- Charles Denner
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Charles Denner (29 May 1926 – 10 September 1995) was a French actor born to a Jewish family in Poland. During his 30-year career he worked with some of France's greatest directors of the time, including Louis Malle, Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, Costa-Gavras, Claude Lelouch and François Truffaut who gave him two of his most memorable roles, as Fergus in The Bride Wore Black (1968) and Bertrand Morane in The Man Who Loved Women (1977).
Contents
Early life
Denner was born in 1926 in the city of Tarnów in south-eastern Poland, before emigrating with his family to France at the age of four. During World War II, his family took refuge in Brive-la-Gaillarde, where they were helped by Rabbi David Feuerwerker. Passionate with theatre from his childhood, Denner became a student of Charles Dullin, a famous theatre teacher of his time, under whose guidance he remained until 1945. Another great personality of French theatre, Jean Vilar, impressed by Denner's performance at Les mamelles de Tirésias (The Breasts of Tiresias) called him four years after he left Vilar to join the Théâtre National Populaire (TNP). It was there that he gave some of his most early stage performances in plays such as Heinrich von Kleist's Prinz Friedrich von Homburg and Alfred de Musset's Lorenzaccio, among others.
Career
In 1955, director Yves Allégret offered Denner a small role in La Meilleure part (The Best Part), thus introducing him for the first time to cinema audiences. Two years later, in 1957, he secured another secondary role in Louis Malle's legendary Elevator to the Gallows, next to Jeanne Moreau, a co-performer of his from the days of the TNP; however, it was not until 1963 that Denner was offered his first leading role by Claude Chabrol in Landru, a film considered by many as his greatest on-screen performance. Despite his growing recognition on the big screen, the stage remained his true passion and the place where he gave his most memorable performances in plays like Molière's Les Fourberies de Scapin (Scapin's Schemings) and Brecht's Drums in the Night.
Death
On 10 September 1995 Denner died of cancer in Dreux, France.
Filmography
- Poisson d'avril (1954) by Gilles Grangier
- Les Hommes en blanc (1955) by Ralph Habib
- La Meilleure part (1956) by Yves Allégret
- Elevator to the Gallows (1958) by Louis Malle
- Les Perses (1961) by Jean Prat
- Loin de Rueil (1961) by Claude Barma
- Landru (1963) by Claude Chabrol
- Les Rustres (1963) by Jean Pignol
- Les Plus belles escroqueries du monde (1964) (segment "Le Grand escroc") by Jean-Luc Godard
- Pieds nickelés (1964) by Jean-Claude Chambon
- La Vie à l'envers (1964) by Alain Jessua
- Mata-Hari (1964) by Jean-Louis Richard
- Marie-Chantal contre le docteur Kha (1965) by Claude Chabrol
- Compartiment tueurs (1965) by Costa-Gavras
- YUL 871 (1966) by Jacques Godbout
- The Thief of Paris (1967) (Le voleur) by Louis Malle
- Le vieil homme et l'enfant (1967) by Claude Berri
- Héraclite l'obscur (1967) by Patrick Deval
- La Trêve (1968) by Claude Guillemot
- The Bride Wore Black (1968) by François Truffaut
- L' Idiot (1968) by André Barsacq
- Z (1969) by Costa-Gavras
- Le Corps de Diane (1969) by Jean-Louis Richard
- Le Voyou (1970) by Claude Lelouch
- Les Mariés de l'an II (1971) by Jean-Paul Rappeneau
- Les Assassins de l'ordre (1971) by Marcel Carné
- L' Aventure, c'est l'aventure (1972) by Claude Lelouch
- Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me (1972) by François Truffaut
- L' Héritier (1973) by Philippe Labro
- Un officier de police sans importance (1973) by Jean Larriaga
- Défense de savoir (1973) by Nadine Trintignant
- Les Gaspards (1974) by Pierre Tchernia
- Toute une vie (1974) by Claude Lelouch
- Peur sur la ville (1975) by Henri Verneuil
- Vous ne l'emporterez pas au paradis (1975) by François Dupont-Midi
- Si c'était à refaire (1976) by Claude Lelouch
- Mado (1976) by Claude Sautet
- La Première fois (1976) by Claude Berri
- The Man Who Loved Women (1977) by François Truffaut
- Kakemono hôtel (1978) by Franck Apprederis
- Robert et Robert (1978) by Claude Lelouch
- La Verdad sobre el caso Savolta (1980) by Antonio Drove
- Le Coeur à l'envers (1980) by Franck Apprederis
- La Sourde oreille (1980) by Michel Polac
- Non-Lieu (1981) by Bruno Gantillon
- Mille milliards de dollars (1982) by Henri Verneuil
- L' Honneur d'un capitaine (1982) by Pierre Schoendoerffer
- Rock 'n Torah (1983) by Marc-Andre Grynbaum
- Le Château faible (1983) by Jean Larriaga
- Stella (1983) by Laurent Heynemann
- Zacharius (1984) by Claude Grinberg
- L'Unique (1986) by Jérôme Diamant-Berger
- Golden Eighties (1986) by Chantal Akerman
External links
Categories:- 1926 births
- 1995 deaths
- French actors
- French Jews
- Cancer deaths in France
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