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 po ...

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 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

to escape the anti-Jewish persecutions by the

Vichy government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

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

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

. 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 and Louis de Funès as a comic duo, he burst into commercial filmmaking with 1965's ''The Sucker'' ('' Le corniaud''). 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 (film series), War and Peace'' directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and the Hungarian film ''Twenty Hours'' di ...

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

La Grande Vadrouille ''La Grande Vadrouille'' (; ), originally released in the United Kingdom as ''Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!'', is a 1966 French-British comedy film directed by Gérard Oury about French civilians who, in 1942, help the crew of a Royal Ai ...

'') 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 ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' from

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

. Oury shot the 1969 comedy '' Le Cerveau'' (''The Brain'') in English, starring

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

in the lead role as a criminal mastermind. With actress Jacqueline Roman, he was the father of French writer Danièle Thompson and grandfather of actor/writer Christopher Thompson. He lived together with the French actress

Michèle Morgan Michèle Morgan (; born 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 one of the greatest Fren ...

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

Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...

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 comedy 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