Jean Martin

Jean Martin 6 March 1922 2 February 2009 was a French actor Coming from a Berry family he spent part of his childhood in Biarritz where his father worked for a furrier During the Second World War he hid to escape the Forced Labor Service Staying in Paris he appeared in two films by Maurice Tourneur The Devils Hand 1942 then Cécile Est Mort 1943 At the twilight of the forties he started doing theater In 1953 Jean Martin gained notoriety by playing the new play by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot under the direction of Roger Blin becoming the first to take on the role of Lucky The same Roger Blin produced End of the Game 1957 by the same Beckett a few years later and entrusted the same Jean Martin with the role of Clov In 1960 Jean Martin staged his first play Letter Dead by Robert Pinget In 1962 he again staged a play The Representatives by Aglaé and Mona Mitropoulos adapted by Michel Arnaud Alongside this theatrical career which would prove to be rich Jean Martin returned to cinema NotreDame de Paris 1956 by Jean Delannoy Paris belongs to us 1958 by Jacques Rivette Ballade for a thug 1962 by JeanClaude Bonnardot La foire aux dunces 1963 by Louis Daquin and À toi de fait mignon 1963 by Bernard Borderie In 1960 he was a signatory of the Manifesto of the 121 entitled Declaration on the right to insubordination in the Algerian war In 1965 a role marked his career that of Colonel Mathieu in a film retracing the struggle in 1957 for control of the Casbah district of Algiers between FLN militants and French soldiers The Battle of Algiers Three years after the end of the Algerian War the subject is still sensitive on each side of the Mediterranean the film was banned in France upon its release then censored until 2004 Jean Martin very convincing in this role of division commander historically the commander is General Massu but the character is inspired by Colonel Bigeard is the only professional actor in the film His large stature his strong personality and his imperious face predispose him to notable roles generally showing authority chief doctor police commissioner highranking military officer ecclesiastical dignitary one of the most impressive will undoubtedly be that of a doctor vehemently expelling from his hospital a judge Fayard Patrick Dewaere a bit of a cavalier in Le Juge Fayard Dit Le Shérif 1976 Claude Zidi mocks these roles in his comedies principal in La moutarde monte au nose 1974 bank director in La Course À LÉchalote 1975 chief doctor in Laile ou la thigh 1976 principal inspector in Bête mais disciplined 1979 and examiner in Inspecteur la Bavure 1980 Alongside JeanPaul Belmondo he is cardinal in LHériter 1972 and divisional commissioner in Peur Sur La ville 1975 But also alongside Terence Hill in My Name is Nobody 1973 in the role of Sullivan or One Genius Two Associates One Bell 1975 After devoting a large part of his career to the theater appearing in around fifty films Jean Martin died on February 2 2009 in Paris