Jean Servais | |
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Jean Servais in trailer for "La fièvre monte à El Pao" (1959)
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Born |
Jean Servais 24 September 1910 Antwerp, Belgium |
Died | 17 February 1976 Paris, France |
(aged 65)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1932–1939, 1948–1973 |
Spouse(s) | Dominique Blanchar |
Jean Servais (French: [sɛʁvɛ]; 24 September 1910 – 17 February 1976) was a Belgian film and stage actor. He acted in many 20th century French cinema productions, from the 1930s through the early 1970s.
He was married to Gilberte Graillot, and later actress Dominique Blanchar.
Servais trained at the Brussels Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, where he won the Second Prize. His acting skills came to the attention of Raymond Rouleau, and he was hired at the Théâtre du Marais, where he acted in Le mal de jeunesse, which was successful in Brussels and in Paris. He was also a member of Jean-Louis Barrault's theatre company.
His first film role was as the simple country dweller who was the victim of an error by the justice system in the film Criminel (1932), directed by Jack Forrester. Servais's film career continued in the 1930s with roles in films such as La Chanson De L'Adieu (1934) and La Vie Est Magnifique (1938). After a break in acting during World War II, he returned to the screen with roles in films such as La Danse De Mort (1948).
In the 1950s, he appeared in the crime drama Rififi (1955), which François Truffaut ranked as the best film noir, directed by American Jules Dassin, in which he played a leader of a gang of jewel thieves.
He appeared in another film directed by Jules Dassin in 1957, He Who Must Die (Celui qui doit mourir). He also appeared in a film written and directed by Luis Buñuel, La fièvre monte à El Pao (1959).