Pierre Brasseur

4th generation of a famous family of actors (whose lineage began in 1820 and continues today with Claude and Alexandre Brasseur), Pierre Brasseur is the son of Germaine Brasseur and Georges Espinasse. Born on December 22, 1905 in Paris under the name Pierre Albert Espinasse, he adopted his mother's pseudonym when he decided to try a career as an actor.

He trained by taking drama lessons at the Maubel conservatory. His teachers will be Harry Baur and Fernand Ledoux. At the age of 19, he made his debut in theater and cinema. His first film, in 1924, was La Fille de l'eau, under the direction of a certain Jean Renoir, whose first feature film! The young actor plays in about thirty short and feature films before meeting Jacques Prévert for the shooting of Un Oiseau rare by Richard Pottier in 1935. It is the beginning of a long collaboration since the actor, and the poet and screenwriter will work together on ten films. Among them, the famous Quai des brumes by Marcel Carné in 1938. His role alongside Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan helps to make it popular with the general public. That same year,

In 1943, he landed a memorable role, that of an alcoholic painter, in Jean Gremillon's Summer Light. Still with Jacques Prévert in the dialogues, the film tells the story of two couples who tear each other apart. Then, seven years after "Quai des brumes", Brasseur plays the thunderous Frédérick Lemaitre in Les Enfants du paradis, under the direction of Marcel Carné. He found the director for a third time the following year for Les Portes de la nuit. In 1949, he gave the reply to Anouk Aimée and Serge Reggiani in Les Amants de Verona by André Cayatte.

In the 1950s, he joined the prestigious castings of Le Plaisir by Max Ophüls and Napoleon by Sacha Guitry. In 1957, he shared the poster for Porte des Lilas with Georges Brassens, who made his film debut. This film noir by René Clair is an adaptation of the novel "La Grande Ceinture" by René Fallet. This decade will also be marked by his role in Les Grandes Familles by Denys de La Patellière. Adapted from the novel by Maurice Druon, the feature film takes as its starting point the conflict between two cousins ​​(Brasseur and Jean Gabin). His earthy dialogues are signed Michel Audiard.

Brasseur father and son give each other a counterpart for the first time in the cinema in the 60s: first in Les Yeux sans visage by Georges Franju (1960) and Lucky Jo by Michel Deville (1964). Pierre Brasseur will turn in around 80 films, multiplying the registers and the directors. His theater career will also be very prolific both as an author, actor and director. His latest feature film is Ettore Scola's The Most Beautiful Evening of My Life. He died shortly before the end of filming on August 16, 1972 in Brunico, Italy.