Pierre-Marc Blaise (11 June 1955 – 31 August 1975) was a French film actor. He is best known for the role of Lucien Lacombe in

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both Cinema of France, French cinema and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a fi ...

's 1974 film ''

Lacombe, Lucien ''Lacombe, Lucien'' is a 1974 French war drama film by Louis Malle about a French teenage boy during the German occupation of France in World War II. Plot In June 1944, as the Allies are fighting the Germans in Normandy, Lucien Lacombe, a 17-y ...

''. An amateur selected for Malle's film, Blaise went on to act in three additional films, ''

The Big Delirium ''The Big Delirium'' (french: Le Grand Délire) is a 1975 French drama film directed by Dennis Berry. Cast * Jean Seberg - Emily * Pierre Blaise - Pierre * Wolfgang Preiss - Artmann * Isabelle Huppert - Marie * Yves Beneyton - John * Georges ...

'', ''The Porcelain Anniversary'' and '' Per le antiche scale,'' all released in 1975. His career was cut short when he was killed in a car accident in 1975.

Life and career

Blaise was born in

Moissac Moissac () is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. The town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Garonne and Tarn at the Canal de Garonne. Route nationale N113 was constructed through ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Blaise made his acting debut in

's 1974 film ''

''. Malle had been looking for a non-actor to play the titular character in ''Lacombe, Lucien'' and was convinced that Blaise, then working as a woodcutter, would bring great authenticity to the role. (Writing of the film in 1977, ''

Current Biography ''Current Biography'' is an American monthly magazine published by the H. W. Wilson Company of New York City, a publisher of reference books, that appears every month except December. ''Current Biography'' contains profiles of people in the news a ...

'' referred to Blaise as a "real-life Provençal farm boy.") In winning the role, Blaise was chosen over 1,000 other actors. Following his appearance in Malle's film, Blaise acted in three films, ''

'', ''The Porcelain Anniversary'' and '' Per le antiche scale,'' all released in 1975. A year after ''Lacombe, Lucien'' was released, Blaise was killed at the age of 20 in a car accident. Following a party, he was driving a car, a Renault 15 TL he had purchased with funds from his acting work. Accompanied by two friends he had brought along for company, Blaise lost control and crashed against a

plane tree ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

on the ''route de Laujol'' between Moissac and Durfort-Lacapelette, where he lived with his parents. His friends were also killed. According to ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', the accident took place after the vehicle "skidded around a curve in pouring rain".''Newsweek'', "Pierre Blaise," September 15, 1975 Blaise is buried in the cemetery of Durfort-Lacapelette in

Tarn-et-Garonne Tarn-et-Garonne (; oc, Tarn e Garona ) is a department in the Occitania region in Southern France. It is traversed by the rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name. The area was originally part of the former provinces of Quercy and ...

Filmography

*1974, ''

''. Directed by Louis Malle. *1975, ''

''. Directed by Dennis Berry. *1975, ''The Porcelain Anniversary''. Directed by

Roger Coggio Roger Coggio (11 March 1934 – 22 October 2001) was a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 40 films between 1954 and 1998. He was married to actress Pascale Audret. He died of cancer. Selected filmography * '' Be ...

. *1975, ''Per le antiche scale''. Directed by

Mauro Bolognini Mauro Bolognini (28 June 1922 – 14 May 2001) was an Italian film and stage director of literate sensibility, known for his masterly handling of period subject matter. Early years Bolognini was born in Pistoia, in the Tuscany region of Italy. ...

Bibliography

*Malle, Louis. ''Malle on Malle''. London: Faber, 1993.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blaise, Pierre 1952 births 1975 deaths people from Tarn-et-Garonne French male film actors Road incident deaths in France 20th-century French male actors