Mouloudji

(1922-1994)

   Actor. Born in Paris to an Algerian Kabyle father and a French mother, Marcel Mouloudji grew up in a working-class household. His mother was an alcoholic who had to be institutionalized, and Mouloudji was raised by his father. Through his father's connections to the Communist Party, Mouloudji was introduced to the Groupe Octobre, and it was through that group that he came to the theater and then the cinema.

   Mouloudji began his career on the stage, working with Jacques Prévert and Jean-Louis Barrault, whom he had met through the Groupe Octobre. He got his first film role in 1936, when Prévert introduced him to Marcel Carné, who then cast him in his film Jenny (1936). That same year, Mouloudji also appeared in René Guissart's Ménilmontant (1936) and Jacques Daroy's La Guerre des gosses (1936). He went on to become an established supporting actor, appearing in more than thirty films during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. He worked frequently with director Christian-Jacque, appearing in A Venise, une nuit (1937), Les Disparus de Saint-Agil (1938), Le Grand élan (1939), L'Enfer des anges (1941), Premier bal (1941), and Boule de suif (1945). Probably his best-known role is in André Cayatte's Nous sommes tous des assassins (1952). He also worked with Cayatte on the film Justice est faite (1950).

   Among the other films in which Mouloudji appeared are Alexandre Ryder's Mirages (1937), Serge de Poligny's Claudine à l'école (1937), Henri Decoin's Les Inconnus dans la maison (1942), Jean Dréville's LesRoquevillard(1943) and Les Cadets de l'océan (1945), André Berthomieu's Ange de la nuit (1944), Alexander Esway's Le Batallion du ciel (1947), Jean Delannoy's Les Jeux sont faits (1947), Henri Calef's Bagarres (1948) and Les Eaux troubles (1949), Henri Diamant-Berger's La Maternelle (1949), Sacha Guitry's La Vie d'un honnête homme (1953), Maurice de Canonge's Boum sur Paris (1954), Decoin, Delannoy, and Ralph Habib's Les Secrets d'alcove (1954), Pierre Billon's Jusqu'au dernier (1957), and Pierre Chenal's Rafles sur la ville (1958). Like other actors such as Marcel Dalio, Mouloudji's origins likely kept him from becoming a more prominent actor. He was often typecast as the Jew or the criminal. He was a talented actor, and in another era he might have had lead roles.

   In addition to acting, Mouloudji was also a talented singer. Although he first became interested in singing during the Occupation, when forced to flee to the Zone Libre in the South of France he did not establish himself in the field until the 1950s. He wrote and recorded numerous songs and became quite successful. In 1980, a performance of him singing at the Olympia was broadcast on French television. Although he did not appear in film after 1960, Mouloudji did continue to act in the theater. He is the father of actress and singer Annabelle Mouloudji.