Gérard Oury

Gérard Oury

Gérard Oury with spouse Michèle Morgan at the Cannes Film Festival.
Born Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum
(1919-04-29)29 April 1919
Paris, France
Died 20 July 2006(2006-07-20) (aged 87)
Saint-Tropez, France
Years active 1942–2003
Spouse(s) Michèle Morgan (1960–2006; his death)

Gérard Oury (29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. His real name was Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum.

Life and career

The son of Serge Tannenbaum, a violinist, and Marcelle Houry, a journalist, Oury studied at Lycée Janson de Sailly and at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art. He became a member of the Comédie-Française just one year before World War II, but fled to Switzerland to escape the anti-Jewish persecutions by the Vichy government.

After 1945 he restarted his career as an actor, performing in the theatre and in supporting roles in the cinema. Oury became a movie director in 1959 (The Itchy Palm) and gained his first success in 1961 with Crime Does Not Pay (Le crime ne paie pas).

Joining André Bourvil and Louis de Funès as a comic duo, he burst into commercial filmmaking with 1965's The Sucker (Le corniaud). The film was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival.[1] The following year, Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At! (La Grande Vadrouille) was even more successful, attracting the largest audiences ever in France (17.27 million admissions). This box-office record stood for decades, only surpassed in 1997 by Titanic from James Cameron.

Oury shot the 1969 comedy Le Cerveau (The Brain) in English, starring David Niven in the lead role as a criminal mastermind.

Living together with the French actress Michèle Morgan, he was the father of French writer Danièle Thompson and grandfather of actor/writer Christopher Thompson. He died aged 87 in Saint-Tropez on 20 July 2006.[2]

Selected filmography

Actor
Year Title Role Director
1947 Antoine and Antoinette a customer Jacques Becker
1948 Du Guesclin Charles V of France Bernard Delatour
1949 La Belle que voilà Bruno Jean-Paul Le Chanois
1950 Mr. Peek-a-Boo Maurice Jean Boyer
1951 Without Leaving an Address a journalist Jean-Paul Le Chanois
1953 Sea Devils Napoleon Raoul Walsh
1953 The Sword and the Rose the Dauphin Ken Annakin
1953 The Heart of the Matter Yusef George More O'Ferrall
1954 They Who Dare Captain George Two Lewis Milestone
1954 Father Brown Inspector Dubois Robert Hamer
1955 Heroes and Sinners Villeterre Yves Ciampi
1955 The River Girl Enzo Cinti Mario Soldati
1956 House of Secrets Julius Pindar Guy Green
1958 Le Miroir à deux faces Doctor Bosc André Cayatte
1959 The Journey Teklel Hafouli Anatole Litvak
1963 The Prize Doctor Claude Marceau Mark Robson
1986 A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later cameo appearance Claude Lelouch
Director
Year Title Cast Notes
1960 La Main chaude with Jacques Charrier
and Macha Méril		 also credited as writer
1961 La Menace with Robert Hossein
and Marie-José Nat
1962 Crime Does Not Pay Danielle Darrieux,
Michèle Morgan,
Edwige Feuillère,
Gino Cervi,
Gabriele Ferzetti,
Annie Girardot,
Pierre Brasseur,
and others		 also credited as writer
1965 The Sucker starring Bourvil
and Louis de Funès		 also credited as writer
1966 La Grande Vadrouille starring Bourvil,
Louis de Funès
and Terry-Thomas		 also credited as writer
1969 The Brain Jean-Paul Belmondo,
Bourvil,
David Niven,
Eli Wallach
and others		 also credited as writer
1971 Delusions of Grandeur starring Louis de Funès
and Yves Montand		 also credited as writer
1973 The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob starring Louis de Funès also credited as writer
1978 La Carapate starring Pierre Richard also credited as writer
1980 The Umbrella Coup starring Pierre Richard also credited as writer
1982 The Ace of Aces / The Super Ace starring Jean-Paul Belmondo also credited as writer
1984 La vengeance du serpent à plumes starring Coluche,
and Josiane Balasko		 also credited as writer
1987 Lévy et Goliath with Richard Anconina,
and Michel Boujenah		 also credited as writer
1993 La Soif de l'or with Tsilla Chelton,
Catherine Jacob,
Christian Clavier
and others		 also credited as writer
1996 Fantôme avec chauffeur with Philippe Noiret,
and Gérard Jugnot
1999 Le schpountz with Smaïn,
Sabine Azéma
and others		 also credited as writer
Writer only
Year Title Cast Notes
1960 Come Dance with Me! starring Brigitte Bardot adaptation
1996 The Mirror Has Two Faces with Barbra Streisand,
Jeff Bridges,
Pierce Brosnan
and others		 Remake of Le Miroir à deux faces (1958)

References

  1. ↑ "4th Moscow International Film Festival (1965)". MIFF. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  2. ↑ "Gérard Oury est décédé" (in French). Le Figaro. 2006-07-20.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gérard Oury.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.