Jean Gabin
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Jean Gabin (; 17 May 190415 November 1976) was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films including ''
Pépé le Moko ''Pépé le Moko'' () is a 1937 French film directed by Julien Duvivier starring Jean Gabin, based on a novel of the same name by Henri La Barthe and with sets by Jacques Krauss. An example of the 1930s French movement known as poetic realism, ...
'' (1937), ''
La grande illusion ''La Grande Illusion'' (also known as ''The Grand Illusion'') is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who ar ...
'' (1937), ''
Le Quai des brumes ''Port of Shadows'' (french: Le Quai des brumes , "The dock of mists") is a 1938 French film directed by Marcel Carné. An example of poetic realism, it stars Jean Gabin, Michel Simon and Michèle Morgan. The screenplay was written by Jacques Pr ...
'' (1938), ''
La bête humaine ''La Bête humaine'' (English: ''The Beast Within'' or ''The Beast in Man'') is an 1890 novel by Émile Zola. The story has been adapted for the cinema on several occasions. The seventeenth book in Zola's ''Les Rougon-Macquart'' series, it is ba ...
'' (1938), ''
Le jour se lève ''Le jour se lève'' (, "The day rises"; also known as ''Daybreak'') is a 1939 French film directed by Marcel Carné and written by Jacques Prévert, based on a story by Jacques Viot. It is considered one of the principal examples of the French ...
'' (1939), and ''
Le plaisir ''Le Plaisir'' (English title, ''House of Pleasure'') is a 1952 French comedy-drama anthology film by German-born film director Max Ophüls (1902–1957) adapting three short stories by Guy de Maupassant — " Le Masque" (1889), " La Maison ...
'' (1952). During his career he had twice won both the
Silver Bear for Best Actor The Silver Bear for Best Actor (german: Silberner Bär/Bester Darsteller) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by ...
from the
Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
and the
Volpi Cup for Best Actor The Volpi Cup for Best Actor ( it, Coppa Volpi per la migliore interpretazione maschile) is the principal award given to actors at the Venice Film Festival and is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the Venice Film ...
from the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
respectively. Gabin was made a member of the
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema.


Biography


Early life

Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe owner and
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
entertainer whose stage name was Gabin, which is a first name in French. He grew up in the village of
Mériel Mériel () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department and Île-de-France region of France. Mériel station has rail connections to Persan, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt and Paris. Population Notable residents * Jean Gabin, actor (1904–1976). Gabin spe ...
in the
Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () was the former department of France encompassing the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris.Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.
) département, about 22 mi (35 km) north of Paris. He attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Gabin left school early, and worked as a laborer until the age of 19 when he entered show business with a bit part in a Folies Bergères production. He continued performing in a variety of minor roles before going into the military.


Career


Early days

After completing his military service in the Fusiliers marins, he returned to the entertainment business, working under the
stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
of Jean Gabin at whatever was offered in the Parisian
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
s and
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
s, imitating the singing style of Maurice Chevalier, which was the rage at the time. He was part of a troupe that toured South America, and upon returning to France found work at the
Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (P ...
. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two
silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
s in 1928. Two years later Gabin made the transition to sound films in a 1930
Pathé Frères Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipme ...
production, ''
Chacun sa chance ''Everybody Wins'' (French: ''Chacun sa chance'') is a 1930 French-German comedy film directed by René Pujol and Hans Steinhoff and starring Renée Héribel, Gaby Basset and Jean Gabin.Harriss p.195 It was made as a co-production between France ...
''. Playing secondary roles, he made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by
Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
and
Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French film director known for the classic film noir ''Out of the Past'' and a series of low-budget horror films he made for RKO Studios, including ''Cat People (1942 film), Cat ...
. But he only gained real recognition for his performance in ''
Maria Chapdelaine ''Maria Chapdelaine'' is a romance novel written in 1913 by the Breton writer Louis Hémon, who was then residing in Quebec.Guy Laflèche. Polémiques'. Editions du Singulier; 1992. . p. 126 – 128. Aimed at young French and Quebecois people ...
'', a 1934 production directed by
Julien Duvivier Julien Duvivier (; 8 October 1896 – 29 October 1967) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are ''La Bandera (film), La Bandera'', ...
. He was then cast as a romantic hero in the 1936 war drama '' La Bandera''; this second Duvivier-directed film established him as a major star. The next year he teamed up with Duvivier again in the highly successful ''
Pépé le Moko ''Pépé le Moko'' () is a 1937 French film directed by Julien Duvivier starring Jean Gabin, based on a novel of the same name by Henri La Barthe and with sets by Jacques Krauss. An example of the 1930s French movement known as poetic realism, ...
''. Its popularity brought Gabin international recognition. That same year he starred in
Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...
's ''
La Grande Illusion ''La Grande Illusion'' (also known as ''The Grand Illusion'') is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who ar ...
'', an antiwar film that ran at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. This was followed by another of Renoir's major works, ''
La Bête Humaine ''La Bête humaine'' (English: ''The Beast Within'' or ''The Beast in Man'') is an 1890 novel by Émile Zola. The story has been adapted for the cinema on several occasions. The seventeenth book in Zola's ''Les Rougon-Macquart'' series, it is ba ...
'' (''The Human Beast''), a
film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
tragedy based on the novel by
Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
and starring Gabin and
Simone Simon Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon (23 April 1910 or 1911 – 22 February 2005) was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931. Early life Born in Marseille, France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Clair Simon, a French J ...
, as well as ''Le Quai Des Brumes'' ('' Port of Shadows''), one of director Marcel Carné's classics of
poetic realism Poetic realism was a film movement in France of the 1930s. More a tendency than a movement, poetic realism is not strongly unified like Soviet montage or French Impressionism but were individuals who created this lyrical style. Its leading filmm ...
. His rugged charisma could be compared with Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. But he was the king of ‘cinematic cool’ even before the rise of those Hollywood stars. He divorced his second wife in 1939.


