About the Book
An insight into French film through its actors: profiles of 175 actors and actresses of the French Cinema, illustrated with caricatures of each actor by Jenny BATLAY and Igor BRATUSEK. - Not just biographies, but personal sketches of the actors and actresses, looking at their personalities, acting, and careers. The book is presented alphabetically in mini-dictionary form, and its contributors include academics from around the world - from universities in Australia, Austria, Canada, Cyprus, France, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and throughout the United States - as well as journalists, film curators, and lovers of French cinema, both francophones and Francophiles. It contains a comprehensive alphabetical Index of 2,200 Films - mostly French Films (with their alternative English titles where these were issued), as well as American and European films in which the profiled French actors have appeared. Accurate biographical details (from original records) are provided, including birth names for those actors with a stage name different to their birth names.
Table of Contents:
CONTENTS [names entered without accents on BookData]: FOREWORD; ISABELLE ADJANI (1955 - ), ANOUK AIMEE (1932 - ) [Francoise Sorya Dreyfus], MATHIEU AMALRIC (1965 - ), RICHARD ANCONINA (1953 - ), FANNY ARDANT (1949 - ), PIERRE ARDITI (1944 - ), NIELS ARESTRUP (1949 - ), ARLETTY (1898 - 1992) [Leonie Bathiat], ANTONIN ARTAUD (1896 - 1948), ARIANE ASCARIDE (1954 - ), STEPHANE AUDRAN (1932 - ) [Colette Suzanne Dacheville], DANIEL AUTEUIL (1950 - ), SABINE AZEMA (1949 - ), CHARLES AZNAVOUR (1924 - ) [Charles Aznaourian], JEAN-PIERRE BACRI (1951 - ), EDOUARD BAER (1966 - ), JOSIANE BALASKO (1950 - ) [Josiane Balaskovic], JEAN-FRANCOIS BALMER (1946 - ), BRIGITTE BARDOT (1934 - ), JEAN-LOUIS BARRAULT (1910 - 1994), HARRY BAUR (1880 - 1943), NATHALIE BAYE (1948 - ), EMMANUELLE BEART (1963 - ) [Emmanuelle Behart-Hasson], LEILA BEKHTI (1984 - ), JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO (1933 - ), FRANCOIS BERLEAND (1952 - ), SARAH BERNHARDT (1844 - 1923) [Henriette-Rosine Bernard], JULES BERRY (1883 - 1951) [Marie Louis Jules Paufichet], RICHARD BERRY (1950 - ), JULIETTE BINOCHE (1964 - ), MICHEL BLANC (1952 - ), FRANCIS BLANCHE (1921 - 1974), BERNARD BLIER (1916 - 1989), RICHARD BOHRINGER (1941 - ), ROMANE BOHRINGER (1973 - ), SANDRINE BONNAIRE (1967 - ), DANY BOON (1966 - ) [Daniel Hamidou], MICHEL BOUJENAH (1952 - ), CAROLE BOUQUET (1957 - ), MICHEL BOUQUET (1925 - ), BOURVIL (1917 - 1970) [Andre Raimbourg], CHARLES BOYER (1899 - 1978), MARCEL BOZZUFFI (1928 - 1988), CLAUDE BRASSEUR (1936 - ), PIERRE BRASSEUR (1905 - 1972) [Pierre-Albert Espinasse], JACQUES BREL (1929 - 1978), JEAN-CLAUDE BRIALY (1933 - 2007), GUILLAUME CANET (1973 - ), JULIEN CARETTE (1897 - 1966), JEAN CARMET (1920 - 1994), JEAN-CLAUDE CARRIERE (1931 - ), MARIA CASARES (1922 - 1996) [Maria Victoria Casares Perez], VINCENT CASSEL (1966 - ) [Vincent Crochon], ALAIN CHABAT (1958 - ), MAURICE CHEVALIER (1888 - 1972), CHRISTIAN CLAVIER (1952 - ), FRANCOIS CLUZET (1955 - ), JEAN COCTEAU (1889 - 1963), COLUCHE (1944 - 1986) [Michel Gerard Joseph Colucci], CLOVIS CORNILLAC (1967 - ), MARION COTILLARD (1975 - ), DARRY COWL (1925 - 2006) [Andre Darricau], MARCEL DALIO (1900 - 1983) [Marcel Blauschild], BEATRICE DALLE (1964 - ) [Beatrice Cabarrou], GERARD DARMON (1948 - ), DANIELLE DARRIEUX (1917 - ), JEAN-PIERRE DARROUSSIN (1953 - ), JAMEL DEBBOUZE (1975 - ), CECILE DE FRANCE (1975 - ), LOUIS DE FUNES (1914 - 1983) [Louis de Funes de Galarza], ALAIN DELON (1935 - ), JULIE DELPY (1969 - ), CATHERINE DENEUVE (1943 - ) [Catherine Dorleac], CHARLES DENNER (1926 - 1995), GERARD