Eddie Constantine
| Eddie Constantine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Edward Constantinowsky October 29, 1917 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died |
February 25, 1993 (aged 75) Wiesbaden, Germany |
| Occupation | Film actor, singer |
Eddie Constantine (born Edward Constantinowsky; October 29, 1917 – February 25, 1993) was an American French[1][2] actor and singer who spent his career working in Europe.
He became well known for a series of French B movies in which he played secret agent Lemmy Caution and is now best remembered for his role in Jean-Luc Godard's philosophical science fiction film Alphaville (1965).
Constantine also appeared in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (as himself in Beware of a Holy Whore 1971), Lars von Trier, and Mika Kaurismäki. He continued reprising the role of Lemmy Caution well into his 70s; his final appearance as the character was in Jean-Luc Godard's Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (1991).
Biography
Edward Constantinowsky[3][4] was born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents, a Russian father and Polish mother. In pursuit of a singing career, he went to Vienna for voice training, but when he returned to America his career didn't take off and he started taking work as a film extra.[1] Having failed to make a career in America, Constantine returned to Europe in the 1950s and started singing and performing in Parisian cabarets. He was noticed by Edith Piaf, who cast him in the musical La p'tite Lili. Constantine also helped Piaf with translations for her 1956 album La Vie En Rose/Édith Piaf Sings In English, so that he has songwriting credits on the English versions of some of her most famous songs (especially "Hymne à l'amour"/"Hymn to Love").[5]
In the 1950s Constantine was a star in France due to his role as the hard-boiled detective/secret agent Lemmy Caution (from Peter Cheyney's novels) in a series of French B-pictures, including La môme vert-de-gris (1953), Cet homme est dangereux (1953), Ça va barder (1953), Je suis un sentimental (1955), Lemmy pour les dames (1961) and Your Turn, Darling (1963).
Constantine eventually became a French citizen and enjoyed great popularity in several European countries, including France and Germany. When not playing Lemmy Caution, Constantine's character would still typically be a suave-talking, seductive, smooth guy, although he often played this for laughs. He turned his accent and perceived American cockiness to advantage in such roles, and later described his film persona as having been "James Bond before James Bond".[6]
One of his most notable roles was in Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965), in which he reprised (to a more radical end) the role of Lemmy Caution, in a departure from the style of his other films. His box-office appeal in France waned in the mid-1960s. Having remarried to a German television producer, he eventually relocated to Germany, where he worked as a character actor, appearing in German TV dramas as well as film. Constantine later claimed he had never taken his acting career seriously, as he considered himself to be a singer by trade, and had been an actor strictly for the money.[6] He nevertheless worked with directors such as Godard and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and his last notable film appearance was in Lars Von Trier's Europa in 1991. He had taken up the part of Lemmy for the last time in the same year, in Godard's experimental film Germany Year 90 Nine Zero.[1]
Personal life
Constantine was married three times, to Helinka Musilova (divorced), with whom he had three children, Dorothea Gibson (1977–78, divorced), and the film producer Maya Faber-Jansen (1979–93, Constantine's death), with whom he had one child.[1] His son, born in 1957 and named after Constantine's famous role, is Lemmy Constantine (entry on French Wikipedia), who is also a singer and actor.
