Gérard Oury (born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer.

Life and career

Max-Gérard Houry-Tannenbaum was the only son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist of

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

origin, and French Jewish Marcelle Houry, a journalist and art critic. Tannenbaum was absent from the life of Oury and he was raised in an unobservant house of his mother and maternal grandmother Berthe Goldner. Mulvey, Michael. (2017). "What Was So Funny about ''Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob'' (1973): A Comedic Film between History and Memory", ''French Politics, Culture & Society'', 35(3), pp. 24-43 , p. 29 Oury studied at the

Lycée Janson de Sailly In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

and then at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art. He became a member of the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

before

World War II 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 opposin ...

, but fled with all his family (mother, grandmother and unofficial wife, actress ) to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

to escape the anti-Jewish persecutions by the

Vichy government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

. When in 1942 his daughter Danielle Thompson was born, his fatherhood was concealed, to avoid her classification as a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

. After 1945 he returned to the liberated Paris and restarted his career as an actor, performing in the theatre and in supporting roles in the cinema. Oury became a movie director in 1959 (') and gained his first success in 1961 with '' Crime Does Not Pay'' (''Le crime ne paie pas''). Pairing

André Bourvil André Robert Raimbourg (; 27 July 1917 – 23 September 1970), better known as André Bourvil (), and mononymously as Bourvil, was a French actor and singer best known for his roles in comedy films, most notably in his collaboration with Loui ...

and

Louis de Funès 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 fil ...

as a comic duo, he burst into commercial filmmaking with 1965's ''The Sucker'' (''

Le corniaud ''The Sucker'' (french: link=no, Le Corniaud, ) is a French, Italian and Spanish comedy film by Gérard Oury starring Louis de Funès and Bourvil. Plot Leaving Paris for his summer vacation, the naïve Antoine Maréchal has his 2CV totally wr ...

''). The film was entered into the

4th Moscow International Film Festival The 4th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 5 to 20 July 1965. The Grand Prix was shared between the Soviet film ''War and Peace'' directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and the Hungarian film ''Twenty Hours'' directed by Zoltán Fábri. Jur ...

. The following year, ''Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!'' (''

La Grande Vadrouille ''La Grande Vadrouille'' (; literally "The Great Stroll"; originally released in the United Kingdom as ''Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!'') is a 1966 French-British comedy film set in 1942 about French civilians who help the crew of a Royal ...

'') was even more successful, attracting the largest audiences ever in France (17.27 million admissions). This box-office record stood for decades, only surpassed in 1997 by ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

'' from

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

. Oury shot the 1969 comedy ''

Le Cerveau ''The Brain'' (french: Le Cerveau) is a 1969 French comedy film directed by Gérard Oury, about a second train robbery by the brain behind the Great Train Robbery of 1963. It stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Bourvil as a pair of French petty crooks, ...

'' (''The Brain'') in English, starring

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

in the lead role as a criminal mastermind. Gérard Oury Michèle Morgan

With actress Jacqueline Roman, he was the father of French writer

Danièle Thompson Danièle Thompson (born 3 January 1942) is a Monegasque film director and screenwriter. Thompson is the daughter of film director Gérard Oury, and actress Jacqueline Roman. She has written screenplays for a number of highly successful films ...

and grandfather of actor/writer Christopher Thompson. He lived together with the French actress

Michèle Morgan Michèle Morgan (; née Simone Renée Roussel; 29 February 1920 – 20 December 2016) was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered to have been one of the g ...

for the second half of his life. He died aged 87 in

Saint-Tropez , INSEE = 83119 , postal code = 83990 , image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Saint-Tropez-A (Var).svg , image flag=Flag of Saint-Tropez.svg Saint-Tropez (; oc, Sant Tropetz, ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Al ...

on 20 July 2006.

Filmography

References

External links

*
''Gérard Oury'' at ''UniFrance Films''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oury, Gerard 1919 births 2006 deaths French male film actors French male stage actors French film directors French male screenwriters 20th-century French screenwriters 20th-century French Jews French people of Russian-Jewish descent Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery Lycée Janson-de-Sailly alumni 20th-century French male actors 21st-century French male actors Troupe of the Comédie-Française French National Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni César Honorary Award recipients 20th-century French male writers