DEPARDIEU (1948 - ), JULIE DEPARDIEU (1973 - ), EMMANUELLE DEVOS (1964 - ), PATRICK DEWAERE (1947 - 1982) [Patrick Bourdeaux], JEAN-CLAUDE DREYFUS (1946 - ), MARIE DUBAS (1884 - 1972), JEAN DUJARDIN (1972 - ), ALBERT DUPONTEL (1964 - ), ROMAIN DURIS (1974 - ) ANDRE DUSSOLLIER (1946 - ), GAD ELMALEH (1971 - ), FERNANDEL (1903 - 1971) [Fernand Joseph Desire Contandin], EDWIGE FEUILLERE (1907 - 1998) [Edwige Louise Caroline Cunatti], BRIGITTE FOSSEY (1946 - ), FREHEL (1891 - 1951) [Marguerite Boulc'h], PIERRE FRESNAY (1897 - 1975) [Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach], CATHERINE FROT (1956 - ), JEAN GABIN (1904 - 1976) [Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorge], CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG (1971 - ), MICHEL GALABRU (1922 - ), NICOLE GARCIA (1946 - ), MARIE GILLAIN (1975 - ), ANNIE GIRARDOT (1931 - 2011), JUDITH GODRECHE (1972 - ) [Judith Goldreich], EVA GREEN (1980 - ), SACHA GUITRY (1885 - 1957), JOHNNY HALLYDAY (1943 - ) [Jean-Philippe Smet], MARINA HANDS (1975 - ), ISABELLE HUPPERT (1953 - ), AGNES JAOUI (1964 - ), LOUIS JOUVET (1887 - 1951), GERARD JUGNOT (1951 - ), ELIE KAKOU (1960 - 1999) [Alain Kakou], ANNA KARINA (1940 - ) [Hanne Karin Bayer], SANDRINE KIBERLAIN (1968 - ) [Sandrine Kiberlajn], BERNADETTE LAFONT (1938 - 2013), CHRISTOPHE LAMBERT (1957 - ), JEAN-PIERRE LEAUD (1944 - ), MADELEINE LEBEAU (1923 - ), FERNAND LEDOUX (1897 - 1993), VIRGINIE LEDOYEN (1976 - ) [Virginie Fernandez], VALERIE LEMERCIER (1964 - ), JEAN LE POULAIN (1924 - 1988), ROBERT LE VIGAN (1900 - 1972) [Robert Coquillaud], THIERRY LHERMITTE (1952 - ), VINCENT LINDON (1959 - ), MICHAEL LONSDALE (1931 - ), FABRICE LUCHINI (1951 - ) [Robert Luchini], BENOIT MAGIMEL (1974 - ), JEAN MARAIS (1913 - 1998), SOPHIE MARCEAU (1966 - ) [Sophie Daniele Sylvie Maupu], JEAN-PIERRE MARIELLE (1932 - ), ROXANE MESQUIDA (1981 - ), PAUL MEURISSE (1912 - 1979), GERARD MEYLAN (1952 - ), MIOU-MIOU (1950 - ) [Sylvette Herry], EDDY MITCHELL (1942 - ) [Claude Moine], YVES MONTAND (1921 - 1991) [Ivo Livi], JEANNE MOREAU (1928 - ) , YOLANDE MOREAU (1953 - ), FRANCOIS MOREL (1959 - ), MICHELE MORGAN (1920 - ) [Simone Roussel], PHILIPPE NOIRET (1930 - 2006), VANESSA PARADIS (1972 - ), GERARD PHILIPE (1922 - 1959) [Gerard Philip], EDITH PIAF (1915 - 1963) [Edith Giovanna Gassion], JEAN PIAT (1924 - ), MICHEL PICCOLI (1925 - ), DENIS PODALYDES (1963 - ), BENOIT POELVOORDE (1964 - ), JEAN POIRET (1926 - 1992) [Jean Gustave Poire], ALBERT PREJEAN (1894 - 1979), RAIMU (1883 - 1946) [Jules Auguste Cesar Muraire], SERGE REGGIANI (1922 - 2004), JEAN RENO (1948 - ) [Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jimenez], PIERRE RICHARD (1934 - ) [Pierre Defays], EMMANUELLE RIVA (1927 - ) [Paulette Riva], JEAN ROCHEFORT (1930 - ), VIVIANE ROMANCE (1912 - 1991), [Pauline Arlette Ortmans], LUDIVINE SAGNIER (1979 - ), EDITH SCOB (1937 - ) [Edith Helena Vladimirovna Scobeltzine], JEAN SEBERG (1938 - 1979), EMMANUELLE SEIGNER (1966 - ), MATHILDE SEIGNER (1968 - ), MICHEL SERRAULT (1928 - 2007), DELPHINE SEYRIG (1932 - 1990), SIMONE SIGNORET (1921 - 1985) [Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker], MICHEL SIMON (1895 - 1975), SIMONE SIMON (1910 - 2005), JACQUES TATI (1907 - 1982), [Jacques Tatischeff], AUDREY TAUTOU (1976 - ), SYLVIE TESTUD (1971 - ), JEAN-LOUIS TRINTIGNANT (1930 - ), CHARLES VANEL (1892 - 1989), LINO VENTURA (1919 - 1987), BORIS VIAN (1920 - 1959), JACQUES VILLERET (1951 - 2005) [Mohammed Boufroura], JACQUES WEBER (1949 - ), LAMBERT WILSON (1958 - ), ELSA ZYLBERSTEIN (1968 - ); COMPREHENSIVE INDEX OF 2,200 FILM TITLES; THE EDITORS AND ARTISTS; THE 67 INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTORS.