Death
Eddie Constantine died of a heart attack on February 25, 1993, aged 75.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Egypt by Three | Victor Stoloff | Nick (third episode) | |
| La môme vert-de-gris | Bernard Borderie | Lemmy Caution | ||
| Cet homme est dangereux | Jean Sacha | Lemmy Caution | ||
| 1954 | Les femmes s'en balancent | Bernard Borderie | Lemmy Caution | |
| Avanzi di galera | Vittorio Cottafavi | Franco Cesari | ||
| Votre dévoué Blake | Jean Laviron | Larry Blake | ||
| 1955 | Ça va barder | John Berry | Johnny Jordan | |
| Je suis un sentimental | John Berry | Barney Morgan | ||
| Vous pigez ? | Pierre Chevalier | Lemmy Caution | ||
| 1956 | Les Truands | Carlo Rim | Jim Esposito | |
| Ce soir les jupons volent | Dimitri Kirsanoff | Monsieur Howard | ||
| Folies-Bergère | Henri Decoin | Bob Wellington | ||
| L'Homme et l'Enfant | Raoul André | Fred Barker | ||
| Bonsoir Paris, bonjour l'amour | Ralph Baum | cameo appearance | ||
| 1957 | Le Grand Bluff | Patrice Dally | Eddie F. Morgan | |
| Ces dames préfèrent le mambo | Bernard Borderie | Burt Brickford | ||
| 1958 | Incognito | Patrice Dally | Bob Stanley | |
| Hoppla, jetzt kommt Eddie | Werner Klingler | Eddie Petersen | ||
| Passport to Shame | Alvin Rakoff | Johnny McVey | ||
| 1959 | Du rififi chez les femmes | Alex Joffé | Williams | |
| The Treasure of San Teresa (Hot Money Girl) | Alvin Rakoff | Larry Brennan | ||
| SOS Pacific | Guy Green | Mark | ||
| 1960 | Bombs on Monte Carlo | Georg Jacoby | Captain Eddie Cronen | |
| Comment qu'elle est | Bernard Borderie | Lemmy Caution | ||
| Ravissante | Robert Lamoureux | cameo appearance | ||
| Chien de pique | Yves Allégret | Patrick | ||
| Ça va être ta fête | Pierre Montazel | John Lewis / John Jarvis | ||
| 1961 | Destination Fury | Giorgio Bianchi | Felice Esposito | |
| Me faire ça à moi | Pierre Grimblat | Eddie MacAvoy | ||
| Cause toujours, mon lapin | Guy Lefranc | Jackson | ||
| 1962 | Une grosse tête | Claude de Givray | Napoléon "Naps" Dubois | |
| The Seven Deadly Sins | Jean-Luc Godard (6th segment) | cameo appearance | ||
| Lemmy pour les dames | Bernard Borderie | Lemmy Caution | ||
| Cléo from 5 to 7 | Agnès Varda | cameo appearance | ||
| Lykke og krone | Colbjørn Helander and Stein Saelen | cameo appearance | ||
| Bonne chance, Charlie | Jean-Louis Richard | Charlie | ||
| L'Empire de la nuit | Pierre Grimblat | Eddie | ||
| Nous irons à Deauville | Francis Rigaud | cameo appearance | ||
| 1963 | Jeff Gordon, Secret Agent | Raoul André | Jeff Gordon | |
| Les Femmes d'abord | Raoul André | Bobby Carao | ||
| Tela de araña | José Luis Monter | Eddie Ross | ||
| Your Turn, Darling | Bernard Borderie | Lemmy Caution | ||
| 1964 | Die ganze Welt ist himmelblau | Franz Antel | as himself | |
| Comment trouvez-vous ma sœur ? | Michel Boisrond | as himself | ||
| Laissez tirer les tireurs | Guy Lefranc | Jeff Gordon | ||
| Nick Carter va tout casser | Henri Decoin | Nick Carter | ||
| Lucky Jo | Michel Deville | Lucky Jo | ||
| 1965 | Ces dames s'en mêlent | Raoul André | Jeff Gordon | |
| Faites vos jeux, mesdames aka Feu à volonté | Marcel Ophuls | Mike Warner | ||
| Cent briques et des tuiles | Pierre Grimblat | cameo appearance | ||
| Alphaville | Jean-Luc Godard | Lemmy Caution | ||
| Je vous salue, mafia! | Raoul Lévy | Rudy | ||
| Nick Carter and Red Club | Jean-Paul Savignac | Nick Carter | ||
| 1966 | Residencia para espías (Residence for Spies) | Jesus Franco | Dan Leyton | |
| Cartas boca arriba (Attack Of The Robots) | Jesus Franco | Al Pereira (Al Peterson) | ||
| 1968 | Ces messieurs de la famille | Raoul André | Cousin Lemmy | |
| À tout casser | John Berry | Ric | ||
| 1969 | Les Gros Malins | Raymond Leboursier | Eddie | |
