MARCHAL, GEORGES

(1920-1997)

Actor. Born Georges Louis Lucot in Nancy, Georges Marchal became one of the most prominent leading men of the 1940s and 1950s. He was a star on a par withJean Maraisand, like Marais, was in demand as much for his looks as for his acting ability. He had a film career spanning five decades, during the course of which he appeared in more than sixty films.

Marchal made his screen debut in an uncredited role inHenri Decoin'sPremier rendez-vous(1941). He quickly moved to supporting roles and then leading roles, appearing in such films as Roland Tual'sLe Lit à colonnes(1942), Jean de Limur'sL'Homme qui joue avec le feu(1942),Jean Grémillon'sLumière d'été(1943), Pierre Billon'sVautrin(1944),Jean-Paul Paulin'sÉchec au roy(1945),Jacques de Baroncelli'sFausse alerte(1945), Yves Allegret'sLes Démons de l'aube(1946),Serge de Poligny'sTorrents(1947) andLa Soif des hommes(1949), Léonide Moguy'sBethsabée(1947), André Zwaboda'sLa Septième porte(1948), Christian Stengel'sLa Figure de proue(1948), Jean Stelli'sLa Voyageuse inattendue(1949) andDernier amour(1949), Jacques Daroy'sLa Passagère(1949), and Decoin'sAu grand balcon(1949).

The peak of Marchal's career was the 1950s, during which time he had lead roles in more than twenty films.His forte seemed to be the costume drama and swashbuckling adventure, or at least that was the type of role he primarily played. Among the films in which he starred areMarcel L'Herbierand Paolo Moffa'sLes Derniers jours de Pompei(1950), Gilles Grangier'sLe Plus joli péché au monde(1951) andJupiter(1952), Carmine Gallone'sMessalina(1951), Henri Calef'sLes Amours finissent à l'aube(1953),André Hunébelle'sLes Trois mousquetaires(1953),Sacha Guitry'sSi Versailles m'était conté(1954), Georges Combray'sLa Contessa di Castiglione(1955), Raoul André'sCherchez la femme(1955), René Jolivet and Ricardo Munoz Suay'sLes Aventures de Gil de Santillane(1956), Maurice Cloche'sMarchands de filles(1957) andLes Filles de nuit(1958), Edmont T. Grevilles'sQuand sonnera minuit(1958), andAbel Gance'sAusterlitz(1960), as well as a number of Spanish and Italian films.

In addition to his other work, Marchal also starred in several films by Luis Bunuel, who was his close friend. His Bunuel films includeCela s'appelle l'aurore(1955),La Mort en ce jardin(1956),Belle de jour(1967), andLa Voie lactée(1969). Apart from the Bunuel films, Marchal only acted in a handful of films in the 1960s, most of them outside of France. By the 1970s, Marchal was working primarily in television, with the notable exception of Nina Companéez'sFaustine et le bel été(1972) andBenoît Jacquot'sLes Enfants du placard(1977), his final film. Marchal continued acting in television until 1989, at which point he formally retired.