Louis de Funès Pics

Louis

De Funès

31/07/1914

64.5

Blue

Black

Hauts-de-Seine

Leo

27/01/1983

Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, France

Heart attack

White

La traversée de Paris / Pig across Paris

Male

French

Slim

Actor/Actress, Writer, Director

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Louis Germain David de Funes de Galarza was born on July 31, 1914, in Courbevoie, France. His father, named Carlos Luis de Funes de Galarza, was a former lawyer of Seville, Spain, who became a diamond cutter. His mother, named Leonor Soto Reguera, was of Spanish and Portugese extraction. Young Louis de Funes was fond of drawing and piano playing. He dropped out of school and worked various jobs, mostly as a jazz pianist at Pigalle, making his customers laugh every time he made a grimace. He studied acting for one year at the Simon acting school. There he made some useful contacts, including Daniel Gelin among others. During the occupation of Paris in the Second World War, he continued his piano studies at a music school, where he fell in love with a secretary, named Jeanne de Maupassant, a grand-niece of writer Guy de Maupassant. She had fallen in love with "the young man who played jazz like god"; they married in 1943, and had two sons born in 1944 and 1949. Funes continued playing piano at clubs, knowing there wasn`t much call for a short, balding, skinny actor. His wife and Daniel Gelin encouraged him until he managed to overcome his rejection. He made his film debut in 1945, at the age of 31, and went on playing about one hundred film roles in the next twenty years. Louis de Funes shot to international fame in the 1960`s after his roles in such slapstick comedies as `Le gendarme de St. Tropez` (The Gendarme of St. Tropez 1964) and the Fantomas (1964) trilogy. He brilliantly portrayed a funny French policeman, whose hilarious hyperactivity, uncontrolled anger, and sardonic laughter produced a highly comic effect. Funes was voted the most favorite actor in France in 1968, and remained very popular in Europe during the 1970`s. He also continued to play on stage during his career as a film star, and was acclaimed for his stage works in classic French theatre. Funes was instrumental in making film adaptations of such theatre plays as `Oscar continues` and the Moliere`s `Le Misere`, among other plays. Nicknamed "the man with the forty faces per minute", Louis de Funes played bit parts in over eighty films, before he got his first leading roles, eventually becoming the leading French comedian. He co-starred with the major French actors of the time, including Jean Marais and Mylene Demongeot in the Fantomas trilogy, and also Jean Gabin, Fernandel, Bourvil, Coluche, Annie Girardot, and Yves Montand. Funes`s collaboration with director `Gerard Oury` produced a memorable tandem of Funes-Bourvil. He also worked with Jean Girault in the famous `Gendarmes` series. In a departure from the Gendarme image, Funes collaborated with Claude Zidi, who wrote for him a new character full of nuances and frankness in Aile ou la cuisse, L` (1976), which is arguably the best of his roles. Funes played over 130 roles in film and over 100 roles on stage. From 1943-1983 Louis de Funes was married to Jeanne Barthelemy de Maupassant. Their son, named `Olivier De Funes` , had a brief acting career before becoming a pilot with Air France, his other son, named Patric de Funes, became a medical doctor. Louis de Funes was also a rose grower, a variety of roses has been named the "Louis de Funes rose" after him. He died of a heart attack and complications of a stroke on January 27, 1983, in Nantes, France. He was laid to rest in the Cimetière du Cellier, and a monument of him was erected in the rose-garden of his wife`s castle.

www.imdb.com

www.defunes.org

Louis Germain de Funes de Galarza

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Carlos Louis de Funes de Galarza (lawyer)

Leonor Soto Reguera

Yves Montand, Bourvil, Jean Girault, Michel Galabru

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Louis de Funès ( ; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983), born Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza, was a popular French actor of Spanish origin, who is one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel. His acting style is remembered for its high energy performance, a wide range of facial expressions and an engaging, snappy impatience.

De

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