Hollywood

In the late 1930s Gabin was flooded with offers from Hollywood, but turned them all down until the outbreak of World War II. After the
German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
in 1940, he joined Renoir and Duvivier in the United States. During his time in Hollywood, Gabin began a romance with actress
Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
that lasted until 1948. His films in America—''
Moontide ''Moontide'' is a 1942 American romantic drama with elements of a thriller. It was produced by Mark Hellinger and directed by Archie Mayo, who took over direction after initial director Fritz Lang left the project early in the shooting schedule. ...
'' (1942) and '' The Impostor'' (1944), the latter with Duvivier—were not successful.


World War II action

Undaunted, Gabin joined General
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
's
Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...
and earned the
Médaille militaire The ''Médaille militaire'' ( en, Military Medal) is a military decoration of the French Republic for other ranks for meritorious service and acts of bravery in action against an enemy force. It is the third highest award of the French Republic, ...
and a
Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
for his wartime valor fighting with the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
in North Africa. Following
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
, Gabin served with the 2nd armored division that liberated Paris.


Career slump

In 1945 Carné chose Gabin to star in the film ''
Gates of the Night ''Gates of the Night'' (french: Les Portes de la nuit) is a 1946 French film that was directed by Marcel Carné. It starred Serge Reggiani and Yves Montand. The script was written by Carné's long-time collaborator Jacques Prévert. The film made ...
'' with Dietrich as his co-star. She disliked the screenplay and feared her German accent would not go over well with postwar French audiences. When she withdrew from the project, Gabin followed suit, leading to a falling out with Carné. He found a French producer and director willing to cast him and Dietrich together, but the film, ''
Martin Roumagnac ''Martin Roumagnac'' (also known as ''The Room Upstairs'') is a 1946 French crime film directed by Georges Lacombe. It tells the story of a builder in a small town who falls for a glamorous but treacherous femme fatale, with tragic results fo ...
'', was not a success and their personal relationship soon ended. In 1948 Gabin starred in René Clément's poetic realist film ''
The Walls of Malapaga ''The Walls of Malapaga'' ( it, Le mura di Malapaga, french: Au-delà des grilles (''Beyond the Gates'')), is a 1949 French-Italian drama film directed by René Clément and starring Jean Gabin, Isa Miranda and Andrea Checchi. It was a co-prod ...
'' (), which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture but garnered little recognition for Gabin. In 1949 he starred in his only role in legitimate theatre in
Henri Bernstein Henri-Léon-Gustave-Charles Bernstein (20 June 1876 – 27 November 1953) was a French playwright associated with Boulevard theatre. Biography Bernstein was born in Paris. His earliest plays, including ''La Rafale'' (1905), ''Le Voleur'' (1907), ...
's ''La Soif''. It ran in Paris for six months, with Gabin critically praised as "a first-rate stage actor." Despite this recognition, his subsequent films did not do well at the French box office, and the next five years brought repeated failures.


