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Louis JourdanFrench film actor
Date of Birth: 19.06.1921
Country:  France |
Content:
- Louis Jourdan: A Hollywood Heartthrob with a Dark Side
- Film Debut and Romantic Roles
- Hollywood Stardom
- Villainous Turn
- Later Career and Legacy
- Personal Life
Louis Jourdan: A Hollywood Heartthrob with a Dark Side
Early Life and EducationBorn on June 19, 1921, in Marseille, France, to hotel owner Henri Gendre and Yvonne Gendre (née Jourdan), Louis Robert Gendre was the eldest of three sons. He received his education in France, England, and Turkey, studying dramatic art at the École Dramatique under the tutelage of René Simon.
Film Debut and Romantic Roles
Jourdan's cinematic debut came in 1939's "Corsaire." Blessed with striking good looks, he became typecast as a romantic leading man, often playing lovers and seducers. During World War II, with his father arrested by the Gestapo, Jourdan and his brothers joined the French Resistance, refusing to participate in propaganda films.
Hollywood Stardom
In 1947, American producer David Selznick brought Jourdan to Hollywood. He starred opposite Ingrid Bergman in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Paradine Case" (1947). His greatest popularity, however, came with Vincent Minnelli's musical "Gigi" (1958), in which he played Gaston.
Villainous Turn
In 1961, Jourdan portrayed Edmond Dantès in Claude Autant-Lara's "The Count of Monte Cristo," a role he would reprise as the protagonist's nemesis, Villefort, in 1975. This portrayal established him as a capable villain. In 1977, he played Count Dracula for the BBC, and in the 1980s, he portrayed James Bond's cunning adversaries in "Octopussy" (1983) and "Swamp Thing" (1982).
Later Career and Legacy
Jourdan continued to work in American and French cinema and television into the early 1990s, with his last film being 1992's "Year of the Comet." He received numerous awards and the rare distinction of having two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2010, he was honored with the French Legion of Honor. Louis Jourdan passed away in Beverly Hills, California, on February 14, 2015.
Personal Life
Jourdan married Berthe Frédérique on March 11, 1946. Their only son, Louis-Henri Jourdan, died of a drug overdose in 1981.
