Jean Marais

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Jean Marais in the role of Orphée, 1949 (photograph by Carl Van Vechten , from the Library of Congress )
Jean Marais, 1965
Jean Marais at the César Awards in 1991

Jean Marais , real name Jean Alfred Villain-Marais (born December 11, 1913 in Cherbourg , † November 8, 1998 in Cannes , Alpes-Maritimes ), was a French actor and sculptor . He was the longtime partner of Jean Cocteau , who used him in classic films like Once Upon a Time . Marais has been one of the most popular film stars in his country for over two decades through coat-and-epee films and the impersonation of the super criminal Fantomas .

Life

Jean Marais was five years old when his parents separated. Together with his brother Henri, he was raised by his mother, his aunt and his grandmother in a large house in Le Vésinet near Paris (Boulevard de Belgique No. 60, now No. 90). Early on, he developed a passion for drawing and theater games . As a turbulent student, he was expelled from high school.

He began his professional career as a photo retoucher and caddy on a golf course, his artistic career by participating in the Salon des Indépendants . The film director and producer Marcel L'Herbier made sure that he could appear as an extra in a film for the first time, but denied him more important roles. After Marais failed his Conservatory entrance exam, he attended Charles Dullin's acting classes and paid for them through his work as an extra in Dullin's theater.

In 1937 the first encounter took place with Jean Cocteau , who was almost 25 years his senior , who would later become his mentor and partner, which brought about the great turning point in Jean Marais' career and initiated a long and creative friendship and collaboration. Marais played Malcolm in Macbeth and was hired by Jean Cocteau for the premieres of Les chevaliers de la table ronde ( The Knights of the Round Table ) and Les parents terribles ( The Terrible Parents ). The planned filming of The Terrible Parents initially did not materialize due to the mobilization . Despite being homosexual, Marais was married to actress Mila Parély between 1944 and 1946 .

Marais's final breakthrough came with his roles in Jacques de Baroncelli's film Le pavillon brûle (1941) and the Tristan and Isolde adaptation Der Ewige Bann (1943) by director Jean Delannoy , to which Jean Cocteau contributed the script. Other important films followed, including Once Upon a Time (1946), The Double Eagle (1947) The Terrible Parents (1949) and Orpheus (1949).

After he became known in these artistically ambitious films, Marais appeared increasingly in commercially oriented films from the 1950s on, in which he was often seen in amateur and adventure roles. His athletic demeanor and appearance predestined him for typical cloak-and-epee films such as The Count of Monte Christo (1954), The King's Best Man (1958), Knight of the Night (1959), My Sword for the King (1960) , Fracass, the cheeky cavalier (1961), The Iron Mask (1962) or The Count with the Iron Fist (1962). In this role, he was considered the ideal leading actor for years. In 1973, at the age of 60, he was still playing one of his typical coat-and-epee roles in the multi-part television series Cagliostro .

Marais has also appeared in love films such as Rendezvous in Paris (1950), Beloved at Midnight (1953) or White Daisies (1956) and regularly appeared in period films such as Ruy Blas, The Queen's Beloved (1948), The Secret of Mayerling (1949) , Versailles - Kings and Women (1954), Napoleon (1954), Austerlitz - Shine of an Imperial Crown (1960), Imperial Highness (1961) or The Rape of the Sabine Women (1961). In 1960 he appeared for the last time in The Testament of Orpheus, directed by Jean Cocteau, who died in 1963.

Le passe-muraille . Sculpture on rue Norvins in the 18th arrondissement . The facial features shown are those of the author Marcel Aymé .

In the three Fantomas crime comedies, Marais appeared in a double role between 1964 and 1967 and played, often barely recognizable under elaborate masks, the journalist Fandor and the eponymous super criminal Fantomas. These lavishly produced crime comedies, which are based on the recipe for success of the James Bond films, were, however, strongly dominated by Louis de Funes , who contributed to the amusement in the supporting role of Inspector Juve. After his film career slowly came to an end in the late 1960s, Marais appeared regularly in television films from the 1970s.

Jean Marais was known for performing difficult stunts himself. In Fantomas , for example, he climbs from a crane boom onto a rope ladder hanging from a helicopter and flies away (this stunt was later often varied by Jean-Paul Belmondo ). In Cagliostro , at the age of 60, he climbed a high castle wall.

The actor enjoyed theater success well into old age. At the end of his life he turned increasingly to sculpture. Among other things, he created the model for the bronze figure Le passe-muraille ("The man who went through the wall"), which can be seen on Montmartre in Paris in the square named after Marcel Aymé , the author of the novel of the same name is. Marais took over his last film role in 1996 in Emotion and Seduction from Bernardo Bertolucci .

The chain smoker Jean Marais died on November 8, 1998 at the age of 84 in Cannes of pneumonia and was buried in Vallauris (Alpes-Maritimes).

Theater (selection)

  • William Shakespeare , Macbeth
  • Jean Cocteau, Les chevaliers de la table ronde
  • Jean Cocteau, Les parents terribles

Filmography

Awards

  • "Bambi" for the best international actor: 1954, 1955, 1956 (also nominated in 1948, 1950, 1958, 1960)
  • " César d'Honneur" (Honorary Prize at the César) 1993

literature

  • Jean Marais: Histoire de ma vie . Albin Michel, Paris 1975, new edition 1998.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Marais, Jean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Villain-Marais, Jean Alfred (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French actor and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Cherbourg
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 1998
Place of death Cannes , Alpes-Maritimes department