Simon drama school in Paris. In 1945, he began his stage career with the Renaud-Barrault theatre company at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris. He made his film debut in Sortilèges (Christian-Jaque, 1945), but his first proper film role was in Le Point du jour/The Mark of the Day (Louis Daquin, 1949). He subsequently lent his talents to Jean Renoir in French Cancan (1954) starring Jean Gabin, and René Clair in Les Grandes Manoeuvres/The great manoeuvres (1955) with Gérard Philipe. It took six more years to become ‘box office’ as a film actor with the gangster film Le Doulos/The Finger Man (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. He then had his international breakthrough with his leading role opposite Brigitte Bardot in Jean-Luc Godard's Le Mépris/Contempt (1963). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “Like Hollywood's Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Gary Cooper, Piccoli was possessed of that rare gift of being able to adapt himself to virtually any kind of material without altering his essential screen persona. And like those aforementioned actors, Piccoli's talents suited the prerequisites of a wide variety of directors” He worked with some of the best international film auteurs: Agnès Varda at Les Créatures/The Creatures (1966) opposite Catherine Deneuve, Alain Resnais at La Guerre est finie/The War Is Over (1966), Jacques Demy at Les Demoiselles de Rochefort/The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), and Alfred Hitchcock (Topaz, 1969).
Michel Piccoli starred in four of the best-known films of French director Claude Sautet, Les starting with Choses de la vie/The Little Things in Life (1969) with Romy Schneider. Invariably he was cast as a symbol of bourgeois respectability whose quest for personal fulfilment appears destined to end in failure. James Travers at French Film Guide: “Sautet did more to humanise Piccoli than perhaps any other filmmaker, particularly when the actor was cast alongside Romy Schneider (in Les Choses de la vie and Max et les Ferrailleurs), the actress who became one of Piccoli's dearest friends.” A darker, more disturbing Piccoli can be seen in the films he made for Luis Buñuel, in particular Le Journal d'une femme de chamber/ The Diary of a Chambermaid (1964), Belle de jour/Beauty of the Day (1967) and Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie/The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Piccoli was one of the most visible faces in the European cinema, with films like Les Noces rouges/Wedding in Blood (Claude Chabrol, 1973), Themroc (Claude Faraldo, 1973), La Grande bouffe/The Big Feast (Marco Ferreri, 1973), Atlantic City (Louis Malle, 1980), and Salto nel vuoto/A Leap in the Dark (Marco Bellocchio, 1980), for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. In 1982, he won the Silver Bear at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival for his chilling role in Une étrange affaire/Strange Affair (Pierre Granmier-Deferre, 1981). Both as an actor and as a producer Piccoli supported such young filmmakers as Bertrand Tavernier (Des enfants gates/Spoiled Children, 1977), Jacques Doillon (La Fille prodigue/The Prodigal Daughter, 1981) and Leos Carax (Mauvais sang/Bad Blood, 1986). In 1976, Piccoli recorded his remarkable career on the page when he co-wrote a semi-autobiography, Dialogue Egoistes. He has been married three times, first to actress Éléonore Hirt (1954-?), then for eleven years to the singer Juliette Gréco (1966-1977) and finally, from 1980 on to writer and actress Ludivine Clerc. He has one daughter from his first marriage, Anne-Cordélia.
In the 1980s, Michel Piccoli resumed his stage career, starring in Peter Brook's acclaimed Paris productions of Anton Tchekhov's The Cherry Orchard (1981, 1983) and Patrice Chéreau's staging of Marivaux's La Fausse Suivante (1985). He continued to star in films, such as in Milou en mai/Milou in May (Louis Malle, 1990) for which he was nominated for the César. In 1991, Piccoli again won international acclaim for his portrayal of an artist suffering from a creative block in La belle noiseuse (Jacques Rivette, 1991) with Emmanuelle Béart. Piccoli turned his hand to film directing, starting with a segment for the Amnesty International film Contre l'oubli (1991). His first feature was Alors viola/So There (1997), followed by La Plage noire/The Black Beach (2001) with Dominique Blanc, and C'est pas tout à fait la vie dont j'avais rêvé (2005). Not surprisingly, he was chosen to impersonate Mr. Cinema in Agnès Varda Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma/The One Hundred and One Nights of Simon Cinema (1995). He subsequently continued to do steady work in pictures of varying quality, with highlights being the psychological thriller Généalogies d'une Crime (Raul Ruiz, 1997) with Piccoli as a doctor caught up in a murder mystery, and Je rentre à la maison/ I'm Going Home (Manoel de Oliveira, 2001) with Catherine Deneuve. In 2001 he was the recipient of the Europe Theatre Prize. In 2002, he supported Lionel Jospin's presidential campaign. Piccoli is vocally opposed to the Front National. In 2012, he won the David di Donatello (the Italian Oscar) for his role as the pope in the comedy-drama Habemus Papam/ We Have a Pope (Nanni Moretti, 2012). Since then he made again several films. James Travers at French Film Guide: “There is something utterly seductive about Piccoli's screen portrayals, which comes from the actor's irresistible personal charm and his ability to project, very subtly, the inner neuroses, desires and venality of his characters. No wonder he is so well-loved by critics and audiences, and so eagerly sought after by filmmakers. Indefatigable, talented and generous, Piccoli deserves his reputation as one of the finest actors of his generation.”
Sources: James Travers (French Film Guide), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.