DAUPHIN, CLAUDE

(1903-1978)

Actor. Born Claude Legrand, Claude Dauphin wanted, from a very early age, to become an actor. Discouraged by his father, the poet Franc-Nohain, he was instead trained as a set decorator, and entered the world of theater by the back door, as it were. His brother, Jean Nohain, would also become an actor. After ten years, Dauphin sought out the stage, and ultimately, in the 1930s, he appeared onscreen. He would go on to make some eighty films in France and in Hollywood during a career that spanned fifty years.

Dauphin made his screen debut in Solange Bussi's adaptation of Colette'sLa Vagabonde(1930). This was quickly followed by roles inHenri Diamant-Berger'sTout s'arrange(1931) andClair de Lune(1932) and Jean Hémard'sLa Fortune(1931),Paris-Soleil(1932), andAux urnes,citoyens! (1932), among other films.As the decade considered the golden age of French cinema unfolded, Dauphin would be right in its midst, appearing in films such as Jean de Limur'sLe Voyage imprévu(1934),Georges Lacombe'sLa Route heureuse(1935), andHenri Decoin'sBattement de coeur(1940).

Dauphin also worked often with directors associated withLe Réalisme poétiqueor poetic realism, most notablyMarc Allégret. He appeared in Allégret'sEntrée des artistes(1938),La Belle aventure(1942),Les Deux timides(1943), andFélicie Nanteuil(1943). He also worked withJacques FeyderinUne Femme disparaît(1944).

During the occupation, Dauphin fled France for Great Britain, where he joined the Free French Forces under the command of Charles de Gaulle. While in Britain, he worked withJean Renoiron the filmSalute to France(1946). Dauphin returned to France after Liberation and resumed his film career, appearing in such films as Pierre Montazel'sCroisière pour l'inconnu(1947), Marcel Achard'sJean de la lune(1948),Max Ophuls'sLe Plaisir(1952), andJacques Becker'sCasque d'or(1952). He also spent time in Hollywood, appearing in such films asApril in Paris(1952),Little Boy Lost(1953),Phantom of the Rue Morgue(1954), andThe Quiet American(1958).

The 1960s brought different types of roles to Dauphin, who went from playing suave, seductive young men in his early career to play older, sometimes hard-boiled men in his later career. He appeared in such films asJacques Deray'sSymphonie pour une massacre(1963),Roger Vadim'sBarbarella(1968), Ettore Scola'sLa Plus belle soirée de ma vie(1972), and Otto Preminger'sRosebud(1975).