Jean Gabin
Acting • Born 1904-05-17 – Died 1976-11-15
Biography
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.
Filmography
116 credits
Grand Illusion
Movie • 1937
Le lieutenant Maréchal
The Sicilian Clan
Movie • 1969
Vittorio Manalese
Jury of One
Movie • 1974
Leguen
Two Men in Town
Movie • 1973
Germain Cazeneuve
The Gardener of Argenteuil
Movie • 1966
M. Martin dit « Le père Tulipe »
Les Misérables
Movie • 1958
Jean Valjean / Champmathieu
Killer
Movie • 1972
Commissioner Le Guen
The Tattoo
Movie • 1968
Count Enguerand de Montignac,aka 'Legrain'
Any Number Can Win
Movie • 1963
Charles
The Cat
Movie • 1971
Julien Bouin
The Magnificent Tramp
Movie • 1959
Joseph, Hugues Guillaume Boutier-Blainville dit : Archimède
Pépé le Moko
Movie • 1937
Pépé le Moko
Daybreak
Movie • 1939
François
The Old Guard
Movie • 1960
Jean-Marie Pejat, bicycle repairer
Monsieur
Movie • 1964
Monsieur
A Monkey in Winter
Movie • 1962
Albert Quentin
Touchez Pas au Grisbi
Movie • 1954
Max dit Max le Menteur
La Bête Humaine
Movie • 1938
Lantier
Moontide
Movie • 1942
Bobo
The Possessors
Movie • 1958
Noël Schoudler, le patriarche financier
Napoleon
Movie • 1955
Marshal Jean Lannes
Crime and Punishment
Movie • 1956
Commissaire Gallet
Le Plaisir
Movie • 1952
Joseph Rivet
Air of Paris
Movie • 1954
Victor Le Garrec
Maigret Sets a Trap
Movie • 1958
Commissaire Maigret
The Gentleman from Epsom
Movie • 1962
Richard Briand-Charmery
The Truth About Bebe Donge
Movie • 1952
François Donge
Razzia
Movie • 1955
Henri Ferré dit 'Le Nantais'
French Cancan
Movie • 1955
Henri Danglard
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
Movie • 2011
Self (archive footage)
High and Low
Movie • 1933
Charles Boulla
The Lower Depths
Movie • 1936
Pepel Wasska
Lilac
Movie • 1932
Martousse
Stormy Waters
Movie • 1941
Le capitaine André Laurent
Port of Shadows
Movie • 1938
Jean
The Darling of Paris
Movie • 1931
Bob
Love Is My Profession
Movie • 1958
André Gobillot
Jean Moncorgé, la face cachée de Jean Gabin
Movie • 2010
Self (archive footage)
The Walls of Malapaga
Movie • 1949
Pierre Arrignon
The Horse
Movie • 1970
Auguste Maroilleur
Everyone Has Their Chance
Movie • 1930
Marcel Grivot
Hi-Jack Highway
Movie • 1955
Jean Chape
La Belle Équipe
Movie • 1936
Jean dit Jeannot
Marie of the Port
Movie • 1950
Henri Chatelard
Golgotha
Movie • 1935
Ponce Pilate
Jean Gabin, le dernier des géants
Movie • 2015
Self (archive footage)
La Traversée de Paris
Movie • 1956
Grandgil, artist painter
The Moment of Truth
Movie • 1952
Dr Pierre Richard
La Bandera
Movie • 1935
Pierre Gilieth
Pasha
Movie • 1968
Comissaire Joss, le Pacha
The President
Movie • 1961
Émile Beaufort
The Impostor
Movie • 1944
Clément / Maurice Lafarge
Blood to the Head
Movie • 1956
François Cardinaud
Their Last Night
Movie • 1953
Pierre Ruffin
Rue de Paris
Movie • 1959
Henri Neveu
The Dominici Affair
Movie • 1973
Gaston Dominici
The Image Book
Movie • 2018
(archive footage)
Rhine Virgin
Movie • 1953
Martin Schmidt, alias Jacques Ledru
The Night Affair
Movie • 1958
Georges Vallois
Maigret Sees Red
Movie • 1963
Commissaire Jules Maigret
That Tender Age
Movie • 1964
Émile Malhouin
The Upper Hand
Movie • 1966
Paul Berger dit Paulo les Diam's
God's Thunder
Movie • 1965
Léandre Brassac
Deadlier Than the Male
Movie • 1956
André Chatelin
Under the Sign of the Bull
Movie • 1969
Albert Raynal
The Counterfeiters of Paris
Movie • 1961
Ferdinand Maréchal, aka 'le Dabe'
The Little Rebels
Movie • 1955
Julien Lamy
Action Man
Movie • 1967
Denis Ferrand
The Case of Dr. Laurent
Movie • 1957
le docteur Laurent
People of No Importance
Movie • 1956
Jean Viard
Speaking of Murder
Movie • 1957
Louis Bertain/Louis le blond
The Baron of the Locks
Movie • 1960
Baron Jérôme Napoléon Antoine
The Night Is My Kingdom
Movie • 1951
Raymond Pinsard
Lady Killer
Movie • 1937
Lucien Bourrache, dit 'Gueule d'Amour'
Fun in the Barracks
Movie • 1932
Fricot
House on the Waterfront
Movie • 1955
Commander Lequévic
Le Tunnel
Movie • 1933
Mac Allan
Coral Reefs
Movie • 1939
Ted "Trott" Lennard
Martin Roumagnac
Movie • 1946
Martin Roumagnac
Maria Chapdelaine
Movie • 1934
François Paradis
The Black Flag Waves Over the Scow
Movie • 1971
Victor Ploubaz
Storms
Movie • 1953
il professore Antonio Sanna
Victor
Movie • 1951
Victor
Twelve Hours to Live
Movie • 1950
Carlo Bacchi
Mirror
Movie • 1947
Pierre Lussac
The Messenger
Movie • 1937
Nicolas Dange
All That Is Not Worth Love
Movie • 1931
Jean Cordier
For One Night..!
Movie • 1932
Jean
Méphisto
Movie • 1931
Jacques Miral
The Crowd Roars
Movie • 1932
Joe Greer
Happy Hearts
Movie • 1932
Charles
The Beautiful Sailor
Movie • 1932
Le capitaine
Gloria
Movie • 1931
Robert Nourry
L'Étoile de Valencia
Movie • 1933
Pedro Savedra
Goodbye Beautiful Days
Movie • 1933
Pierre Lavernay
Les lions
Movie • 1928
Ohé! Les valises
Movie • 1928
Holy Year
Movie • 1976
Max Lambert
Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Zouzou
Movie • 1934
Jean
Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case
Movie • 1959
Commissioner Jules Maigret
Varieté
Movie • 1935
Georges
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Lino Ventura, la part intime
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Jean Gabin, une âme française
Movie • 2015
Self (archive footage)
Mireille Darc, la femme libre
Movie • 2018
Monsieur (archive footage)
Quand Jean devint Renoir
Movie • 2017
Self (archive footage)
Michel Audiard et le mystère du triangle des Bermudes
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
Belmondo: The Incorrigible
Movie • 2022
V.I.P. Schaukel
TV • 1971
Self
Spécial cinéma
TV • 1974
Self (archive footage)
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
TV • 1978
Self (archive footage)
Cinépanorama
TV • 1956
Self
The Century of Icons
TV • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Sacrée Soirée
TV • 1987
Self (archive footage)
Cérémonie des César
TV • 1976
Self - President