
Jean Gabin
Born May 17, 1904 · Paris, France
Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé (born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé), known as Jean Gabin (17 May 1904 – 15 November 1976), was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films, including Pépé le Moko (1937), La grande illusion (1937), Le Quai des brumes (1938), La bête humaine (1938), Le jour se lève (1939), and Le plaisir (1952). During his career, he twice won the Silver Bear for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival, respectively. Gabin was made a member of the Légion d'honneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema. Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe owner and cabaret entertainer whose stage name was Gabin, which is a first name in French. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise (now Val-d'Oise) département, about 22 mi (35 km) north of Paris. He attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Gabin left school early, and worked as a laborer until the age of 19 when he entered show business with a bit part in a Folies Bergère production. He continued performing in a variety of minor roles before going into the military. After completing his military service in the Fusiliers marins, he returned to the entertainment business, working under the stage name of Jean Gabin at whatever was offered in the Parisian music halls and operettas, imitating the singing style of Maurice Chevalier, which was the rage at the time. He was part of a troupe that toured South America, and upon returning to France found work at the Moulin Rouge. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928. Two years later Gabin made the transition to sound films in a 1930 Pathé Frères production, Chacun sa chance. Playing secondary roles, he made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. But he only gained real recognition for his performance in Maria Chapdelaine, a 1934 production directed by Julien Duvivier. He was then cast as a romantic hero in the 1936 war drama La Bandera; this second Duvivier-directed film established him as a major star. The next year he teamed up with Duvivier again in the highly successful Pépé le Moko. Its popularity brought Gabin international recognition. That same year he starred in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, an antiwar film that ran at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. This was followed by another of Renoir's major works, La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast), a film noir tragedy based on the novel by Émile Zola and starring Gabin and Simone Simon, as well as Le Quai Des Brumes (Port of Shadows), one of director Marcel Carné's classics of poetic realism. His rugged charisma could be compared with Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. He divorced his second wife in 1939. ... Source: Article "Jean Gabin" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Notable Appearances
Movies
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The Image Book

The Counterfeiters of Paris

Two Men in Town

A Monkey in Winter

Grand Illusion

The Tattoo

Moontide

Touchez Pas au Grisbi

Razzia

La Traversée de Paris

Pasha

Any Number Can Win

Napoleon

Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song

Port of Shadows

Love Is My Profession

The Upper Hand

The Gentleman from Epsom

Le Plaisir

Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case

Les Misérables

Action Man

French Cancan

Maigret Sets a Trap

The Night Affair

Pépé le Moko

Daybreak

La Bête Humaine

Deadlier Than the Male

Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde

Méphisto

Air of Paris

Golgotha

The Little Rebels

Belmondo: The Incorrigible

Varieté

The Cat

Under the Sign of the Bull

Stormy Waters

Maigret Sees Red

God's Thunder

Blood to the Head

Speaking of Murder

The Gardener of Argenteuil

Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau

Marie of the Port

The Old Guard

The Walls of Malapaga

People of No Importance

The Baron of the Locks

Quand Jean devint Renoir

The Case of Dr. Laurent

The Truth About Bebe Donge

Marlene Dietrich: Home Movies

Goodbye Beautiful Days

The Magnificent Tramp

The Moment of Truth

The Horse

Lino Ventura, la part intime

Mireille Darc, la femme libre

Twelve Hours to Live

Crime and Punishment

Killer

The President

Lady Killer

Jury of One

The Lower Depths

Jean Gabin, le dernier des géants

Hi-Jack Highway

Michel Audiard et le mystère du triangle des Bermudes

High and Low

Rue de Paris

Fun in the Barracks

Jean Gabin, une âme française

The Possessors

The Bardot mystery

Coral Reefs

The Impostor

Rhine Virgin

L'Étoile de Valencia

Monsieur

That Tender Age

The Black Flag Waves Over the Scow

La Bandera

Lilac

The Night Is My Kingdom

Mirror

Martin Roumagnac

Gloria

La Belle Équipe

The Dominici Affair

Zouzou

Holy Year

House on the Waterfront

All That Is Not Worth Love

The Darling of Paris

Their Last Night

For One Night..!

Everyone Has Their Chance

The Messenger

Maria Chapdelaine

Jean Moncorgé, la face cachée de Jean Gabin

Victor

The Beautiful Sailor

Storms

Le Tunnel

Happy Hearts






