Jean Marais

Jean Marais Headshot

Actor • Director • Sculptor • Writer • Photographer

Birth Date: December 11, 1913

Death Date: November 8, 1998

Birth Place: Cherbourg, France

Partners: Jean Cocteau

Although he harbored a desire to act, Jean Marais was rejected by the top drama schools in France. The son of a doctor from whom his mother separated in 1917, he came to the attention of film director Maurice L'Herbier who cast him in small roles in "L'Epervier" and "L'Aventurier" (both 1933). Marais worked at the theater run by Charles Dullin in return for acting classes and a chance to play minor stage roles.

In 1937, the actor met the man who would change his life--poet, playwright and designer Jean Cocteau. They became lovers and Cocteau began to utilize the handsome Marais in various stage productions like "Oedipe Roi" and as Sir Galahad in "Les Chevaliers de la table rond." The writer created the role of the smothered son in "Les Parents terribles" especially for the actor, which proved an artistic high point for both.

With his striking looks, ethereal charm and vulnerability, Marais proved a perfect choice to embody Cocteau's tragic heroes. He first made his mark in the author's retelling of the Tristan and Isolde myth in "L'Eternal retourne/The Eternal Return" (1943), directed by Jean Delannoy. But perhaps their best-known collaboration remains the poetic masterpiece "La Belle et la bete/Beauty and the Beast" (1945).

Of their remaining films together, the 1948 version of "Les parents terribles" ranks as the best. By the time of "Orphee" (1949), their personal relationship was ending, although they remained close friends. The 1950s saw Marais undertake swashbuckling roles and become France's version of Errol Flynn in a number of popular but critically-derided vehicles like "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1954) and "Le Bossu" (1959).

On the advice of Cocteau, he accepted the role of "Fantomas" in the 1964 remake and went on to essay the athletic master criminal in several sequels. In 1970, Jacques Demy tapped him to appear as the widowed king seeking a new queen in the fairy tale "Peau d'ane/Donkey Skin," which was an homage to Cocteau. By then, though, his film career was all but over and Marais returned to the stage, reviving Cocteau plays and appearing as "King Lear."

He reteamed with Demy to play the Devil in "Parking" (1985), an ill-advised musical version of "Orphee." His last screen appearances were in Claude Lelouch's "Les Miserables" (1994) and Bernardo Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty" (1995).

