Charles d'Authier de Rochefort (7 July 1887 – 31 January 1952) was a French film actor, principally of the silent era. He appeared in 34 films between 1911 and 1932. He also directed seven films between 1930 and 1931.

Early life

De Rochefort was born in

Port-Vendres Port-Vendres (; ca, Portvendres) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, southwestern France. A typical Mediterranean fishing port, situated near the Spanish border on the Côte Vermeille in southwestern France, Port-Vendres is re ...

, Pyrénées-Orientales, France. He was the son of Paul Charles Dominique d'Authier de Rochefort and Camille Caroline Rose Félicité Guelfucci.Death certificate n°8/86/1952
on ''Les Gens du Cinéma''

Career

Charles De Roche in The Ten Commandments

He portrayed Pharaoh

Rameses II Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded as t ...

in the biblical prologue of

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

's silent film ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

'' (1923). Among the films he directed was the French-language version of ''

Paramount on Parade ''Paramount on Parade'' is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, O ...

'' (1930), and ''Magie moderne'' (1931), a French film about television released as ''Televisione'' in Italy, along with five other versions in five different languages. This latter film was produced at the

Joinville Studios The Joinville Studios were a film studio in Paris which operated between 1910 and 1987. They were one of the leading French studios, with major companies such as Pathé and Gaumont making films there. A second studio was added to the original ...

of Paramount Pictures at Joinville-le-Pont in Paris. In 1943 he wrote the book ''Le Film de Mes Souvenirs (Secrets de Vedettes)''.

Personal life

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he was interned by the German occupiers but was released due to the influence of his friend, the actress

Michèle Alfa Michèle Alfa (born Joséphine Blanche Alfreda Bassignot; August 20, 1911 – August 24, 1987) was a French stage and film actress. After appearing mainly in supporting roles during the 1930s she starred in a number of films during the 1940s. D ...

Death

He died 31 January 1952 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France.

Selected filmography

* '' The Mask of Horror'' (1912) * '' Fille du peuple'' (1920) * '' The Spanish Jade'' (1922) * '' The Black Diamond'' (1922) * '' Law of the Lawless'' (1923) * '' The Cheat'' (1923) * '' Hollywood'' (1923) cameo appearance * ''

The Marriage Maker ''The Marriage Maker'' is a lost 1923 American silent fantasy film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is based on a Broadway play, ''The Faun'', by Edward Knoblock. On stage the faun character was played b ...

'' (1923) * ''

The White Moth ''The White Moth'' is a 1924 American silent drama film produced and directed by Maurice Tourneur and distributed by First National Pictures. Barbara La Marr was the female lead supported by young Ben Lyon. Cast *Barbara La Marr as Mona Reid / ...

'' (1924) * '' Shadows of Paris'' (1924) * '' Love and Glory'' (1924) * ''

The Princess and the Clown ''The Princess and the Clown'' (French:''La princesse aux clowns'') is a 1924 French silent film directed by André Hugon and starring Huguette Duflos, Charles de Rochefort and Magda Roche.Rège p.511 Cast * Huguette Duflos as Princess Olga * ...

'' (1924) * '' Madame Sans-Gene'' (1925) with

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

* ''Paramount en parade'' (1930) director; French-language version of ''

'' * ''

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

'' (1931) * ''Magie moderne'' (1931) co-director with

Dimitri Buchowetzki Dimitri Buchowetzki (1885–1932) born Dmitry Savelyevych Bukhovecky was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and actor in Germany, Sweden, United States, United Kingdom, and France. Life and career Initially Buchowetzki studied law. Later h ...

; other versions released by Paramount: in Dutch (''

De Sensatie van de Toekomst ''De Sensatie van de Toekomst'' (1931) is a Dutch film directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki and Jack Salvatori, released by Paramount Pictures, and based on the play ''Television'' by Howard Irving Young (1893-1952). This film was also released by ...

''), Italian (''Televisione''), Swedish (''Tradlost och karleksfullt''), Polish (''Swiat bez grnic''), Czech (''Svet bez hranic''), and Romanian (''Televiziune'') versions * ''

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

'' (1932)

References

External links

*
Photographs and literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochefort, Charles De 1887 births 1952 deaths French male film actors French male silent film actors French film directors 20th-century French male actors People from Pyrénées-Orientales