Daniel Gélin
Acting
Born May 19, 1921, Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France
Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin (19 May 1921 – 29 November 2002) was a French actor. Gélin was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, the son of Yvonne (née Le Méner) and Alfred Ernest Joseph Gélin. When he was ten, his family moved to Saint-Malo where Daniel went to college until he was expelled for 'uncouthness'. His father then found him a job in a shop that sold cans of salted cod. It was seeing the shooting of Marc Allégret's film Entrée des artistes that triggered his desire to go to Paris to train to be an actor. He trained at the Cours Simon in Paris before entering the Conservatoire national d'art dramatique. There he met Louis Jouvet and embarked on a theatrical career. He made his first film appearance in 1940 in Miquette and for several years was an extra or played small roles in French films. He appeared with Jean Gabin and Marlene Dietrich in Martin Roumagnac (1946). He won his first leading role in Rendez-vous de juillet (1949). From that time, he went on to appear in more than 150 films, including Max Ophüls' films La Ronde (1950) and Le Plaisir (1952), Jacques Becker's Édouard et Caroline (1951), Sacha Guitry's films Si Versailles m'était conté (Royal Affairs in Versailles) (1954) and Napoléon (1955), Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Jean Cocteau's Le Testament d'Orphée (1960), Le souffle au cœur (Murmur of the Heart) (1971), and La Nuit de Varennes (That Night in Varennes) (1982). He also wrote and directed one film, The Long Teeth, in 1952. Gélin was a leading man in French cinema during the 1950s, but his career declined with the coming of the New Wave. He worked in theater for several years, but later found new success on screen as a character actor. He appeared extensively in French films and television productions from the 1970s until his death, often playing cynical characters or grumpy old men. In 1946, Gélin married actress Danièle Delorme with whom he had a son, actor, director and producer Xavier Gélin. They divorced in 1954. While still married to Delorme, he had an affair with 17 year old model Marie Christine Schneider that produced a daughter, Maria Schneider. Due to his status as a married man, Gélin could not recognize Maria as his daughter. He visited the child several times but eventually severed his relationship with her mother. Maria Schneider and Daniel Gélin reconnected when she was sixteen and came to visit him. They remained in contact, although their relationship was irregular. Gélin was married to model Sylvie Hirsch from 1954 until their divorce in 1968. This marriage produced three children, Pascal (who died aged one year), Fiona , and Manuel, the latter two also becoming actors. In 1973, he remarried to Lydie Zaks with whom he had a daughter, Laura. Gélin died in Paris on 29 November 2002 of kidney failure. Source: Article "Daniel Gélin" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Filmography
- 2022Belmondo: The Incorrigible
- 2002À l'abri des regards indiscrets — Abdel-Robert
- 1997Obsession — Xavier Favre
- 1997Une femme d'action — Charles
- 1996Ghost with Driver — Le passeur (Le guide céleste)
- 1996Les Bidochon — Le père Bidochon
- 1996Men, Women: A User's Manual — le veuf
- 1995Runaways — Bruno
- 1994Fear City: A Family-Style Comedy — Mr. Mireille, the 2nd projectionist
- 1994Poorly Extinguished Fires — The gentleman from the beach
- 1994Pushing the Limits — Le père de Fiona
- 1994Warrior Spirit — John Ball
- 1993Coup de jeune — Gaudeamus at 70
- 1993De force avec d'autres — L'autre lui-même
- 1993Roulez jeunesse ! — Jean Moulinier
- Iran: Days of Crisis — Shah
- Maigret — Le père Nicolas
- 1991Mauvaise fille — Fernand
- 1991The Professional Secrets of Dr. Apfelgluck — Roland Grumaud
- 1991Un type bien — Docteur Avril
- 1990Mr. Frost — Simon Scolari
- 1990Promotion canapé — Le responsable des inspecteurs de la Justice
- 1989The summer of all sorrows — papy
- 1988Dandin — Monsieur de Sotenville
- 1988Itinerary of a Spoiled Child — Pierre Duvivier, Albert's father
- 1988Life Is a Long Quiet River — Docteur Mavial
- Marc et Sophie — Edmond, le beau-père
- 1987Public Security — Martino Morando
- 1987Pétition — Stanek
- The Legacy of Guldenburgs — Gregor Baschkurin
- 1987Via Montenapoleone — padre di Elena
- 1986Killing Cars — Kellermann
- Le Tiroir secret — Jean-Pierre Jolivet
- 1985Blitz — Kellerman
- Olga e i suoi figli — Il primario
- 1985The Children — Enrico
- 1984Un delitto — Judge Freshville
- 1982Guy de Maupassant — Gustave
- 1982That Night of Varennes — De Wendel
- 1981Season of Peace in Paris
- 1981Signé Furax — Broutechoux
- Tarendol — Bazalo
- 1979Arrête de ramer, t'attaques la falaise ! — Don Gomez
- 1978La Discorde — Bernard
- 1978Schwüle Tage — Vater
- 1978The Suspended Vocation — Malagrida
- 1977We Will All Meet in Paradise — Bastien, stage director
- 1976La Jalousie — Albert Blondel