Credits

À bout portant

Guest
Show
2014

Extrait : Retour de flamme

Actor
Show
2014

30 millions d'amis

Guest
Show
2000

Federico Fellini: Un autoritratto ritrovato

Self
Movie
2000

Stealing Beauty

Actor
M. Guillaume
Movie
1996

Les misérables

Actor
Mgr Myriel
Movie
1995

Parking

Actor
Hades
Movie
1985

Peau D'ane

Actor
Le premier roi
Movie
1970

Le Paria

Actor
Manuel Thomas
Movie
1969

Sept hommes et une garce

Actor
Movie
1967

Fantômas contre Scotland Yard

Actor
Fantômas/Fandor
Movie
1967

Le Saint prend l'affût

Actor
Movie
1966

Napoléon II: l'aiglon

Actor
General de Montholon
Movie
1966

Regreso de Fantomas

Actor
Movie
1965

Fantômas se déchaîne

Actor
Fantômas/Fandor/Professeur Lefèvre
Movie
1965

Train d'enfer

Actor
Movie
1965

Killer Spy

Actor
Stanislas Dubois
Movie
1965

Operation Double Cross

Actor
Antoine Donadieu
Movie
1965

Man From Cocody

Actor
Jean-Luc Hervé de la Tommeraye
Movie
1965

Patate

Actor
Noël Carradine
Movie
1964

Fantômas

Actor
Fantômas/Fandor
Movie
1964

Invincible Swordsman

Actor
François de Capestan
Movie
1963

The Reluctant Spy

Actor
Stanislas
Movie
1963

Le Masque de fer

Actor
Charles d'Artagnan
Movie
1962

Les Mystères de Paris

Actor
Rodolphe de Sombreuil
Movie
1962

The Man in the Iron Mask

Actor
D'Artagnan
Movie
1962

Devil of Paris

Actor
Rodolphe de Sombreuil
Movie
1962

Le capitaine Fracasse

Actor
Baron Philippe de Sigognac
Movie
1961

Romulus and the Sabines

Actor
Marte
Movie
1961

Pontius Pilate

Actor
Ponzio Pilato
Movie
1961

Blood on His Sword

Actor
Robert de Neuville
Movie
1961

Battle of Austerlitz

Actor
Carnot
Movie
1960

Le capitan

Actor
Le Capitan
Movie
1960

La princesse de Clèves

Actor
Le Prince de Clèves
Movie
1960

Le Testament d'Orphée

Actor
Oedipe
Movie
1960

Le bossu

Actor
Henri de Lagardère
Movie
1959

Nuits blanches

Actor
Movie
1958

Typhon sur Nagasaki

Actor
Pierre Marsac
Movie
1958

Chaque jour a son secret

Actor
Movie
1958

Girl in His Pocket

Actor
Prof. Jerome
Movie
1958

King on Horseback

Actor
Henri La Tour
Movie
1958

S.O.S. Noronha

Actor
Movie
1957

White Nights

Actor
L'inquilino
Movie
1957

Typhoon on Nagasaki

Actor
Pierre Marsac
Movie
1957

La tour, prends garde!

Actor
Movie
1957

忘れえぬ慕情

Actor
Movie
1956

Si Paris nous était conté

Actor
Movie
1956

Elena and Her Men

Actor
Général François Rollan
Movie
1956

The Count of Monte-Cristo

Actor
Edmond Dantès/Comte de Monte-Cristo
Movie
1955

Royal Affairs in Versailles

Actor
Louis XV
Movie
1954

Le comte de Monte-Cristo: la vengeance

Actor
Edmond Dantès
Movie
1954

Der Graf von Monte Christo - 1. Teil: Glück und Verbannung

Actor
Edmond Dantès/Comte de Monte-Cristo
Movie
1954

Der Graf von Monte Christo - 2. Teil: Heimkehr und Rache

Actor
Edmond Dantès/Comte de Monte-Cristo
Movie
1954

Le comte de Monte-Cristo : la trahison

Actor
Edmond Dantès
Movie
1954

Futures vedettes

Actor
Eric Walter
Movie
1954

La maison du silence

Actor
Movie
1953

The Voice of Silence

Actor
L'ancien maquisard
Movie
1953

Si Versailles m'était conté

Actor
Movie
1953

Inside a Girls' Dormitory

Actor
Inspecteur Désiré Marco
Movie
1953

Julietta

Actor
André Landrecourt
Movie
1953

Nez de cuir, gentilhomme d'amour

Actor
Roger de Tainchebraye
Movie
1952

Les miracles n'ont lieu qu'une fois

Actor
Movie
1951

Le Château de verre

Actor
Rémy Marsay
Movie
1950

OrpheusStream

Actor
Orphée
Movie
1950
97%

Le secret de Mayerling

Actor
Movie
1949

Les Parents terribles

Actor
Michel
Movie
1949

想い出の瞳

Actor
Movie
1948

The Eagle Has Two Heads

Actor
Stanislas
Movie
1948

Ruy Blas

Actor
Ruy Blas
Movie
1947

L'aigle à deux têtes

Actor
Movie
1947

Carmen

Actor
Don José
Movie
1947

Les Chouans

Actor
Le marquis de Montauran
Movie
1946

Beauty and the BeastStream

Actor
Avenant/The Beast/The Prince
Movie
1946
96%

Voyage Sans Espoir

Actor
Movie
1943

L'Éternel retour

Actor
Patrice
Movie
1943

L'aventurier

Actor
Le jeune ouvrier
Movie
1934