1922-03-06 ( 103 years old ) in Paris, France
Jean Martin (6 March 1922 - 2 February 2009) was a French actor. Coming from a Berry family, he spent part of his childhood in Biarritz, where his father worked for a furrier. During the Second World War, he hid to escape the Forced Labor Service. Staying in Paris, he appeared in two films by Maurice Tourneur: "The Devil's Hand" (1942) then "Cécile Est Mort" (1943). At the twilight of the forties, he started doing theater.
In 1953, Jean Martin gained notoriety by playing the new play by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, "Waiting for Godot", under the direction of Roger Blin, becoming the first to take on the role of Lucky. The same Roger Blin produced “End of the Game” (1957), by the same Beckett, a few years later, and entrusted the same Jean Martin with the role of Clov. In 1960, Jean Martin staged his first play, “Letter Dead”, by Robert Pinget. In 1962, he again staged a play, “The Representatives”, by Aglaé and Mona Mitropoulos, adapted by Michel Arnaud. Alongside this theatrical career which would prove to be rich, Jean Martin returned to cinema: “Notre-Dame de Paris” (1956), by Jean Delannoy, “Paris belongs to us” (1958), by Jacques Rivette, “Ballade for a thug " (1962), by Jean-Claude Bonnardot, "La foire aux dunces" (1963), by Louis Daquin and "À toi de fait mignon" (1963), by Bernard Borderie.
In 1960, he was a signatory of the Manifesto of the 121 entitled “Declaration on the right to insubordination in the Algerian war”. In 1965, a role marked his career, that of Colonel Mathieu, in a film retracing the struggle in 1957 for control of the Casbah district of Algiers between FLN militants and French soldiers: "The Battle of Algiers" . Three years after the end of the Algerian War, the subject is still sensitive on each side of the Mediterranean; the film was banned in France upon its release, then censored until 2004. Jean Martin, very convincing in this role of division commander (historically, the commander is General Massu, but the character is inspired by Colonel Bigeard), is the only professional actor in the film. His large stature, his strong personality and his imperious face predispose him to notable roles generally showing authority: chief doctor, police commissioner, high-ranking military officer, ecclesiastical dignitary...; one of the most impressive will undoubtedly be that of a doctor vehemently expelling from his hospital a judge Fayard, Patrick Dewaere, a bit of a cavalier in "Le Juge Fayard Dit Le Shérif" (1976). Claude Zidi mocks these roles in his comedies: principal in “La moutarde monte au nose” (1974), bank director in “La Course À L'Échalote” (1975), chief doctor in “L'aile ou la thigh” (1976), principal inspector in “Bête mais disciplined” (1979) and examiner in “Inspecteur la Bavure” (1980). Alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo, he is… cardinal in “L’Hériter” (1972) and… divisional commissioner in “Peur Sur La ville” (1975)! But also alongside Terence Hill in “My Name is Nobody” (1973) in the role of Sullivan, or “One Genius, Two Associates, One Bell (1975).
After devoting a large part of his career to the theater, appearing in around fifty films, Jean Martin died on February 2, 2009, in Paris.
Movies
Lucie Aubrac
1997-02-26
The Crime of Ovide Plouffe
1984-08-29
La Puce et le privé
1981-03-11
Inspector Blunder
1980-12-03
The King and the Mockingbird
1980-03-19
La Femme flic
1980-01-08
The Associate
1979-08-22
Dossier 51
1978-08-30
The Cat
1977-12-16
Judge Fayard Called the Sheriff
1977-01-12
The Carpathian Castle
1976-12-19
A Woman at Her Window
1976-11-10
Le Gentleman des Antipodes
1976-11-04
The Wing or the Thigh?
1976-10-27
A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot
1975-12-16
The Messiah
1975-10-24
The Wild Goose Chase
1975-10-08
Alouqa or the Comedy of the Dead
1975-08-13
The Night Caller
1975-04-09
An Invitation to the Hunt
1974-11-01
The Time of the Beginning
1974-10-15
I'm Losing My Temper
1974-10-09
Cry of the Heart
1974-09-11
Successive Slidings of Pleasure
1974-03-07
My Name Is Nobody
1973-12-13
The Day of the Jackal
1973-05-16
The Inheritor
1973-03-22
The Beguines
1972-09-19
La nuit bulgare
1972-04-20
HPW ou Anatomie d'un faussaire
1971-07-27
Troubleshooters
1971-04-07
Promise at Dawn
1970-11-25
The Companions of Baal
1970-06-11
Safety Catch
1970-04-07
Don't Take God's Children for Wild Geese
1968-09-06
Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime
1968-04-24
The Invention of Morel
1967-12-08
Les filous
1967-01-01
Soldier Martin
1966-09-28
The Battle of Algiers
1966-09-08
The Nun
1966-05-06
Your Turn, Darling
1963-09-25
Les Culottes rouges
1962-12-19
Gustave Moreau
1962-01-02
Fortunate
1960-11-16
Forgotten Stones
1952-01-01
Cecile Is Dead
1944-03-08
Powered by Powerxsoft Ltd using the TMDB API