Biography: life and films
Cinema may be what confers on Jean Desailly immortality after his death but his real passion in life was the stage. After a period with the Comédie Française, he became the star performer with the theatre company run by Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renault. He then founded his own theatre company with his wife, Simone Valère, and managed several Parisian theatres successfully in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Théâtre Hebertot and the Théâtre de la Madeleine. For his tireless stage work, Jean Desailly was recognised with the prestigious Molière prize in 2002. He died in hospital in Paris on 11th June 2008, aged 87. His appearance in so many classic French films will ensure his name will live on, his work appreciated by many future generations.
© James Travers 2002
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Filmography
Key: a = actor; d = director
Le Voyageur de la Toussaint (1943) [a]
Le Jugement dernier (1945) [a]
La Revanche de Roger la Honte (1946) [a]
La Symphonie pastorale (1946) [a]
Patrie (1946) [a]
Sylvie et le fantôme (1946) [a]
Amours, délices et orgues (1947) [a]
Une grande fille toute simple (1948) [a]
L'Échafaud peut attendre (1949) [a]
La Veuve et l'innocent (1949) [a]
Occupe-toi d'Amélie (1949) [a]
Véronique (1949) [a]
Chéri (1950) [a]
Demain nous divorçons (1951) [a]
La Course de taureaux (1951) [a]
Avec André Gide (1952) [a]
Jocelyn (1952) [a]
Les Grandes manoeuvres (1955) [a]
On ne badine pas avec l'amour (1955) [a,d]
Les Grandes familles (1958) [a]
Le Secret du Chevalier d'Éon (1959) [a]
Les Seigneurs de la forêt (1959) [a]
La Française et l'amour (1960) [a]
Le Baron de l'écluse (1960) [a]
Le Saint mène la danse (1960) [a]
Préméditation (1960) [a]
Legge di guerra (1961) [a]
Un soir sur la plage (1961) [a]
Le Doulos (1962) [a]
Les Sept péchés capitaux (1962) [a]
L'Année du bac (1964) [a]
Les Deux orphelines (1965) [a]
De dans van de reiger (1966) [a]
La Vingt-cinquième heure (1967) [a]
Le Franciscain de Bourges (1968) [a]
Tu moissonneras la tempête (1969) [a]
The Assassination of Trotsky (1972) [a]
Un flic (1972) [a]
L'Ironie du sort (1974) [a]
Je te tiens, tu me tiens par la barbichette (1979) [a]
Le Mouton noir (1979) [a]
Le Fou du roi (1984) [a]
Équipe de nuit (1990) [a]
Le Radeau de la Méduse (1998) [a]
En face (2000) [a]
The very best of German cinema
The best of American film noir
The Carry On films, from the heyday of British film comedy