| Lions Love | Agnès Varda | as himself | ||
| 1970 | Malatesta | Peter Lilienthal | Malatesta | |
| Eine Rose für Jane | Hans W. Geißendörfer | Boss | TV film | |
| 1971 | Supergirl – Das Mädchen von den Sternen | Rudolf Thome | cameo appearance | TV film |
| Beware of a Holy Whore (Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte) | Rainer Werner Fassbinder | as himself | ||
| Haytabo (Eddie geht weiter) | Ulli Lommel | the professor | ||
| 1973 | Geen paniek | Ko Koedijk | Bill Silkstocking | |
| 1975 | Une baleine qui avait mal aux dents | Jacques Bral | Eddie | |
| Souvenir of Gibraltar | Henri Xhonneux | Father Jo | ||
| Der zweite Frühling | Ulli Lommel | Frank Cabot | ||
| 1977 | Raid on Entebbe | Irvin Kershner | Capt. Michel Bacos | TV film |
| Bloedverwanten | Wim Lindner | Priest | ||
| Le Couple témoin | William Klein | Dr. Goldberg | ||
| 1978 | It Lives Again | Larry Cohen | Dr. Forrest | |
| 1979 | The Third Generation (Die Dritte Generation) | Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Peter Lurz | |
| Bildnis einer Trinkerin | Ulrike Ottinger | cameo appearance | ||
| 1980 | Panische Zeiten | Udo Lindenberg | cameo appearance | |
| Car-napping | Wigbert Wicker | police officer Laroux | ||
| Exit... nur keine Panik | Franz Novotny | cameo appearance | ||
| The Long Good Friday | John Mackenzie | Charlie | ||
| 1981 | Tango durch Deutschland | Lutz Mommartz | Eddie | |
| Neige | Juliet Berto et Jean-Henri Roger | Pierrot | ||
| Freak Orlando | Ulrike Ottinger | cameo appearance | ||
| 1982 | Rote Liebe | Rosa von Praunheim | Pawel Pawlowitsch | |
| Boxoffice | Josef Bogdanovitch | Hugh Barren | ||
| 1983 | Das Mikado-Projekt | Torsten Emrich | Lemmy Caution | |
| Der Schnüffler | Ottokar Runze | Gregori Ustinov | ||
| La Bête noire | Patrick Chaput | the bar proprietor | ||
| 1984 | Fluchtpunkt Berlin | Christopher Petit | as himself | |
| Rambo Zambo | Reinhard Donga | Harry | TV film | |
| Uno scugnizzo a New York | Mariano Laurenti | Sammy | ||
| Tiger - Frühling in Wien | Peter Patzak | Lemmy Caution | ||
| 1985 | Seifenblasen | Alfred Ninaus | cameo appearance | |
| Paul Chevrolet en de ultieme hallucinatie | Pim de la Parra | Boy Pappa | ||
| 1986 | Makaroni Blues | Bela Csepesanyi | Lemmy Caution | |
| Roncalli | Michael Mackenroth | Pablo | TV miniseries | |
| 1987 | Frankenstein's Aunt | Juraj Jakubisko | Alois - Water Spirit | TV miniseries |
| Freckled Max and the Spooks | Juraj Jakubisko | Alois - Water Spirit | Film | |
| Helsinki Napoli All Night Long | Mika Kaurismäki | Old Gangster | ||
| 1989 | Le retour de Lemmy Caution | Josée Dayan | Lemmy Caution | TV film |
| Europa, abends | Claudia Schröder | Mr. Hardayle | ||
| 1991 | Europa | Lars von Trier | Colonel Harris | |
| Germany Year 90 Nine Zero | Jean-Luc Godard | Lemmy Caution | ||
| Tokyo no kyujitsu | Naoki Nagao | William Wright | ||
| 1993 | Three Shake-a-leg Steps to Heaven | Andy Bausch | Don Fabrizzi |
References
- 1 2 3 4 IMDB entry for Eddie Constantine, retrieved 2010-07-20
- ↑ "Constantine, Eddie". Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ↑ Azzopardi, Michel (1997). Le temps des vamps: 1915-1965. L'Harmattan. ISBN 978-2-7384-4866-8.
- ↑ McKinney, Mark (2008). History and politics in French language comics and graphic novels. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-60473-004-3.
- ↑ DISCOGS entry for La Vie En Rose / Édith Piaf Sings In English, retrieved 2010-07-20
- 1 2 Eddie Constantine biography at cinemapassion.com
External links
- Eddie Constantine at Uni France (English)
- Eddie Constantine at the Internet Movie Database
- Eddie Constantine at AllMovie
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