| Louis Jourdan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Louis Gendre 19 June 1921 Marseille, France |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1939–92 |
| Spouse | Berthe Frédérique "Quique" Jourdan (1946 – present); 1 child |
Louis Jourdan (born 19 June 1921)[1] is a French film actor. He is known for his roles in several Hollywood films, including The Paradine Case (1947), Gigi (1958), The Best of Everything (1959), and Octopussy (1983). His final film before his retirement was The Year Of The Comet in 1992.
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Jourdan was born as Louis Gendre in Marseille, France in 1921, the son of Yvonne (née Jourdan) and Henry Gendre, a hotel owner.[2] He was educated in France, Turkey, and Britain, and he studied acting at the École Dramatique. Jourdan made his film debut in 1939.
Following the Nazi German occupation of France during World War II, Jourdan continued to make motion pictures, but after refusing to participate in Nazi propaganda films, he joined the French Resistance. His father was arrested by the Gestapo.[3]
On 11 March 1946, Jourdan married Berthe Frédérique, with whom he had his only child, a son.
In 1947, Jourdan accepted an offer to appear in The Paradine Case, a drama directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Gregory Peck. In Hollywood, he became friends with several stars who shared his love of the game of croquet.
After acting in a number of American films, most notably in the romantic drama Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), Jourdan made his Broadway theater debut in the lead role in Billy Rose's drama, The Immoralist. He returned to Broadway for a short run in 1955, and also that year he made his American TV debut as Inspector Beaumont in the TV series Paris Precinct. In 1956, he appeared in the film The Swan along with Grace Kelly and Sir Alec Guinness, playing the role of "Professor Nicholas Agi".
During the 1950s, Jourdan acted in several major films, taking the male lead in The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful (1956) with Brigitte Bardot as the lead actress. However, he may be best remembered as the romantic lead with Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier in the film version of the novella by Colette, Gigi (1958). This film won nine Academy Awards, including the one for Best Picture. Jourdan co-starred with Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine in the musical Can-Can (1960).
In later years, Jourdan also appeared on television, including 1977's Count Dracula for the BBC and the 1978 Columbo episode Murder Under Glass. He later played Anton Arcane in the movie Swamp Thing (1982) and in its sequel The Return of Swamp Thing (1989).
During the 1970s, Jourdan recorded a series of spoken word albums of the Babar the Elephant books that were released by Caedmon Records. In 1983, Jourdan played the villainous Kamal Khan in the James Bond movie Octopussy. In 1984, he played the role of Pierre de Coubertin in The First Olympics: Athens 1896, a TV series about the 1896 Summer Olympics.
Jourdan's only child, his son Louis Henry Jourdan, died of a drug overdose in 1981 and was buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Jourdan has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6153 and 6445 Hollywood Boulevard.
He is retired and lives, at least part-time, with his wife of more than sixty years, Berthe Frédérique "Quique" Jourdan, in Vielle, the South of France. They resided in the Greater Los Angeles Area for many years. In 2010, Jourdan was awarded Légion d'Honneur in Los Angeles, which he received, accompanied by friends, including Sidney Poitier and Kirk Douglas.[4]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Le Corsaire | |||
| 1940 | Ecco la felicità | Fédor | ||
| 1940 | La Comédie du bonheur | Fédor | ||
| 1941 | Parade en sept nuits | Freddy, le clown | ||
| Her First Affair | Pierre Rougemont | |||
| 1942 | La Belle aventure | André d'Éguzon | ||
| L'Arlésienne | Frédéri | |||
| 1943 | Untel père et fils | Christian | (uncredited) | |
| 1944 | Les Petites du quai aux fleurs | Francis | ||
| 1945 | La Vie de Bohème | Rodolphe/Rodolfo | ||
| Félicie Nanteuil | Robert de Ligny | |||
| 1947 | The Paradine Case | André Latour, Paradine's Valet | ||
| 1948 | Letter from an Unknown Woman | Stefan Brand | ||
| No Minor Vices | Octavio Quaglini | |||
| 1949 | Madame Bovary | Rodolphe Boulanger | ||
| 1951 | Bird of Paradise | André Laurence | ||
| Anne of the Indies | Captain Pierre François La Rochelle | |||
| 1952 | The Happy Time | Uncle Desmond Bonnard | ||
| 1953 | Paris Precinct | Insp. Beaumont | TV (15 episodes, 1953–1955) | |
| Decameron Nights | Giovanni Boccaccio/Paganino/Giulio/Don Bertando | |||
| Rue de l'Estrapade | Henri Laurent | |||
| 1954 | Three Coins in the Fountain | Prince Dino di Cessi | ||
| 1956 | The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful | Michel | ||
| Julie | Lyle Benton | |||
| The Swan | Dr. Nicholas Agi | |||
| 1957 | Dangerous Exile | Duke Philippe de Beauvais | ||
| Escapade | Frank Raphaël | |||
| 1958 | Gigi | Gaston Lachaille | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
| 1959 | The Best of Everything | David Savage | ||
| 1960 | Can-Can | Philipe Forrestier | ||
| 1961 | The Count of Monte Cristo | Edmond Dantès / Comte de Monte Cristo | ||
| Le Vergini di Roma | Drusco | |||
| 1962 | Il disordine | Tom | aka Disorder | |
| 1963 | Irma la Douce | Narrator | ||
| Mathias Sandorf | Le comte Mathias Sandorf | |||
| The V.I.P.s | Marc Champselle | |||
| 1966 | Les Sultans | Laurent | ||
| Made in Paris | Marc Fontaine | |||
| 1967 | Cervantes | Cardinal Acquaviva | ||
| Peau d'espion | Charles Beaulieu | aka To Commit a Murder | ||
| 1968 | To Die in Paris | Colonel Bertine Westrex | TV | |
| A Flea in Her Ear | Henri Tournel | |||
| 1969 | Fear No Evil | David Sorell | TV | |
| Run a Crooked Mile | Richard Stuart | TV | ||
| 1970 | Ritual of Evil | David Sorell | TV | |
| 1973 | The Great American Beauty Contest | Ralph Dupree | TV | |
| 1975 | Piange Il Telefono | |||
| 1976 | L'hippopotamours | Le camionneur | ||
| 1977 | Count Dracula | Count Dracula | TV | |
| The Man in the Iron Mask | D'Artagnan | TV | ||
| Plus ça va, moins ça va | Paul Tango | |||
| 1978 | Columbo: Murder Under Glass | Paul Gerard | TV | |
| Silver Bears | Prince di Siracusa | |||
| 1979 | The French Atlantic Affair | Captain Charles Girodt | TV | |
| 1982 | Gamble on Love | |||
| Bayou Romance | Host | (uncredited) | ||
| Escape to Love | ||||
| Swamp Thing | Dr. Anton Arcane | |||
| 1983 | Double Deal | Peter Sterling | ||
| Octopussy | Kamal Khan | |||
| 1984 | Cover Up | George LeMare | TV | |
| 1984 | The First Olympics: Athens, 1896 | Pierre de Coubertin | TV | |
| 1986 | Beverly Hills Madam | Douglas Corbin | TV | |
| 1987 | Escuadrón | Kassar | ||
| Grand Larceny | Charles Grand | |||
| 1989 | The Return of Swamp Thing | Dr. Anton Arcane | ||
| 1992 | Year of the Comet | Philippe |