Name
Georges Méliès
Known For
Directing
Birthday
1861-12-08
Deathday
1938-01-21 (77 years old)
Place of Birth
Paris, France
Biography
Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. One of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, tracking shots, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work, Méliès pioneered effects that would define cinematic special effects for decades to come. A prolific innovator in the use of special effects, Méliès accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, a method of creating seamless disappearing and/or appearing effects used throughout both films and television for decades to come. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician".
Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896).
In early 1909 Méliès stopped making films to protest Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Parents Company monopoly, and presided over the first meeting of the International Filmmakers Congress in Paris. Further financial hardships created by his opposition to Edison and diminishing influence, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he made a meager living as a candy and toy salesma in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers. Although he was recognized for his contributions in cinema, Méliès spent most of his later years in poverty before being accepted into La Maison du Retraite du Cinéma, the film industry's retirement home in Orly.
Known For
7.886
Professor Barbenfouillis and five of his colleagues from the Academy of Astronomy travel t...
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A man tries to get a good night's sleep, but is disturbed by a giant spider that leaps ont...
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An account of the extraordinary life of film pioneer Georges Méliès (1861-1938) and the ...
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A divinely inspired peasant woman becomes an army captain for France and then is martyred ...
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The leader of a marching band demonstrates an unusual way of writing music....
This picture depicts the eruption of the volcano by which over 30,000 souls were hurled in...
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A wizard sleeps at a table in his well-appointed sitting room. From a drawer in the table,...
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A chemist carries out a bizarre experiment with his own head....
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During an orgy, Emperor Justinian orders three people to be torched alive....
- 1902 A Trip to the Moon as Professeur Barbenfouillis / La Lune
- 1904 The Impossible Voyage as Mabouloff
- 1904 The Cook in Trouble
- 1979 Cinematógrafo 1900 as Self (archive footage)
- 2014 El hombre que quiso ser Segundo as Self (archive footage)
- 1904 The Untamable Whiskers as Man with whiskers
- 1905 The Living Playing Cards as The Magician
- 1903 The Infernal Cauldron as Devil
- 1900 The One-Man Band as All the members of the orchestra
- 1898 The Four Troublesome Heads as Фокусник
- 1899 A Midnight Episode as The Sleeping Man (uncredited)
- 1900 Joan of Arc as Père de Jeanne
- 1897 Faust and Marguerite as Méphistophélès
- 1896 A Terrible Night as L'homme qui essaie de dormir
- 1897 Le château hanté as Mephisto
- 1896 The Vanishing Lady as Фокусник
- 1900 The Astronomer's Dream as Астроном
- 1908 The Indian Sorcerer as The Fakir
- 1899 Cinderella as le gnome de la pendule / le suisse à l'entrée de l'église
- 1912 The Conquest of the Pole as Le professeur Mabouloff
- 1904 The Wandering Jew
- 1896 Le manoir du diable as Мефістофель
- 2012 The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès as Self (archive footage)
- 1907 Delirium in a Studio as Ali Barbouyou
- 1906 A Desperate Crime
- 1904 The Wonderful Living Fan
- 1905 The Black Imp
- 1903 The Monster as The priest
- 1898 The Temptation of St. Anthony as Saint Antoine
- 1905 The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
- 1909 The Diabolic Tenant as Le locataire diabolique
- 1901 The Man with the Rubber Head as Аптекар / Гумова голова
- 1899 The Devil in a Convent as The Devil
- 1904 The Mermaid
- 1908 Long Distance Wireless Photography
- 1899 An Up-to-Date Conjurer as Magician
- 1906 The Merry Frolics of Satan as Satan
- 1900 The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match as Wrestler
- 1906 The Hilarious Posters as The Bill Poster
- 1899 The Dreyfus Affair as Fernand Labori
- 1903 The Infernal Cake-Walk as Devil
- 1904 The Clockmaker's Dream
- 1903 The Melomaniac
- 1899 Summoning the Spirits
- 1903 Extraordinary Illusions
- 1904 Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
