Name
Jean Gabin
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1904-05-17
Deathday
1976-11-15 (72 years old)
Place of Birth
Paris, France
Biography
Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé (born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé), known as Jean Gabin (17 May 1904 – 15 November 1976), was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films, including Pépé le Moko (1937), La grande illusion (1937), Le Quai des brumes (1938), La bête humaine (1938), Le jour se lève (1939), and Le plaisir (1952). During his career, he twice won the Silver Bear for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival, respectively. Gabin was made a member of the Légion d'honneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema.
Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe owner and cabaret entertainer whose stage name was Gabin, which is a first name in French. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise (now Val-d'Oise) département, about 22 mi (35 km) north of Paris. He attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Gabin left school early, and worked as a laborer until the age of 19 when he entered show business with a bit part in a Folies Bergère production. He continued performing in a variety of minor roles before going into the military.
After completing his military service in the Fusiliers marins, he returned to the entertainment business, working under the stage name of Jean Gabin at whatever was offered in the Parisian music halls and operettas, imitating the singing style of Maurice Chevalier, which was the rage at the time. He was part of a troupe that toured South America, and upon returning to France found work at the Moulin Rouge. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928.
Two years later Gabin made the transition to sound films in a 1930 Pathé Frères production, Chacun sa chance. Playing secondary roles, he made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. But he only gained real recognition for his performance in Maria Chapdelaine, a 1934 production directed by Julien Duvivier. He was then cast as a romantic hero in the 1936 war drama La Bandera; this second Duvivier-directed film established him as a major star. The next year he teamed up with Duvivier again in the highly successful Pépé le Moko. Its popularity brought Gabin international recognition. That same year he starred in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, an antiwar film that ran at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. This was followed by another of Renoir's major works, La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast), a film noir tragedy based on the novel by Émile Zola and starring Gabin and Simone Simon, as well as Le Quai Des Brumes (Port of Shadows), one of director Marcel Carné's classics of poetic realism. His rugged charisma could be compared with Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.
He divorced his second wife in 1939. ...
Source: Article "Jean Gabin" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Known For
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- 1937 Grand Illusion as Lieutenant Maréchal
- 1969 The Sicilian Clan as Vittorio Manalese
- 1973 Two Men in Town as Germain Cazeneuve
- 1974 Jury of One as Leguen
- 1958 Les Misérables as Jean Valjean / Champmathieu
- 1966 The Gardener of Argenteuil as M. Martin dit « Le père Tulipe »
- 1972 Killer as Commissioner Le Guen
- 1968 The Tattoo as Comte Enguerand de Montignac,alias « Legrain »
- 1963 Any Number Can Win as Charles
- 1971 The Cat as Julien Bouin
- 1959 The Magnificent Tramp as Joseph, Hugues Guillaume Boutier-Blainville dit : Archimède
- 1937 Pépé le Moko as Pépé le Moko
- 1939 Daybreak as François
- 1964 Monsieur as Monsieur
- 1960 The Old Guard as Jean-Marie Pejat, bicycle repairer
- 1962 A Monkey in Winter as Albert Quentin
- 1954 Touchez Pas au Grisbi as Max dit Max le Menteur
- 1938 La Bête Humaine as Lantier
- 1942 Moontide as Bobo
- 1958 The Possessors as Noël Schoudler, le patriarche financier
- 1955 Napoleon as Marshal Jean Lannes
- 1956 Crime and Punishment as Commissaire Gallet
- 1952 Le Plaisir as Joseph Rivet
- 1954 Air of Paris as Victor Le Garrec
- 1958 Maigret Sets a Trap as Commissioner Jules Maigret
- 1962 The Gentleman from Epsom as Richard Briand-Charmery
- 1952 The Truth About Bebe Donge as François Donge
