Deray, Jacques

(1929-2003)

   Actor, director, and screenwriter. Jacques Deray was born Jacques Deray-Desrayaud. While in his early teens, Deray studied drama under René Simon in Paris. He acted in the theater and played a small part in Jean Boyer's Le Trou normand (1952). In the 1950s, he was an assistant director to filmmakers such as Luis Bunuel, Jules Dassin, and Gilles Grangier. He assisted in a number of crime dramas featuring Lino Ventura, who would later become one of Deray's preferred leads, next to Alain Delon.

   In 1960, Deray directed his first film, Le Gigolo, an interesting title given the playboy image of the stars he would employ most frequently. He ultimately became known for his slick gangster films, detective films, and crime dramas, which were often based on novels by Robin Cook, Jean-Patrick Manchette, or Georges Simenon. His 1960s films, Du rififi à Tokyo (1962), Symphonie pour un massacre (1963), Par un beau matin d'été (1965), and L'Homme deMarrakesh (1966), all reflect this interest in crime. The popularity of Deray's films was enhanced by his collaboration with some of France's biggest actors, most notably Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Delon, and Ventura.

   In the 1960s, Deray directed Avec la peau des autres (1966), La piscine (1969), and Borsalino (1970), the last pairing masculine icons Belmondo and Delon. Many of Deray's 1970s films featured the superstar Delon. Examples include Doucement les basses (1971), Borsalino & Co. (1974), Flic story (1975), and Le gang (1977). Delon was not the only actor Deray worked with during the decade. Jean-Louis Trintignant starred in Deray's 1972 film, Un homme est mort, and Ventura starred in his 1978 Un papillon sur l'épaule. Throughout his career, however, Deray continued to favor Delon, who starred in Trois hommes à abbatre (1980), Un crime (1993), and Deray's last big-screen film, the thriller L'ours enpelouche (1994). Deray collaborated again with Belmondo in Le marginal (1983) and Le solitaire (1987).

   In 1981, Deray served as president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. His On ne meure que deux fois, starring Michel Serrault, won the Jury Prize at the Montreal World Film Festival in 1985. He directed romances, too, such as the 1987Maladie d'amour, featuring Nastassja Kinski and a more fragile leading man, Jean-Hughes Anglade. In the 1990s, he worked with the French thriller icon, actor Yves Montand, on the spy film Netchaïev est de retour (1991). After L'ours en pelouche, Deray turned to directing for television.