LOUIS DE FUNÈS, THE MAN WITH 40 FACES PER MINUTE

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Louis de Funès, the French actor and comedian, who died on a day like today in 1983.

 

Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (31 July 1914-27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian.

He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in film and over 100 on stage. His acting style is remembered for its high-energy performance and his wide range of facial expressions and tics. A considerable part of his best-known acting was directed by Jean Girault.

One of the most famous French actors of all time, Louis de Funès also enjoys widespread international recognition. In addition to his immense fame in the French-speaking world, he is also still a household name in many other parts of the world, including German-speaking countries, the former Soviet Union, former Eastern Bloc, Italy, Spain, Greece, Albania, ex-Yugoslavia, as well as Turkey, Iran, Israel, and Mauritius.

Despite his international fame, Louis de Funès remains almost unknown in the English-speaking world.

He was exposed to a wider audience only once in the United States, in 1974, with the release of The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob, which is best remembered for its Rabbi Jacob dance scene and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. 

Louis de Funès has two museums dedicated to his life and acting: one in the Château de Clermont, near Nantes, where he resided, as well as another in the town of Saint-Raphaël, Southern France.

More information: The Tragic Life and Sad Death of Louis de Funès

Louis de Funès was born on 31 July 1914 in Courbevoie, Hauts-de-Seine to parents who hailed from Seville, Spain. Since the couple's families opposed their marriage, they eloped to France in 1904.

De Funès began his show business career in the theatre, where he enjoyed moderate success and also played small roles in films. Even after he attained the status of a movie star, he continued to play theatre roles. His stage career culminated in a magnificent performance in the play Oscar, a role which he would reprise a few years later in the film adaptation.

In 1945, thanks to his contact with Daniel Gélin, de Funès made his film debut at the age of 31 with a bit part in Jean Stelli's La Tentation de Barbizon.

From 1945 to 1955, he appeared in 50 films, usually as an extra or walk-on. In 1954, he went on to star in such films as Ah! Les belles bacchantes and Le Mouton à cinq pattes.

Eventually, de Funès became France's leading comic actor. Between 1964 and 1979, he topped France's box office of the year's most successful movies seven times.

In 1968, all three of his films were in the top ten in France for the year, topped by Le Petit Baigneur.

De Funès made his final film, Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes, in 1982.

Unlike the characters he played, de Funès was said to be a very shy person in real life. Capable of an extremely rich and rapidly changing range of facial expressions, de Funès was nicknamed the man with forty faces per minute.

In the later part of his life, de Funès achieved great prosperity and success. He became a knight of France's Légion d'honneur in 1973.

In his later years, de Funès suffered from a heart condition after having two heart attacks caused by the excessive strain of his stage antics.

He died on 27 January 1983, a few months after making his final film. He was laid to rest in the Cimetière du Cellier, the cemetery situated on the Château de Clermont grounds.

More information: UPI

Les gens sont des comédiens, nous, nous sommes des acteurs.

 People are comedians,we are actors.

Louis de Funès