Gérard Oury
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
External links