Comeback

Gabin's career seemed headed for oblivion until the 1954 film ''
Touchez pas au grisbi ''Touchez pas au grisbi'' (, French for "Don't touch the loot"), released as ''Honour Among Thieves'' in the United Kingdom and ''Grisbi'' in the United States, is a 1954 French-Italian crime film based on a novel by Albert Simonin. It was dire ...
'' (''Don't Touch the Loot''), directed by
Jacques Becker Jacques Becker (; 15 September 1906 – 21 February 1960) was a French film director and screenwriter. His films, made during the 1940s and 1950s, encompassed a wide variety of genres, and they were admired by some of the filmmakers who led th ...
, earned him critical acclaim. The film was very profitable internationally. He then worked once again with Renoir in ''
French Cancan ''French Cancan'' (also known as ''Only the French Can'') is a 1955 French-Italian musical film written and directed by Jean Renoir and starring Jean Gabin and Francoise Arnoul. Where Renoir's previous film ''Le Carosse d’or'' had celebrated ...
'', with
María Félix María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (; 8 April 1914 – 8 April 2002) was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s an ...
and Françoise Arnoul. Gabin played
Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Early life and education ...
's detective
Jules Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...
in three films in 1958, 1959 and 1963. Over the next 20 years, he made almost 50 more films, most of them very successful commercially and critically, including many for Gafer Films, his production partnership with fellow actor
Fernandel Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French actor and singer. Born near Marseille, France, to Désirée Bedouin and Denis Contandin, originating in Perosa Argentina, an Occitan t ...
. His co-stars included such leading figures of postwar cinema as
Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
('' En cas de malheur''), Alain Delon (''
Le Clan des Siciliens ''The Sicilian Clan'' (french: Le clan des Siciliens) is a 1969 French-Italian gangster film based on the novel by Auguste Le Breton. The film was directed by Henri Verneuil and stars Jean Gabin, Lino Ventura and Alain Delon, whose casting led ...
'', ''
Mélodie en sous-sol ''Any Number Can Win'' (french: Mélodie en sous-sol) is a 1963 French crime drama film directed by Henri Verneuil. The film is based on the novel ''The Big Grab'' by . Plot Charles comes out of prison after serving five years for attempted robb ...
'' and '' Deux hommes dans la ville''),
Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
('' Un singe en hiver'') 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 ...
('' Le Tatoué'').


Death

Gabin died of leukemia at the
American Hospital of Paris The American Hospital of Paris (''Hôpital américain de Paris''), founded in 1906, is a private, not-for-profit hospital that is certified under the French healthcare system. Located in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the western suburbs of Paris, Franc ...
, in the Parisian suburb of
Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...
. His body was cremated, and—with full military honours—his ashes were scattered at sea from a military ship.


Legacy

*Gabin is considered one of the greatest stars in French cinema, and was appointed
Officier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
. *In 1981, French actor
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 ...
initiated the
Prix Jean Gabin The Prix Jean Gabin was a French award presented each year between 1981 and 2006 to a young and upcoming actor working in the Cinema of France, French film industry. The award was created on the initiative of Louis de Funès (1914–1983) in 1981, ...
, an accolade presented to upcoming actors in the French film industry. It was awarded annually from 1981 to 2006. *The Musée Jean Gabin—in the commune of Mériel, where he grew up—narrates his story and features his film memorabilia. *The Place Jean Gabin was inaugurated on 16 May 2008 by
Daniel Vaillant Daniel Vaillant (born 19 July 1949) is a French Socialist politician. Biography Close to Lionel Jospin, Vaillant held several ministerial portfolios in his cabinets: Minister of the Relations with Parliament from 1997 to 2000 and Interior Min ...
, the then mayor of the
18th arrondissement of Paris The 18th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-huitième''. The arrondissement, known as Butte-Montmartr ...
, and Gabin's children. It is on the corner of rue Custine and rue Lambert, at the foot of
Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
. *The Cinema Jean Gabin in
Montgenèvre Montgenèvre (; oc, Montginebre; Italian: ''Monginevro'') is a commune on the Italian border in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 456. Geography Mon ...
was named for him. Montgenèvre describes itself as France's oldest ski resort, and was a popular holiday destination for Gabin and other French artists and intellectuals, including
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...
.


Filmography


References


Further reading

* Jean-Michel Betti: ''Salut, Gabin!'' Ed. de Trévise, Paris 1977. * André Brunelin: ''Gabin'' Herbig, München/Berlin 1989, ; Ullstein TB 36650, Frankfurt am Main/Berlin 1996, . * Claude Gauteur: ''Jean Gabin.'' Nathan, Paris 1993, . * Jean-Marc Loubier: ''Jean Gabin, Marlène Dietrich: un rêve brisê'', Acropole, Paris 2002, . * ''Eine unvollendete Liebe. Marlene Dietrich und Jean Gabin.'' Documentary, Germany, 2012, 52:30 Min., Book and directed by Daniel Guthmann, Christian Buckhard, Production: DG Filmproduktion, WDR,
arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...
, first shown: 9 February 2013, arte. contains interviews with Louis Bozon and Jean-Jacques Debout, and Gabin's children Florence and Mathias. Joseph Harriss: "Jean Gabin: The Actor Who Was France." McFarland, Jefferson, NC 2018


External links

* *
Musée Jean Gabin

website in Italian language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabin, Jean 1904 births 1976 deaths 20th-century French male actors 20th-century French male singers Deaths from cancer in France Deaths from leukemia French male film actors French male silent film actors Male actors from Paris French military personnel of World War II Columbia Records artists David di Donatello winners Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Silver Bear for Best Actor winners Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners Lycée Janson-de-Sailly alumni