Quand On S'promene Au Bord De L'eau - Music

Jean Gabin 17 May 1904 – 15 November 1976 Was A French Actor And Sometime Singer. Life And Career Gabin Was Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé In Paris The Son Of Madeleine Petit And Ferdinand Moncorgé A Cafe Entertainer Whose Stage Name Was Gabin. 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. The Son Of Cabaret Entertainers He Attended The Lycée Janson De Sailly. Leaving School Early He Worked As A Laborer Until The Age Of 19 When He Entered Show Business With A Bit Part In A Folies Bergères Production. He Continued Performing In A Variety Of Minor Roles Before Going Into The Military.
After Completing His Military Service Gabin 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 He Easily Made The Transition To Talkies In A 1930 Pathé Frères Production Titled Chacun Sa Chance. Playing Secondary Roles Gabin Made More Than A Dozen Films Over The Next Four Years Including Films Directed By Maurice And Jacques Tourneur. However He Only Gained Real Recognition For His Performance In Maria Chapdelaine A 1934 Production Directed By Julien Duvivier. Cast As A Romantic Hero In A 1936 War Drama Titled La Bandera This Second Duvivier-Directed Film Established Gabin As A Major Star. The Following Year He Teamed Up With Duvivier Again This Time In The Highly Successful Pépé Le Moko Its Popularity Brought Gabin International Recognition. That Same Year He Starred In The Jean Renoir Film La Grande Illusion An Anti-War Film That Ran At A New York City Theatre For An Unprecedented Six Months. This Was Followed By Another One 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.
Flooded With Offers From Hollywood For A Time Gabin Turned Them All Down Until The Outbreak Of World War II. Following The German Occupation Of France He Joined Jean Renoir And Julien Duvivier In The United States. Divorced From His Second Wife In 1939 During His Time In Hollywood Gabin Began A Torrid Romance With Actress Marlene Dietrich. However His Films In America - Moontide 1942 And The Impostor 1944 The Later Reuniting Him With Duvivier - Were Not Successful.
A Difficult Personality He Did Serious Damage To His Hollywood Career While Working For RKO Pictures. Scheduled To Star In An RKO Film At The Last Minute He Demanded Dietrich Be Given The Co-Starring Role. The Studio Refused. After Gabin Remained Steadfast In His Demand He Was Fired And The Film Project Was Shelved.
Undaunted Jean Gabin Joined General Charles De Gaulle's Free French Forces And Earned The Médaille Militaire And A Croix De Guerre For His Wartime Valor Fighting With The Allies In North Africa. Following D-Day Gabin Was Part Of The Military Contingent That Entered A Liberated Paris.
In 1946 Gabin Was Hired By Marcel Carné To Star In The Film Les Portes De La Nuit But His Conduct Got Him Fired Again. He Then Found A French Producer And Director Willing To Cast Him And Marlene Dietrich Together But Their Film Martin Roumagnac Was Not A Success And Their Personal Relationship Soon Ended. Following Another Box Office Failure In 1947 Gabin Returned To The Stage But There Too The Production Was Another Financial Disaster. Nevertheless He Was Cast In The Lead Role Of The 1949 René Clément Film Au-Delà Des Grilles That Won The Academy Award For Best Foreign Language Film. Despite This Recognition The Film Did Not Do Well At The French Box Office And The Next Five Years Brought Little More Than Repeated Box Office Failures. Gabin And Jacques Prévert In 1961.
Gabin's Career Seemed Headed For Oblivion. However He Made A Comeback In The 1954 Film Touchez Pas Au Grisbi Don't Touch The Loot . Directed By Jacques Becker His Performance Earned Him Critical Acclaim And The Film Was A Very Profitable International Success. Later He Worked Once Again With Jean Renoir In French Cancan With María Félix And Françoise Arnoul. Over The Next Twenty Years Gabin Made Close To 50 More Films Most Of Them Very Successful Commercially And Critically Including Many For Gafer Films His Production Partnership With Fellow Actor Fernandel.
His Co-Stars Included Leading Figures Of Post-War Cinema Such As Brigitte Bardot En Cas De Malheur Alain Delon Le Clan Des Siciliens Mélodie En Sous-Sol And Deux Hommes Dans La Ville Jean-Paul Belmondo Un Singe En Hiver And Louis De Funès Le Tatoué .
Gabin Died Of Leukaemia At The American Hospital Of Paris In The Parisian Suburb Of Neuilly-Sur-Seine. His Body Was Cremated And With Full Military Honours His Ashes Were Dispersed Into The Sea From A Military Ship.
Considered One Of The Great Stars Of French Cinema He Was Made A Member Of The Légion D'honneur. The Musée Jean Gabin In His Native Town Mériel Contains His Story And Features His War And Film Memorabilia. read less