Pierre Richard-Willm

Pierre Richard-Willm (born November 3, 1895 as Alexandre Pierre Richard in Bayonne , † April 12, 1983 in Paris ) was a French actor in the roles of elegant, romantic lover and heartbreaker, adventurer and hero: a matinee idol and heartthrob in entertainment films 1930s and 1940s.

Live and act

Alexandre Pierre Richard, who comes from Bayonne in western France, took his first acting steps at the age of 16 at 'Le Théâtre du Peuple' in the small Vosges town of Bussang , to which he would remain loyal throughout his life.

The attractive actor was discovered for the film in 1930 and developed under the pseudonym Pierre Richard-Willm into a popular screen idol in the roles of loyal, nonchalant gallants and noble, sophisticated noblemen of all kinds. Without necessarily being celebrated by the critics as an exceptional talent, France's leading pre-war directors - Alberto Cavalcanti , Pierre Billon, Marc Allégret , Marcel L'Herbier , Fedor Ozep , Julien Duvivier and Max Ophüls - vied for the coveted box-office magnet. Their Berlin-based colleagues Robert Siodmak , Reinhold Schünzel , Carl Lamac and Géza von Bolváry also brought him for their productions and cast him as the star of the French versions of their works.

In his heyday (1934 to 1946), Pierre Richard-Willm embodied a number of heroes, but also sensitive dreamers and brave lone fighters and avengers. He was seen as Goethe's Werther, Edmond Dantès (the Count of Monte Christo) and the composer Franz Liszt .

In 1946, Pierre Richard-Willm put an abrupt end to his film career. Despite numerous attempts by the producers to win him over to work in front of the camera again, Richard-Willm remained adamant: he wanted to devote the remaining decades exclusively to the stage. He returned to Bussang and remained loyal to "Le Théâtre du Peuple" until the end, for which he now also worked as a costume designer and set designer.

Filmography

1930: Toute sa vie 1930: Les vacances du diable 1931: Un soir au front 1931: Autour une enquête 1931: Le petit écart 1932: Sous le casque 1932: Les amours de Pergolèse 1932: Kiki 1932: baby 1933: La fille du régiment 1933: Pour être aimé 1933: The Cardsharp (L'Épervier) 1933: Fanatism 1934: the last stage (Le Grand Jeu) 1934: La maison dans la dune 1934: Natascha (Les nuits moscovites) 1934: Le prince Jean 1935: Barcarolle d'amour 1935: Stradivarius

1935: Under false suspicion (La route impériale) 1936: Anne-Marie 1936: L'argent 1936: Courrier-Sud 1936: Au service du tsar 1937: Game of Memory (Un carnet de bal) 1937: Yoshiwara 1937: La dame de Malacca 1937: Rasputin - demon of the tsar (La tragédie impériale) 1937: Rival of the Tsarina (Tarakanova) 1938: Le Roman de Werther 1938: Entente Cordiale 1939: The law of the north (La loi du nord) 1941: Les jours heureux 1942: La duchesse de Langeais 1942: La croisée des chemins 1943: The Count of Monte Christo (Le comte de Monte-Cristo) 1944: Playmate of Darkness (La fiancée des ténèbres) 1946: Dreams of Love (Rêves d'amour) 1946: Le beau voyage

literature

• Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 6: N - R. Mary Nolan - Meg Ryan. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 510.

Web links

• Pierre Richard-Willm in the Internet Movie Database (English)