Brasseur, Pierre

(1905-1972)

   Actor. Born Pierre-Albert Espinasse in Paris, Pierre Brasseur studied drama at the Paris Conservatoire d'art dramatique and then went on to make his debut in the theater at the age of eighteen. His early years in theater were with an itinerant troupe, but he went on to join the Compagnie Renaud-Barrault, a more accomplished theatrical company.

   Brasseur made his screen debut in 1924 in Leonce Perret's Madame Sans-Gêne. It was a fairly respectable although not a starring role, reflective of a certain reputation in the theater. This debut gave Brasseur a footing in cinema, and he went on from there to make nearly one hundred films, working with directors as diverse as Jean Renoir, Marc Allégret, René Clair, Marcel Carné, Claude Autant-Lara, Christian-Jacque, and Philippe de Broca.

   In the early part of his career, Brasseur is probably best remembered for his work with Carné in two of his legendary films, Quai de brumes (1938) and Les Enfants du paradis (1945). Other noteworthy performances of the period were in Georges Lacombe's Café de Paris (1938) and André Cayatte's Les Amants de Vérone (1949).

   Among the films in which he appeared during this period are Yves Mirande's Papa sans le savoir (1931), Robert Siodmak's Le Sexe faible (1933), Maurice Cammage's Prête-moi ta femme (1936), Serge de Poligny's Claudine à l'école (1936), Carné's Les Portes de la nuit (1946), Marcel Pagnol's Le Schpountz (1938), Marcel Achard and Allégret's Les Deux timides (1938), Jean Grémillon's Lumière d'été (1938), and Pierre Montazel's Croisière pour l'inconnu (1947).

   In his later career, Brasseur found himself cast in various thrillers and crime films. Among these, probably the most interesting are Georges Franju's Les Yeux sans visage (1960) and Pierre Granier-Deferre's La Métamorphose des cloportes (1964). Other films in which he had roles include Christian-Jacque's Barbe-bleue (1951), Max Ophuls's Le Plaisir (1952), Sacha Guitry's Napoléon (1955), René Clair's La Porte des lilas (1957), Clément Duhour's La Vie à deux (1958), Henri Diamant-Berger's Messieurs les Ronds de cuir (1959), Philippe Agostini's Dialogues des Carmélites (1960), Claude Autant-Lara's Vive Henri IVvive l'amour (1961), de Broca's Le Roi de coeur (1966), and Jean-Paul Rappeneau's La Vie de château (1966).

   Brasseur acted all the way, more or less, up to his death. He made his last film, La Plus belle soirée de ma vie, with Ettore Scola in 1972. In fact, Brasseur died in Italy during the making of the film. He left to the world of cinema his son, Claude Brasseur, who is an accomplished actor in his own right, and his grandson, Alexandre Brasseur, who has also decided to continue the family business.