- 1955 Razzia as Henri Ferré dit 'Le Nantais'
- 1955 French Cancan as Henri Danglard
- 2011 Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde as Self (archive footage)
- 1933 High and Low as Charles Boulla
- 1936 The Lower Depths as Pepel Wasska
- 1932 Lilac as Martousse
- 1938 Port of Shadows as Jean
- 1941 Stormy Waters as Le capitaine André Laurent
- 1931 The Darling of Paris as Bob
- 1958 Love Is My Profession as André Gobillot
- 2010 Jean Moncorgé, la face cachée de Jean Gabin as Self (archive footage)
- 1949 The Walls of Malapaga as Pierre Arrignon
- 1970 The Horse as Auguste Maroilleur
- 1930 Everyone Has Their Chance as Marcel Grivot
- 1955 Hi-Jack Highway as Jean Chape
- 1936 La Belle Équipe as Jean dit Jeannot
- 1950 Marie of the Port as Henri Chatelard
- 1935 Golgotha as Ponce Pilate
- 2015 Jean Gabin, le dernier des géants as Self (archive footage)
- 1956 La Traversée de Paris as Grandgil, artist painter
- 1952 The Moment of Truth as Dr Pierre Richard
- 1935 La Bandera as Pierre Gilieth
- 1968 Pasha as Comissaire Joss, le Pacha
- 1961 The President as Émile Beaufort
- 1944 The Impostor as Clément / Maurice Lafarge
- 1953 Their Last Night as Pierre Ruffin
- 1956 Blood to the Head as François Cardinaud
- 1959 Rue de Paris as Henri Neveu
- 1973 The Dominici Affair as Gaston Dominici
- 2018 The Image Book as (archive footage)
- 1953 Rhine Virgin as Martin Schmidt, alias Jacques Ledru
- 1964 That Tender Age as Émile Malhouin
- 1958 The Night Affair as Georges Vallois
- 1963 Maigret Sees Red as Commissioner Jules Maigret
- 1965 God's Thunder as Léandre Brassac
- 1966 The Upper Hand as Paul Berger dit Paulo les Diam's
- 1956 Deadlier Than the Male as André Chatelin
- 1969 Under the Sign of the Bull as Albert Raynal
- 1961 The Counterfeiters of Paris as Ferdinand Maréchal, aka 'le Dabe'
- 1955 The Little Rebels as Julien Lamy
- 1967 Action Man as Denis Ferrand
- 1957 The Case of Dr. Laurent as le docteur Laurent
- 1956 People of No Importance as Jean Viard
- 1951 The Night Is My Kingdom as Raymond Pinsard
- 1957 Speaking of Murder as Louis Bertain/Louis le blond
- 1960 The Baron of the Locks as Baron Jérôme Napoléon Antoine
- 1937 Lady Killer as Lucien Bourrache, dit 'Gueule d'Amour'
- 1932 Fun in the Barracks as Fricot
- 1955 House on the Waterfront as Commander Lequévic
- 1933 Le Tunnel as Mac Allan
- 1939 Coral Reefs as Ted "Trott" Lennard
- 1946 Martin Roumagnac as Martin Roumagnac
- 1934 Maria Chapdelaine as François Paradis
- 1971 The Black Flag Waves Over the Scow as Victor Ploubaz
- 1953 Storms as il professore Antonio Sanna
- 1951 Victor as Victor
- 1950 Twelve Hours to Live as Carlo Bacchi
- 1947 Mirror as Pierre Lussac
- 1937 The Messenger as Nicolas Dange
- 1932 For One Night..! as Jean
- 1931 All That Is Not Worth Love as Jean Cordier
- 1931 Méphisto as Jacques Miral
- 1932 The Crowd Roars as Joe Greer
- 1932 The Beautiful Sailor as Le capitaine
- 1931 Gloria as Robert Nourry
- 1932 Happy Hearts as Charles
- 1933 L'Étoile de Valencia as Pedro Savedra
- 1933 Goodbye Beautiful Days as Pierre Lavernay
- 1928 Ohé! Les valises
- 1928 Les lions
- 1976 Holy Year as Max Lambert
- 2019 Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau as Self (archive footage)
- 1934 Zouzou as Jean
- 1959 Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case as Commissioner Jules Maigret
- 1935 Varieté as Georges
- 2002 Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2018 Lino Ventura, la part intime as Self (archive footage)
- 2015 Jean Gabin, une âme française as Self (archive footage)
- 2018 Mireille Darc, la femme libre as Monsieur (archive footage)
- 2017 Quand Jean devint Renoir as Self (archive footage)
- 2002 Michel Audiard et le mystère du triangle des Bermudes as Self (archive footage)
- 2022 Belmondo: The Incorrigible
- 2012 The Bardot mystery
- 2024 Marlene Dietrich: Home Movies as Self
- Soon Jean Gabin - La guerre, c'est pas du cinéma ! as Self (archive) - subject, actor
- 1971 V.I.P. Schaukel ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1974 Spécial cinéma ( 2 episodes ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1978 Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1956 Cinépanorama ( 5 episodes ) as Self
- 2022 The Century of Icons ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1987 Sacrée soirée ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1976 Cérémonie des César ( 1 episode ) as Self - President
