Jean Topart (13 April 1922 – 29 December 2012) was a French actor. He was considered one of the best known voices on French television for decades. In addition to providing the voices and narration for television series and animated films, Topart often dubbed American and other foreign films into French. Topart was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, on 13 April 1922. His sister, actress Lise Topart, died in a plane crash in

Nice, France Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, on 3 March 1952. In 1973, Topart starred in the French

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, ''

Fantastic Planet ''Fantastic Planet'' (french: La Planète sauvage; cs, Divoká planeta, lit. "The Wild Planet") is a 1973 experimental adult animated science fiction film, directed by René Laloux and written by Laloux and Roland Topor, the latter of whom a ...

'', which was directed by

René Laloux René Laloux (; July 1929 – 14 March 2004) was a French animator, screenwriter and film director. Biography He was born in Paris in 1929 and went to art school to study painting. After some time working in advertising, he got a job in a psychi ...

. Best known for his voice work, Topart co-starred in the 1981 Franco-Japanese animated television series, ''

Ulysses 31 (french: link=no, Ulysse 31) is an anime series (1981) that updates the Greek mythology of Odysseus (known as "Ulixes" or "Ulysses" in Latin) to the 31st century. The show comprises 26 half-hour episodes as a co-production between DIC Audiovis ...

'', and ''

The Mysterious Cities of Gold ''The Mysterious Cities of Gold'', originally released in Japan as and released in France as ''Les Mystérieuses Cités d'Or'', is an animated series which was co-produced by DiC Audiovisuel and Studio Pierrot. Set in 1532, the series foll ...

'' in 1982. He narrated the 2000 French animated series, '' Argai: The Prophecy''. Topart was cast in the French version of numerous foreign language films, including '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp'' for Disney in 1990. He was cast as

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...

for the French-language release of the 2002

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

film, ''

Treasure Planet ''Treasure Planet'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The 43rd Disney animated feature film, it is a science fiction adaptatio ...

'', known as ''La Planète au trésor, un nouvel univers'' in French. Topart also dubbed the French-language voices for many foreign live-action films, including ''

The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then we ...

'' in 1980, '' Birdy'' in 1984, and ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

'' in 1984. Outside of animation, Topart was a member of the Théâtre national populaire (TNP), a French theater troupe, from 1950 to 1960 before entering film and television. His live-action film credits included ''

Angélique, Marquise des Anges ''Angélique, Marquise des Anges'' is a 1964 historical romance film directed by Bernard Borderie and starring Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein and Jean Rochefort. It is based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Anne and Serge Golon. It was ma ...

'' by

Bernard Borderie Bernard Borderie (10 June 1924 in Paris – 28 May 1978 in Paris) was a French film director and screenwriter. His father, Raymond Borderie, was one of the producers of ''Children of Paradise, Les Enfants du Paradis'' (''Children of Paradise'', 1945 ...

in 1964 and

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

's ''

Chicken with Vinegar ''Cop au Vin'' (french: Poulet au vinaigre) is a 1985 French crime film directed by Claude Chabrol. It was entered into the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. The original French title is a pun: it literally means "vinegar chicken," but "poulet" is also ...

'' in 1985. His last on-screen film was the 2000

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

, ''

Les Acteurs ''Actors'' (original title: ''Les Acteurs'') is a 2000 French comedy film directed by Bertrand Blier. Plot A collection of portraits of actors (exclusively men, with the exception of Josiane Balasko interpreting André Dussollier) who meet and te ...

'', directed by

Bertrand Blier Bertrand Blier (; born 14 March 1939) is a French film director and writer. His 1978 film ''Get Out Your Handkerchiefs'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards. He is the son of famous French actor Bernard ...

. Topart died in

Le Port-Marly Le Port-Marly () is a commune in the outer western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region, north of Versailles. In 2019, Le Port-Marly had a population of 5,481. Population See also * Ch ...

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.French Minister of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identi ...

Aurélie Filippetti Aurélie Filippetti ( ; born 17 June 1973) is a French people, French politician and novelist. She served as Minister of Culture (France), French Minister of Culture and Communications from 2012 until 2014, first in the government of Jean-Marc ...

released a statement following Topart's death calling him, "one of the inimitable voices of

French cinema French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influ ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Topart, Jean 1922 births 2012 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French male film actors French male stage actors French male television actors French male voice actors Male actors from Paris 20th-century French male actors