- Eddie Constantine
infobox actor
caption=Anna Karina and Eddie Constantine in
Jean-Luc Godard's "Alphaville"
birthname=Edward Constantinowsky
birthdate=birth date|1917|10|29
birthplace=Los Angeles, California
deathdate=death date and age|1993|2|25|1917|10|29
deathplace=Wiesbaden, Germany
occupation=Film actor ,singer Eddie Constantine (born Edward Constantinowsky in
Los Angeles, California ,October 29 ,1917 – diedWiesbaden, Germany ,February 25 ,1993 ) was an American-born Frenchactor andsinger who spent his career working inEurope .He became famous for a series of French
B movies in which he played secret agent Lemmy Caution and is now best known for playing the character in Jean-Luc Godard's philosophical science fiction film "Alphaville".A cult figure, Constantine also appeared in films by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder ,Lars von Trier , andMika Kaurismäki . He continued reprising the role of Lemmy Caution well into his 70s; his final appearance as the character was in Jean-Luc Godard's "Allemagne 90 neuf zéro " (1991).Biography
Constantine became a star in
France in the 1950s, most notably playing the part of the hard-boiled detective/secret agent Lemmy Caution (fromPeter Cheyney 's novels) in a series of French B-pictures, including "Cet homme est dangereux " (1953), "Lemmy pour les dames " (1961) and "À toi de faire ... mignonne " (1963). Typically, Constantine's character would be a suave-talking, seductive smooth guy, which he often played for laughs. He eventually became a French citizen and enjoyed great popularity in several European countries, including France and Germany, as well as Africa. He also recorded several successful songs.His most significant film was
Jean-Luc Godard 's "Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution " (1965), in which he reprised (to a more radical end) the role of Lemmy Caution. Constantine's box-office appeal in France waned in the mid-1960s, and he eventually relocated toGermany , where he worked as a character actor. Constantine claimed he never took his acting career seriously, as he considered himself to be a singer by trade. He took up the part of Lemmy for the last time in 1991, in Godard's experimental film "Allemagne 90 neuf zéro". His last notable film appearance was inLars Von Trier 's "Europa".Constantine died of a heart attack on February 25, 1993.
External links
*imdb name|id=0176061|name=Eddie Constantine
*amg name|2:14609Persondata
NAME= Constantine, Eddie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Constantinowsky, Edward
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Film actor ,singer
DATE OF BIRTH=1917-10-29
PLACE OF BIRTH=Los Angeles, California
DATE OF DEATH=1993-2-25
PLACE OF DEATH=Wiesbaden, Germany
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