About the Author :
Dr Michaël Abecassis (DEA Grenoble; D.Lang St Andrews) is a Senior Instructor in French and a College Lecturer at the University of Oxford. His academic career includes a D.Lang from the University of St Andrews in 2000, in the field of language variation and change in French, concentrating on the Parisian vernacular of 1930s French cinema. Commenced tutoring French in 1988 in the French Department of Dundee University, and subsequently employed by several British universities (Abertay, Glasgow, Nottingham, Edinburgh, St Andrews, OxfordBrookes). In 1999, Dr Abecassis was appointed both as French Instructor (working mostly in Oxford Language Teaching Centre), and as College Lecturer at the University of Oxford (Christ Church, University, and Wadham Colleges). Marcelline Block was graduated with a BA from Harvard (magna cum laude) in the History and Literature of France and England and received Certificates in French and Swedish languages and literatures. She received an MA in French from Princeton as well as a Graduate Certificate in the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality. Currently living in New York, she has taught courses in several departments at Princeton since 2003, including the Departments of French and Italian; the Department of English; the Department of Comparative Literature; the Department of Politics; the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies [formerly known as the Program in the Study of Women and Gender]; and the Program in Visual Art. Her intellectual interests are 20th century French literature, film theory and women's studies, as well as feminist, psychoanalytic, and trauma theories. She has both French and American citizenship.
Review :
Chosen (March 2016) as one of the Best Reference Titles of 2015 by Library Journal, New York: "There may be other biographical dictionaries of the French cinema, but none with such engagingly written biographies as this one. Editors Abecassis (French, Oxford Univ.) and Block have assembled an international cast to write personal sketches of actors and actresses in the French cinema. American audiences will recognize names such as Gérard Depardieu, Oscar winners Juliette Binoche and Simone Signoret, and singer-actor Maurice Chevalier. Chevalier's sketch chronicles his many early successes, postwar troubles, and triumphant return to the United States after 1954 with Love in the Afternoon. The highlights of the dictionary are the hand-drawn caricatures by artists Jenny Batlay, who's based in New York, and Igor Bratusek, at the Sorbonne in Paris, that accompany each sketch. Read collectively, the pieces document trends in French cinema and its close connections with the theater" -Library Journal, New York (2016). "If you're feeling self-conscious about your lack of knowledge on French cinema, cease at once! Michaël Abecassis (of the University of Oxford) and Marcelline Block (of Princeton University) have edited this illustrated mini-dictionary of French actors and actresses just for you." -reviewed in Culturethèque, of the Institut français du Royaume Uni. " French Cinema under the Magnifying Glass [-reviewed in Books Ireland magazine]: " This book is a collaborative project that weaves together writing from almost 70 different contributors in order to form an illustrated mini-dictionary of actors and actresses who have influenced French cinema since it began. ... The mini-dictionary format makes all of this easily accessible to the reader, who can use three different indexes in order to search by actor, film or contributor. ... Each contributor makes use of different source materials, including personal anecdotes, quotes from biographies, interviews and everything in between. ... In fact, some entries-for example that of Jenny Batlay, which details several personal encounters with Charles Aznavour in order to paint his portrait-are so rich in personal detail that it feels as if the reader is hearing the story from an old friend. This is further enhanced by the clever use of caricature. Each entry begins with a sketch by Jenny Batlay or Igor Bratusek that adds a touch of humour ... these funny little sketches of the greats of French cinema also underline the individual nature of the work, as each entry looks different from its predecessor. ... "As each actor's unique story is explored, so are the main themes of French cinema. In particular, the book draws attention to the way in which cinema and theatre are deeply connected by showing how many of cinema's first stars began their careers on the stage and had already found fame there. Owing to the attention to personal detail, as the lives of cinema's celebrities are unravelled so are the links between the art form and events such as World War I, World War II and France's student protests in 1968. All of this combines to offer a much deeper understanding of French cinema and those who influence it. This collection of essays makes clever use of academic analysis and anecdotal sources in order to present nearly 200 portraits of those who have had the greatest influence on French cinema. Thanks to its innovative format of a mini-dictionary, it allows for a vast range of contributors, which ensures that each portrait is different from the others. In linking French cinema to the other arts and to the history of France, the book succeeds in offering everyone who picks it up, from the veteran cinema buff to the merely curious, a chance to learn something new. This collaborative project succeeds in placing French cinema in general under the magnifying glass, not just its actors and actresses." -Books Ireland magazine, October 2015
