Demy, Jacques

(1931-1990)

   Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Jacques Demy got his start in film assisting director Georges Rouquier. He went on to direct his first short, Les sabotiers du Val de Loire (1955), shortly thereafter. He gained acclaim with his first feature film, Lola (1961), which was followed by the classic La Baie des anges (1963), a rather dark film about compulsive gambling on the sunny French Riviera. Demy is most famous for his musicals, most notably Les parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) and Les Demoi-selles de Rochefort (1967), both of which helped to launch the career of megastar Catherine Denueve. Les parapluies de Cherbourg won the Golden Palm at Cannes and the Prix Louis-Delluc. It was restored by his wife, the ground-breaking director Agnès Varda. Demy's musical Une chambre en ville (1982) also received César nominations for Best Director and Best Film.

   Demy's other films include The Model Shop (1969), Peau d'ane (1970), The Pied Piper (1972), L'événement le plus important depuis que l'homme a marché sur la lune (1973), Lady Oscar (1979), Parking (1985), and the animated film La table tournante (1987), codirected with Paul Grimault. His last musical was Trois places sur le 26 (1988). Varda's films Jacquot de Nantes (1991) and L'Univers de Jacques Demy (1995) are both about Demy.