- 1975Dialogues of the Exiles
- 1975Trop c'est trop — Flic
- 1974Ariane — The comedian
- 1974No Pockets in a Shroud — Laurence
- 1973Double Assassinat dans la rue Morgue — Dupin
- 1973The Police Serve the Citizens? — Brera
- 1972Far from Dallas — Jean
- Arsène Lupin — Daubrecq
- 1971Murmur of the Heart — Charles Chevalier
- 1971Swedish Fly Girls — André
- 1971Un enfant dans la ville — Gustave, the bartender
- 1970The Servant — Dr. Robert Marbois
- 1969Destroy, She Said — Bernard Alione
- 1969Sadistic Hallucinations — Charles
- 1969Slogan — Evelyne's father
- 1968The Most Beautiful Month — Le capitaine
- 1968The Truce — Arno
- 1967Witness Out of Hell — Bora Petrović
- 1966An Affair of States — Ballard
- 1966Black Sun — Guy Rodier
- 1966Is Paris Burning? — Yves Bayet
- 1966Line of Demarcation — Doctor Jacques Lafaye
- 1966The Sultans — Léo
- 1966À belles dents — Bernard
- Les Saintes Chéries — Pierre Lagarde
- 1965The Boy and the Ball and the Hole in the Wall — Gunther Smith
- 1965The Hour of Truth — Davod
- 1965The Sleeping Car Murders — Le vétérinaire titulaire, chargé de cours (uncredited)
- 1965Uncertain Verification — (archive footage)
- 1964Cherchez l'idole — Self, guest at Sylvie Vartan's show (uncredited)
- 1964How to Make a French Dish — Raymond
- 1964Les murs — François Bonjean
- 1963Portuguese Vacation — Daniel
- 1963Règlements de compte — Nicky
- 1963Three Girls in Paris — Raymond
- 1962Hitch-Hike — le comédien qui répète "Cyrano"
- 1961In the Mouth of the Wolf — Un drogué
- 1961Réveille-toi, chérie — Masure
- 1961Shadows of Adultery — Eric Kraemmer
- 1961The Season for Love — Jacques Saint-Ford
- 1960Carthage in Flames — Phegor
- 1960Testament of Orpheus — L'interne (non crédité)
- 1960Three Etc.'s and the Colonel — Lieutenant Miguel Villard
- 1959Julie la rousse — Édouard Lavigne / Jean Lavigne
- 1959This Desired Body — Guillaume Féraud
- 1958Follow Me Young Man — Michel Corbier
- 1958Port of Desire — Pierre
- 1958Three Days to Live — Simon Belin
- 1957Mort en fraude — Paul Horcier
- 1957There's Always a Price Tag — Robert Montillon
- 1957Too Many Lovers — Alain Cartier
- 1956Good Evening Paris — Georges Bernier / Self
- 1956I'll Get Back to Kandara — Bernard Cormière
- 1956Maid in Paris — Antoine du Merlet
- 1956Plucking the Daisy — Daniel Roy
- 1956The Man Who Knew Too Much — Louis Bernard
- 1955Lovers' Net — Pierre Roubier
- 1955Napoleon — Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1954Love in a Hot Climate — Ricardo Garcia
- 1954On Trial — Léonard Maurizius
- 1954Public Opinion — Paolo Jaier
- 1954Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances — Narrator (voice)
- 1954The Cheerful Squadron — Frédéric d'Héricourt
- 1954Woman of Rome — Mino
- 1953Les Dents longues — Louis Commandeur, Director, Adaptation
- 1953Royal Affairs in Versailles — Jean Collinet
- 1953Rue de l'estrapade — Robert
- 1953Stain on the Snow — Frank Friedmayer
- 1953The Slave — Michel Landa
- 1953Voice of Silence — Francesco Ferro
- 1952Adorable Creatures — André Noblet
- 1952Le Plaisir — Jean
- 1952The Moment of Truth — Daniel Prévost
- 1952Torticola versus Frankensberg — The Man who sleeps in a Coffin
- 1951Chicago Digest — Coffino
- 1951Dirty Hands — Hugo
- 1951Edward and Caroline — Edouard Mortier
- 1951La légende cruelle — Narrator (voice)
- 1951Young Love — Jean Bompart
- 1950God Needs Men — Joseph Le Berre
- 1950La Ronde — Alfred, le jeune homme
- 1949Rendezvous in July — Lucien Bonnard
- 1949The Hell of Lost Pilots — Lieutenant Villeneuve
- 1948The Murdered Model — Léopold
- 1947La Nuit de Sybille — Stany
- 1947Mirror — Charles
- 1947The Woman in Red — Saladin
- 1946A Friend Will Come Tonight — Pierre Ribault
- 1946Martin Roumagnac — Le surveillant du collège
- 1946The Temptation of Barbizon — Michel
- 1945L'Enquête du 58
- 1945Les Cadets de l'océan — Philippe Demantes
- 1944The Little Ones of the Flower Platform — (uncredited)
- 1943Lucrèce — College student
- 1942Soyez les bienvenus
- 1942Strangers in the House — (uncredited)
- 1941Her First Affair — Chauveau-Laplace (uncredited)
- 1940Miquette
- 1940Radio Surprises — Extra (uncredited)
Appearances as themselves (19)
- 2009Max par Marcel: Lola Montès — Self (archive footage)
- 2008Working with Max Ophuls: Daniel Gélin on "La Ronde" — Self (archive footage)
- 2008Working with Max Ophuls: Daniel Gélin on "Le Plaisir" — Self (archive footage)
- Les Nuls, l'émission — Self - Guest
- 1990Max Ophüls - Den schönen guten Waren — Self
- 1987James Stewart: A Wonderful Life — Self (archive footage)
- Sacrée soirée — Self
- Aujourd'hui la vie — Self
- Ciné regards — Self
- 1977Urgent ou à quoi bon exécuter des projets puisque le projet est en lui-même une jouissance suffisante — Self
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche — Self
- Midi Première — Self
- Numéro un — Self
- Système 2 — Self
- Der große Preis — Self
- Le Grand Échiquier — Self
- Cinépanorama — Self
- Reflets de Cannes — Self
- 1952Venom and Eternity — Self