- 1899 The Human Pyramid
- 1901 Hat of Many Surprises
- 1900 Going to Bed Under Difficulties as The Man
- 1900 Up-to-Date Spiritualism as Le comique excentrique
- 1903 Jupiter's Thunderballs
- 1903 The Terrible Turkish Executioner as The Executioner
- 1897 The Bewitched Inn as The Traveler
- 1909 Whimsical Illusions as The Magician
- 1903 Apparitions
- 1903 The Ballet Master's Dream
- 1903 Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
- 1902 The Prolific Magical Egg
- 1911 The Diabolical Church Window
- 1907 Satan in Prison as Satan
- 2021 Méliès: Tales of Terror as The Melomaniac
- 1909 The Doctor's Secret
- 1901 The Dwarf and the Giant
- 1903 The Oracle of Delphi
- 1903 A Moonlight Serenade
- 1901 The Magician's Cavern
- 1905 A Mesmerian Experiment
- 1906 The Mysterious Retort
- 1896 Playing Cards as Un joueur de cartes
- 1902 An Impossible Balancing Feat as The Magician
- 1904 Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
- 1901 Bluebeard as Barbe-bleue
- 1906 The Witch as The Fairy Carabosse
- 1903 Faust in the Underworld as Mephistopholes
- 1902 The Treasures of Satan
- 1901 The Devil and the Statue
- 1899 The Mysterious Knight as Le chevalier mystère
- 1900 The Artist and the Dummy as Artiste
- 1900 The Christmas Dream as Beggar
- 1907 Good Glue Sticks
- 1903 The Mystical Flame
- 1904 The Fugitive Apparitions
- 1929 Gala Méliès as Himself
- 1903 The Kingdom of the Fairies as Принц Бель-Азор
- 1907 The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon as Professor of Astronomy
- 1901 The Brahmin and the Butterfly as The brahmin
- 1901 The Temple of the Sun
- 1901 A Maiden's Paradise as The Wizard
- 1906 A Roadside Inn as Drunk Traveler
- 1912 The Knight of the Snow as Devil
- 1903 The Magic Lantern
- 1907 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- 1898 Pygmalion and Galatea as Pygmalion
- 1903 Alcofribas, The Master Magician
- 1896 A Nightmare as Man
- 1907 Tunneling the English Channel
- 1897 Naval Combat in Greece as The Captain
- 1939 Violons d'Ingres as Himself (archive footage)
- 2011 The Extraordinary Voyage as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
- 1899 The Mysterious Portrait as L'illusioniste
- 1904 The Devilish Plank
- 1904 Tit for Tat
- 1896 Conjuring as Himself
- 1904 The Christmas Angel as The Rag-and-Bone Man / Beggar on Crutches / Coal Seller
- 1902 Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants as Gulliver
- 1902 The Human Fly as The Hindoo Magician
- 1901 The Prince of Magicians as Excelsior
- 1904 A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself as The Magician / The Double
- 1899 Cleopatra's Tomb as un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
- 1905 Rip's Dream as Rip Van Winkle
- 1902 Robinson Crusoe as Robinson Crusoé
- 1905 The Palace of the Arabian Nights as The Sorcerer Khalafar (uncredited)
- 1903 The Mysterious Box
- 1900 The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy as Prince
- 1908 Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler as The Roman
- 1901 The Triple Headed Lady
- 1899 The Pillar of Fire
- 2021 The Méliès Mystery as Self (archive footage)
- 1897 Between Calais and Dover as The Man in the Checked Suit
- 1898 The Magician as Le Sculpteur
- 1898 The Famous Box Trick as The Magician
- 1900 The Magic Book as The Magician
- 1903 Misfortune Never Comes Alone as Lamplighter
- 1903 The Marvellous Wreath
- 1900 A Fantastical Meal as The Man
- 1900 The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head as Conjurer
- 1904 The Firefall as Satan
- 1908 The Fortune Favors the Brave as Gnome
- 1902 Sure Cure for Indigestion as Doctor
- 2024 Alcoléa & cie Documentary
- 1905 The Lilliputian Minuet
- 1903 The Enchanted Basket
- 1903 Beelzebub's Daughters
- 1905 Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus as Ulysses (uncredited)
- 1908 Les infortunes des patineurs as Passerby
- 1908 French Cops Learning English as The Police Inspector
- 1908 Not Guilty as The Old Farmer
- 1907 The King and the Jester as Tribolet
- 1997 The Magic of Méliès as Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
- 1907 The Good Luck of a 'Souse' as Le commissaire de police
- 1908 The New Lord of the Village as Le fantôme de César
- 1908 In the Barber Shop
- 1897 Dancing in a Harem
- 1897 A Funny Mahometan as The Funny Mahometan
- 1898 The Bridegroom's Dilemma as Le marié
- 2025 Satans Sacrilegious Saga as Devil
- 1897 Gugusse and the Automaton as Gugusse
- 1904 Faust and Marguerite as Méphistophélès
- 1904 The Imperceptible Transmutations as Prince
- Soon Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913) as Various Roles
- 1978 Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
