
Jean Gabin
Biography
Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé (born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé), known as Jean Gabin (17 May 1904 – 15 November 1976), was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films, including Pépé le Moko (1937), La grande illusion (1937), Le Quai des brumes (1938), La bête humaine (1938), Le jour se lève (1939), and Le plaisir (1952). During his career, he twice won the Silver Bear for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival, respectively. Gabin was made a member of the Légion d'honneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema.
Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe owner and cabaret entertainer whose stage name was Gabin, which is a first name in French. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise (now Val-d'Oise) département, about 22 mi (35 km) north of Paris. He attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Gabin left school early, and worked as a laborer until the age of 19 when he entered show business with a bit part in a Folies Bergère production. He continued performing in a variety of minor roles before going into the military.
After completing his military service in the Fusiliers marins, he returned to the entertainment business, working under the stage name of Jean Gabin at whatever was offered in the Parisian music halls and operettas, imitating the singing style of Maurice Chevalier, which was the rage at the time. He was part of a troupe that toured South America, and upon returning to France found work at the Moulin Rouge. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928.
Two years later Gabin made the transition to sound films in a 1930 Pathé Frères production, Chacun sa chance. Playing secondary roles, he made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. But he only gained real recognition for his performance in Maria Chapdelaine, a 1934 production directed by Julien Duvivier. He was then cast as a romantic hero in the 1936 war drama La Bandera; this second Duvivier-directed film established him as a major star. The next year he teamed up with Duvivier again in the highly successful Pépé le Moko. Its popularity brought Gabin international recognition. That same year he starred in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, an antiwar film that ran at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. This was followed by another of Renoir's major works, La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast), a film noir tragedy based on the novel by Émile Zola and starring Gabin and Simone Simon, as well as Le Quai Des Brumes (Port of Shadows), one of director Marcel Carné's classics of poetic realism. His rugged charisma could be compared with Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.
He divorced his second wife in 1939. ...
Source: Article "Jean Gabin" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Acting (105 movies)

Grand Illusion
1937

The Sicilian Clan
1969

Two Men in Town
1973

Jury of One
1974

Les Misérables
1958

The Gardener of Argenteuil
1966

Killer
1972

The Tattoo
1968

Any Number Can Win
1963

The Cat
1971

The Magnificent Tramp
1959

Pépé le Moko
1937

Daybreak
1939

Monsieur
1964

The Old Guard
1960

A Monkey in Winter
1962

Touchez Pas au Grisbi
1954

La Bête Humaine
1938

Moontide
1942

The Possessors
1958

Napoleon
1955

Crime and Punishment
1956

Le Plaisir
1952

Air of Paris
1954

Maigret Sets a Trap
1958

The Gentleman from Epsom
1962

The Truth About Bebe Donge
1952

Razzia
1955

French Cancan
1955

Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
2011

High and Low
1933

The Lower Depths
1936

Lilac
1932

Port of Shadows
1938

Stormy Waters
1941

The Darling of Paris
1931

Love Is My Profession
1958

Jean Moncorgé, la face cachée de Jean Gabin
2010

The Walls of Malapaga
1949

The Horse
1970

Everyone Has Their Chance
1930

Hi-Jack Highway
1955

They Were Five
1936

Marie of the Port
1950

Behold the Man
1935

Jean Gabin, le dernier des géants
2015

La Traversée de Paris
1956

The Moment of Truth
1952

La Bandera
1935

Pasha
1968

The President
1961

The Impostor
1944

Their Last Night
1953

Blood to the Head
1956

Rue de Paris
1959

The Dominici Affair
1973

The Image Book
2018

Rhine Virgin
1953

That Tender Age
1964

The Night Affair
1958

Maigret Sees Red
1963

God's Thunder
1965

The Upper Hand
1966

Deadlier Than the Male
1956

Under the Sign of the Bull
1969

The Counterfeiters of Paris
1961

The Little Rebels
1955

Action Man
1967

The Case of Dr. Laurent
1957

People of No Importance
1956

The Night Is My Kingdom
1951

Speaking of Murder
1957

The Baron of the Locks
1960

Lady Killer
1937

Fun in the Barracks
1932

House on the Waterfront
1955

Le Tunnel
1933

Coral Reefs
1939

Martin Roumagnac
1946

Maria Chapdelaine
1934

The Black Flag Waves Over the Scow
1971

Storms
1953

Victor
1951

Twelve Hours to Live
1950

Mirror
1947

The Messenger
1937

For One Night..!
1932

All That Is Not Worth Love
1931

Méphisto
1931

The Crowd Roars
1932

The Beautiful Sailor
1932

Gloria
1931

Happy Hearts
1932

L'Étoile de Valencia
1933

Goodbye Beautiful Days
1933

Holy Year
1976

Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau
2019

Zouzou
1934

Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case
1959

Varieté
1935