Brialy, Jean-Claude

(1933- )

   Actor, director, and screenwriter. Jean-Claude Brialy was born in Aumale, Algeria, the son of a French colonel. He later entered military service himself, where he worked for the Service cinématographique des Armées. While performing his service he met the cinematographer and director Pierre Lhomme, who subsequently introduced him to the writers at Cahiers du cinéma, many of whom went on to become directors of the Nouvelle Vague or New Wave. Brialy's primary introduction to cinema came, however, when he appeared in Lhomme's short, Paris mon copain (1954). He became a star of early New Wave shorts, the first among them being Eric Rohmer's La sonate à Kreutzer (1956). He also acted in Jacques Rivette's Le coup du berger (1956), Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut's Une histoire d'eau (1957), and Godard's Tous les garçons s'appellent Patrick (1959). At about the same time, he appeared in Jacques Pinoteau's feature-length film, L'Ami de la famille (1957).

   Brialy's career gained momentum when he was cast in Claude Chabrol's landmark films Le Beau Serge (1958) and Les Cousins (1959). He went on to deliver acclaimed performances in Godard's Une femme est une femme (1961) and Truffaut's La Mariée était en noir (1967). Rohmer's Le Genou de Claire (1970) made Brialy, like Jean-Paul Belmondo, a masculine icon of the New Wave.

   Brialy later managed to build a solid cinema career outside of the New Wave. He has appeared in nearly two hundred films, including Pierre Kast's Le Bel Age (1959), Roberto Rossellini's Vanina Vanini (1961), Roger Vadim's Un château en Suède (1963), Edouard Molinaro's Arsène Lupin contre Arsène Lupin (1962) and La Chasse à l'homme (1964), Marc Allégret's Le Bal du compte d'Orgel (1970), Philippe de Broca's Un monsieur de compagnie (1964) and Julie pot de colle (1977), and Claude Miller's Mortelle randonnée (1982) and L'Effrontée (1986). In 1988, he won a César for Best Supporting Actor in André Téchiné's Les Innocents.

   Brialy also began directing in the 1970s and 1980s. His first film, Eglantine (1971), was a semi-autobiographical film based on the relationship with his grandmother. He also directed Les volets clos (1973), L'oiseau rare (1973), Un amour de pluie (1974), Les malheurs de Sophie (1981), and Un bon petit diable (1983). Brialy developed an energetic television and stage presence as well. He has been director of the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens. He appeared in the television film Anna (1967) alongside Anna Karina. He acted in several French television series in the 1990s and beyond, including Les Rois Maudits (2005). In 1995, he was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival.