Robert Le Vigan
Robert Le Vigan (born January 7, 1900 in Paris as Robert Charles Alexandre Coquillaud , † October 12, 1972 in Tandil , Argentina ) was a French actor , a sought-after and intensely filmed character star of French prewar cinema.
The early years
Le Vigan had attended the Paris Conservatory . He joined the stage at the age of 18 and made his debut at the Théâtre Impérial in Paris . Eventually he joined the acting troops of Gaston Baty and Louis Jouvet . In 1927 he appeared on the side of the later movie star Arletty in stage sketches with which he went on tour.
Until 1931 he remained exclusively committed to the theater; the film director Julien Duvivier gave him his first film role in Les cinq gentlemen maudits after seeing Le Vigan in the play Donogoo at the Théâtre Pigalle in Paris . The actor quickly developed into one of the most exposed film personalities in the country, with interpretations of brooding and internally torn, disturbing and often immoderate characters. Le Vigan soon became a favorite of poetic realism cinema , with its leading exponents Jean Renoir , Marcel Carné and Duvivier frequently hiring him.
Le Vigan, who appeared in around 65 films in just twelve years in French film, was most convincing as a partner or opponent of Jean Gabin - also among other top directors such as Christian-Jaque , Pierre Chenal , Abel Gance , and Marcel L'Herbier , Jacques Becker and Claude Autant-Lara . His most important roles included the devious draper in Renoir's Madame Bovary and the informant in Duvivier's The Love Alley of Morocco , the shabby actor in Renoir's night asylum and Cardinal Mazarin in Jérôme Perreau , the suicidal painter in Carné's port in the fog and the thief and murderer Goupi Tonking in Beckers A fatal family . In this collection of cryptic to dark figures, a figure of light stands out: his Jesus Christ in Duvivier's Cross of Golgotha . It would become Robert Le Vigan's most famous role.
Wartime, collaboration and escape
Encouraged by the writer and notorious anti-Semite Louis-Ferdinand Celine , the actor appeared at the time of the German occupation 1940-1944 as an ardent Jew hater and brought his anti-Semitic tirades to the people on the German-controlled Paris Radio . He was also seen as an informant to the Gestapo . As a result, he came to the top of a " black list " drawn up by the underground . He also lost the role of the clothes dealer Jéricho in Carné's masterpiece Children of Olympus to his colleague Pierre Renoir .
In 1944, Le Vigan, together with Celine, fled from the approaching US troops to Sigmaringen , Germany, where he was taken into protective custody by the Germans. Events from this period are described in Celine's post-war novels (e.g. Norden ), in which Le Vigan is one of the protagonists. In 1945 the Allies arrested him and transferred him back to France. In 1946, a court sentenced Le Vigan to ten years of forced labor with loss of civil rights. His property has been confiscated. However, after three years imprisonment in Fresnes (Val-de-Marne) , the actor fled to Spain on bail and made two films there in 1950. A little later he embarked from there for Argentina . In Buenos Aires , Le Vigan was able to make a few less significant films, but was soon forgotten and died under poor circumstances in the provincial town of Tandil. A few years before his death, French television tracked him down there and gave the actor the opportunity to comment on his turbulent professional and political life.
Filmography
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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 5: L - N. Rudolf Lettinger - Lloyd Nolan. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 12.
Web links
- Robert Le Vigan in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Le Vigan, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Coquillaud, Robert Charles Alexandre (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French film actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 7, 1900 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 12, 1972 |
| Place of death | Tandil , Argentina |