Jean Marais is a popular French actor, a favorite of several generations of viewers. Until a very advanced age, he was a symbol and embodiment of masculine beauty for thousands of fans around the world. In December 2013, he would have turned 100 years old.
How it all began
Jean Marais was born on the eleventh of December one thousand nine hundred and thirteenth in the small town of Cherbourg, in the family of a veterinarian. The boy did not remember his father because his parents divorced when he was only five years old. He and his older brother were raised by his mother, grandmother and aunt. Jean was born from childhood all his life; he was always faithful to his childhood attachments and dreams. He was a sensitive and too susceptible child.
Little Jean got into cinema at the age of four, and since then he always dreamed of becoming an actor. His ideals were Pearl White, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford - silent film actors. Twice Jean enters the theater school and the School of Dramatic Art and fails both exams. But the young man does not despair and enters the courses of the magnificent Charles Dupin, he moonlights with him as an extra in the theater.
Meeting with Cocteau
Fate brings him to the poet, playwright, essayist Jean Cocteau, who first becomes interested in the young man who is passionately passionate about the theater, and then falls in love with him and confesses it. Mare felt nothing for Cocteau other than respect and admiration for his talent. He decided to play the role of a lover, but soon experienced real, strong feelings.
Despite the fact that the list of roles he played in the movie is not so great, he
started back in the thirties (The Strange Lady, 1937). Acquaintance and friendship with Cocteau determined his further creative destiny. Such films with the participation of Jean Mare, such as âOrpheusâ (1949), âTestament of Orpheusâ (1959) were remembered for a long time by the audience.
Faithful Muluk
Jean Marais, whose filmography is not as great as it might seem, experienced the first rays of fame in 1943, after the release of the movie Eternal Return, where he starred with his own beloved dog named Muluc, which sheltered during the war .
Instantly, Jean becomes a star, he is besieged by fans. Mare continues to work a lot in the theater, himself staging the performances "Andromache", "Britannic", and independently makes sketches for the scenery and costumes.
Despite his devotion to the theater, actor Jean Marais does not disappear from the movie. His romantic roles change into frankly characteristic and comedic. Juliette, Call of Fate, Broken Dreams. In fairness, it should be noted that not all roles were equally successful, in many respects their success depended on the talent of the director.
The famous actor enjoyed working with L. Visconti on the film âWhite Nightsâ and with Ani Girardeau in the play âTwo on a Swingâ. His work with director J. Renoir was especially effective. The new and most fruitful period in Mareâs cinematic career begins with the arrival of director A. Yunebel in the cinema.
Fruitful collaboration
In the early sixties, Andre Yunebel was looking for an actor in good physical shape for his adventure films. He chose Jean Mare, and not when he did not regret it. This was the second advent of the actor in the cinema. Some of the films with Jean Mare, shot by Yunebel, were awarded special awards for their special contribution to the cinema art for the youth.
The famous director shot seven films in a row with the participation of Mare. Probably the most âstrongâ of them is âThe Hunchbackâ. His partners were Sabina Sesselman and Bourville.
Fearless stuntman
In the fifties and sixties, the peak of the popularity of the famous actor. Jean Marais, whose filmography was replenished with vivid roles in such films as âThe Hunchbackâ, âCaptain Fricassassâ, âThe Miracle of Wolvesâ, âThe Gentleman of Cocodyâ, âCount of Monte Cristoâ, âParis Secretsâ, âFantomasâ, became An ideal actor for stunt films. Quite often, he performs serious tricks even without insurance. On the set of the film "The Gentleman of Cocody" was not without an accident. The stuntman was injured, and Jean Mare performed all the stunts himself. All of them were carefully calculated. He practiced a gesture for a gesture, bringing them to perfection. It should be noted that the filmography of Jean Marais has many stunt paintings. At the same time, the actor never went in for sports. Although he loved to swim in the summer and ski in the winter.
"Fantomas ..."
Jean Marais - the filmography of this actor would not be complete if she did not have a series of adventure films Fantomas. The first was released in nineteen sixty-fourth. This is a mixture of action and comedy. His famous film partners were Milen Demonjo and the magnificent Louis De Funes. It was planned to shoot five episodes, but only three were shot, because Jean Marais hated this role, which for many years became his hallmark.
1970s
At the very end of the sixties, Jean Marais decided to move to the south of France, where he began to engage in pottery and sculpture. Sometimes he came to Paris in order to play in the theater, in addition, during this period he began to write memoirs. He also starred in films, but less and less. Between 1970 and 1995, Jean Marais was making less and less films: the filmography increased by only seven paintings.
Despite his age, the actor was stately, full of strength. His vivid roles in the films "Pariah", "Provocation", "Donkey Skin" became a confirmation of his inner youth. In the movie, roles became less, but not because they were not offered, but because the actor was too demanding on incoming offers. The next major role of Jean Marais was the role of the count in the film "Cagliostro in Vienna", which was released only in 1978.
Roles in the 80s and 90s
At this time, the famous actor starred in the role of Georges in the project âTerrible Parentsâ and âMy American Uncleâ in a cameo role. In the nineteen eighty-fifth year, the director Jacques Demy offered the actor a role in the movie "Parking".
Gradually, Jean Marais becomes the patriarch of French cinema. He occasionally appears on the screens, but with great pleasure during this period he is engaged in painting, sculpture and pottery.
In 1992, he took part in the film "Shipwrecked Children." In nineteen ninety-five, Claude Lepouche offered the famous actor the role of Miriel in the drama Les Miserables. And in this picture, his partners were Jean-Paul Belmando and Michelle Bougins. This film is rightfully considered the most original and bold adaptation of the novel of the great Victor Hugo.
In 1996, the filmography of Jean Marais was replenished, one might say, with the iconic painting âEscaping Beautyâ, in which he brilliantly played the role of Monsieur Guillaume.
In 2007, admirers of the talent of the great actor for the last time saw him in the film "Each has its own movie" - a chronicle film.
A man with a thousand talents
Nature has generously endowed this amazing person with a wide variety of talents. He was a magnificent theater and film actor, a fearless stuntman, a sophisticated designer, sculptor, painter, and writer. This list goes on, because everything that Jean Mare touched turned out brilliantly. He had a spectacular appearance and strong physical strength. This big and strong man had a noble soul, incredible determination, loyalty and daydreaming, self-criticism, trustfulness and naivety of a child.
The cinema brought worldwide fame and popularity to the actor beloved by millions, although the maestro himself considered himself an exclusively theater actor. Films of Jean Marais are an eternal classic and a study guide for aspiring actors.