Jean Gabin
Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé (born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé), known as Jean Gabin (17 May 1904 – 15 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 (1937), La grande illusion (1937), Le Quai des brumes (1938), La bête humaine (1938), Le jour se lève (1939), and Le plaisir (1952). During his career, he twice won the Silver Bear for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival, respectively. Gabin was made a member of the Légion d'honneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema.
Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe owner and cabaret entertainer whose stage name was Gabin, which is a first name in French. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise (now Val-d'Oise) 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 Bergère production. He continued performing in a variety of minor roles before going into the military.
After completing his military service in the Fusiliers marins, he returned to the entertainment business, working under the stage name of Jean Gabin at whatever was offered in the Parisian music halls and operettas, 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. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928.
Two years later Gabin made the transition to sound films in a 1930 Pathé Frères production, Chacun sa chance. Playing secondary roles, he made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. But he only gained real recognition for his performance in Maria Chapdelaine, a 1934 production directed by Julien Duvivier. 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. Its popularity brought Gabin international recognition. That same year he starred in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, 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 (The Human Beast), a film noir tragedy based on the novel by Émile Zola and starring Gabin and Simone Simon, as well as Le Quai Des Brumes (Port of Shadows), one of director Marcel Carné's classics of poetic realism. His rugged charisma could be compared with Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.
He divorced his second wife in 1939. ...
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Known for
The Possessors
Noël Schoudler, le patriarche financier
The Sicilian Clan
Vittorio Manalese
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
Self (archive footage)
The Tattoo
Count Enguerand de Montignac,aka 'Legrain'
Grand Illusion
Le lieutenant Maréchal
French Cancan
Henri Danglard
Les Misérables
Jean Valjean / Champmathieu
Touchez Pas au Grisbi
Max dit Max le Menteur
Two Men in Town
Germain Cazeneuve
Port of Shadows
Jean
Maigret Sets a Trap
Commissaire Maigret
Any Number Can Win
Charles
Napoleon
Marshal Jean Lannes
La Bête Humaine
Lantier
The Century of Icons
Self (archive footage)
Pépé le Moko
Pépé le Moko
Le Plaisir
Joseph Rivet
The Counterfeiters of Paris
Ferdinand Maréchal, aka 'le Dabe'
Daybreak
François
La Traversée de Paris
Grandgil, artist painter
Holy Year
Max Lambert
The Image Book
(archive footage)
The Night Affair
Inspecteur Georges Vallois
The Old Guard
Jean-Marie Pejat, bicycle repairer
Love Is My Profession
Maître André Gobillot
The Gentleman from Epsom
Richard Briand-Charmery
Razzia
Henri Ferré dit 'Le Nantais'
Action Man
Denis Ferrand
Stormy Waters
Le capitaine André Laurent
The Gardener of Argenteuil
M. Martin dit « Le père Tulipe »
Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case
Commissioner Jules Maigret
Hi-Jack Highway
Jean Chape
The Upper Hand
Paul Berger dit Paulo les Diam's
Pasha
Comissaire Joss, le Pacha
Deadlier Than the Male
André Chatelin
The Baron of the Locks
Baron Jérôme Napoléon Antoine
The Magnificent Tramp
Joseph, Hugues Guillaume Boutier-Blainville dit : Archimède
Lady Killer
Lucien Bourrache, dit 'Gueule d'Amour'
The Lower Depths
Pepel Wasska
The Horse
Auguste Maroilleur
Maigret Sees Red
Commissaire Jules Maigret
Monsieur
The banker René Duchêne, alias Georges Baudin known as “Monsieur”
My American Uncle
Self (archive footage)
La Bandera
Pierre Gilieth
The Walls of Malapaga
Pierre Arrignon
A Monkey in Winter
Albert Quentin
The President
Emile Beaufort
The Truth About Bebe Donge
François Donge
The Case of Dr. Laurent
le docteur Laurent
Moontide
Bobo
Rue de Paris
Henri Neveu
Crime and Punishment
Commissaire Gallet
The Cat
Julien Bouin
Zouzou
Jean
Speaking of Murder
Louis Bertain/Louis le blond
They Were Five
Jean dit Jeannot
Air of Paris
Victor Le Garrec
Behold the Man
Ponce Pilate
Jury of One
Leguen
Martin Roumagnac
Martin Roumagnac
Victor
Victor
The Dominici Affair
Gaston Dominici
Blood to the Head
François Cardinaud
God's Thunder
Léandre Brassac
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
Self (archive footage)
Under the Sign of the Bull
Albert Raynal
The Impostor
Clément / Maurice Lafarge
Marie of the Port
Henri Chatelard
The Little Rebels
Julien Lamy
That Tender Age
Émile Malhouin
People of No Importance
Jean Viard
Le Tunnel
Mac Allan
Maria Chapdelaine
François Paradis
The Messenger
Nicolas Dange
Killer
Commissioner Le Guen
Their Last Night
Pierre Ruffin
Quand Jean devint Renoir
Self (archive footage)
The Black Flag Waves Over the Scow
Victor Ploubaz
The Night Is My Kingdom
Raymond Pinsard
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Rhine Virgin
Martin Schmidt, alias Jacques Ledru
House on the Waterfront
Commander Lequévic
Lilac
Martousse
The Darling of Paris
Bob
Gloria
Robert Nourry
Mireille Darc, la femme libre
Monsieur (archive footage)
The Moment of Truth
Dr Pierre Richard
Twelve Hours to Live
Carlo Bacchi
Happy Hearts
Charles
Mirror
Pierre Lussac
The Beautiful Sailor
Le capitaine
Varieté
Georges
Les lions
Everyone Has Their Chance
Marcel Grivot
Storms
il professore Antonio Sanna
Spécial cinéma
Self (archive footage)
Lino Ventura, la part intime
Self (archive footage)
Méphisto
Jacques Miral
Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau
Self (archive footage)
Jean Gabin, le dernier des géants
Self (archive footage)
High and Low
Charles Boulla
Adieu les beaux jours
Pierre Lavernay
Coral Reefs
Ted "Trott" Lennard
The Crowd Roars
Joe Greer
All That Is Not Worth Love
Jean Cordier
Fun in the Barracks
Fricot
Sacrée soirée
Self (archive footage)
Ohé! Les valises
Cinépanorama
Self
Jean Gabin, une âme française
Self (archive footage)
For One Night..!
Jean
L'Étoile de Valencia
Pedro Savedra
Jean Moncorgé, la face cachée de Jean Gabin
Self (archive footage)
V.I.P. Schaukel
Self