Eddie Constantine
| Eddie Constantine | |
|---|---|
|
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| Born |
Edward Constantinowsky October 29, 1917 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 25, 1993 (aged 75) Wiesbaden, Germany |
| Occupation | Film actor, singer |
Eddie Constantine (born Edward Constantinowsky; October 29, 1917 – February 25, 1993) was an American Frenchactor and singer who spent his career working in Europe.
He became well known for a series of French B movies in which he played secret agent Lemmy Caution and is now best remembered for his role in Jean-Luc Godard's philosophical science fiction film Alphaville (1965).
Constantine also appeared in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (as himself in Beware of a Holy Whore 1971), Lars von Trier, and Mika Kaurismäki. He continued reprising the role of Lemmy Caution well into his 70s; his final appearance as the character was in Jean-Luc Godard's Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (1991).
Edward Constantinowsky was born in Los Angeles to Jewish immigrant parents, a Russian father and Polish mother. In pursuit of a singing career, he went to Vienna for voice training, but when he returned to America his career didn't take off and he started taking work as a film extra. Having failed to make a career in America, Constantine returned to Europe in the 1950s and started singing and performing in Parisian cabarets. He was noticed by Edith Piaf, who cast him in the musical La p'tite Lili. Constantine also helped Piaf with translations for her 1956 album La Vie En Rose/Édith Piaf Sings In English, so that he has songwriting credits on the English versions of some of her most famous songs (especially "Hymne à l'amour"/"Hymn to Love").
In the 1950s Constantine was a star in France due to his role as the hard-boiled detective/secret agent Lemmy Caution (from Peter Cheyney's novels) in a series of French B-pictures, including La môme vert-de-gris (1953), Cet homme est dangereux (1953), Ça va barder (1953), Je suis un sentimental (1955), Lemmy pour les dames (1961) and Your Turn, Darling (1963).
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