Jean-Pierre Cassel
| Jean-Pierre Cassel | |
|---|---|
 Jean-Pierre Cassel at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. | |
| Born |
Jean-Pierre Crochon 27 October 1932 13th Arrondissement, Paris, France |
| Died |
19 April 2007 (aged 74) Paris, France |
| Spouse(s) |
Sabine Litique (1966–1980) (divorced)[1] |
| Children |
Vincent Cassel Mathias Cassel Cécile Cassel |
| Parent(s) |
Georges Crochon Louise-Marguerite Fabrègue |
Jean-Pierre Cassel (27 October 1932 – 19 April 2007) was a French actor.
Life and career
Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite (née Fabrègue), an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor.[2] Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road. Then Cassel gained prominence in the late 1950s as a hero in comedies by Philippe de Broca such as Male Companion and through his role as 'Jean François Jardie' in the famous French resistance piece L' Armée des ombres .
During the 1960s and 1970s he worked with Claude Chabrol (The Breach), Luis Buñuel (as Stéphane Audran's husband in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 1972), Ken Annakin (as Frenchman in Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 1965), Gérard Brach (as Claude Jade's lover in The Boat on the Grass), Richard Lester (as Louis XIII of France in The Three Musketeers 1973 and its sequel The Four Musketeers 1974), Sidney Lumet (as Pierre in Murder on the Orient Express), Joseph Losey (with Isabelle Huppert in The Trout). He also made a memorable appearance in Oh! What a Lovely War as a French military officer singing 'Belgium put the Kibosh on the Kaiser'. In later years he appeared in Robert Altman's Prêt-à-Porter (1994) and also as Dr. Paul Gachet for Vincent & Theo (1990).
In 2006, at the age of 74, he climbed back on stage for a retrospective of Serge Gainsbourg Jean-Pierre Cassel chante et danse Gainsbourg Suite. This homage to an old friend (he knew Gainsbourg in the 1950s) featured various songs of the famous French composer among which three unpublished songs named "Top à Cassel" – "Cliquediclac", "Ouh ! Là là là là", and "Viva la pizza" – all of which were intended for a television show aired in 1964.
In 2007, Cassel appeared in dual roles (as Père Lucien and the Lourdes souvenir vendor) in Julian Schnabel's film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
He's the father of Vincent Cassel, Mathias Cassel (also known as Rockin' Squat, leader of the French rap crew Assassin) and Cécile Cassel.
Selected filmography
- La Famille Anodin (TV series) (1956)
- The Love Game (1960, directed by Philippe de Broca)
- Candide ou l'optimisme au XXe siècle (1960, directed by Norbert Carbonnaux)
- Le Farceur (1960, directed by Philippe de Broca)
- Five Day Lover (1961, directed by Philippe de Broca)
- Goodbye Again (1961, directed by Anatole Litvak) (Cameo)
- Napoléon II l'Aiglon (1961, directed by Claude Boissol)
- La Gamberge (1962, directed by Norbert Carbonnaux)
- The Elusive Corporal (1962, directed by Jean Renoir)
- Arsène Lupin contre Arsène Lupin (1962, directed by Édouard Molinaro)
- Nunca pasa nada (1963, directed by Juan Antonio Bardem)
- High Infidelity (1964) (Anthology film)
- Les plus belles escroqueries du monde (1964) (Anthology film)
- Cyrano et d'Artagnan (1964, directed by Abel Gance)
- Male Companion (1964, directed by Philippe de Broca)
- Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965, directed by Ken Annakin)
- The Lace Wars (1965, directed by René Clair)
- Is Paris Burning? (1966, directed by René Clément)
- The Killing Game (1967, directed by Alain Jessua)
- Anyone Can Play (1968, directed by Luigi Zampa)
- Oh! What a Lovely War (1969, directed by Richard Attenborough)
- Army of Shadows (1969, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville)
- L'Ours et la Poupée (1970, directed by Michel Deville)
- The Breach (1970, directed by Claude Chabrol)
- The Boat on the Grass (1971, directed by Gérard Brach)
- Malpertuis (1971, directed by Harry Kümel)
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, directed by Luis Buñuel)
- Baxter! (1973, directed by Lionel Jeffries)
- The Three Musketeers (1973, directed by Richard Lester)
- Le Mouton enragé (1974, directed by Michel Deville)
- The Four Musketeers (1974, directed by Richard Lester)
- Murder on the Orient Express (1974, directed by Sidney Lumet)
- That Lucky Touch (1975, directed by Christopher Miles)
- Docteur Françoise Gailland (1976, directed by Jean-Louis Bertucelli)
- Scrambled Eggs (1976, directed by Joël Santoni)
- The Twist (1976, directed by Claude Chabrol)
- Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978, directed by Ted Kotcheff)
- Les Rendez-vous d'Anna (1978, directed by Chantal Akerman)
- From Hell to Victory (1979, directed by Umberto Lenzi)
- 5% de risque (1980, directed by Jean Pourtalé)
- Alice (1982, directed by Jacek Bromski and Jerzy Gruza)
- Ehrengard (1982, directed by Emidio Greco)
- The Trout (1982, directed by Joseph Losey)
- Tranches de vie (1985, directed by François Leterrier)
- The Return of the Musketeers (1989, directed by Richard Lester)
- Mister Frost (1990, directed by Philippe Setbon)
- Vincent & Theo (1990, directed by Robert Altman)
- The Maid (1991, directed by Ian Toynton)
- The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991, directed by Ben Lewin)
- Prêt-à-Porter (1994, directed by Robert Altman)
- La Cérémonie (1995, directed by Claude Chabrol)
- Tatort (1995, German TV-series, Episode: "Camerone")
- Sade (2000, directed by Benoît Jacquot)
- The Crimson Rivers (2000, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz)
- Michel Vaillant (2003, directed by Louis-Pascal Couvelaire)
- Narco (2004, directed by Tristan Aurouet and Gilles Lellouche)
- Congorama (2006, directed by Philippe Falardeau)
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007, directed by Julian Schnabel)
- Vous êtes de la police ? (2007, directed by Romuald Beugnon)
- J'aurais voulu être un Danseur (2007, directed by Alain Berliner)
- Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008, directed by Thomas Langmann and Frédéric Forestier)
