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Victor Francen was born on 5 August 1888 in Tienen, Flanders, Belgium. He was an actor, known for Hold Back the Dawn (1941), Hell and High Water (1954) and The Beast with Five Fingers (1946). He was married to Mary Marquet, Renée Corciade and Eleanor Kreutzer. He died on 18 November 1977 in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jean Murat was born on 13 July 1888 in Périgueux, Dordogne, France. He was an actor, known for Carnival in Flanders (1935), Les mutinés de l'Elseneur (1936) and L'homme à l'Hispano (1933). He was married to Annabella. He died on 5 January 1968 in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Yvette Guilbert was born on 20 January 1865 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Faust (1926), The Two Orphans (1933) and Iceland Fisherman (1934). She was married to Max Schiller. She died on 3 February 1944 in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.- Director
- Writer
Pierre J. Capretz was the creator of the popular French language instruction program "French In Action", that continues to be shown on many public television stations.
Born in 1925 in Mazamet, France, Capretz attended the University of Paris. He arrived in the United States, specifically in Gainesville, Florida in 1949, on an army boat. The morning after his arrival, he began teaching Latin at the University of Florida, eventually moving on to teach French. In 1956, Capretz went on to become a professor at Yale University until his retirement in 2003, after which he moved back to France. During his tenure at Yale, he developed the "French In Action" method, where rather than have students learn the standard way of simply studying from textbooks, they would be immersed with visual and audio context of the courses by using pictures of France and recordings.
In 1985, filming began on the "French In Action" series (later airing on most PBS stations in 1987). The 52-episode lighthearted series tells the story of a young couple falling in love while traveling throughout France while dealing with everyday life, family and friends. When the storyline ends in each episode, Capretz becomes a guide and mentor by instructing grammar lessons through recaps of the previously shown scenes. The entire course (sans the orientation episode) is spoken only in French. After his retirement, he continued working on a third edition of "French in Action" as well as other projects. In 2012, he attended a reunion for the 25th anniversary of the "FIA" series, featuring those involved in the PBS production.
Professor Capretz passed away on April 2, 2014 at the age of 89, in Aix-en-Provence, France. He is survived by his longtime companion, Sylvie Mathé, their son Pierre Olivier Mathé, and also three sons (Michel, Yves, and Alain) from his previous marriage, and one grandson.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dynamic Zappy Max was one of the most popular radio hosts in France and Belgium from the 1950's until the 1970's. He worked for Radio Luxembourg (now RTL) and Radio Monte Carlo (RMC); his partner was Mr. Champagne. He also appeared in several French films, often as himself.
Zappy Max is the pseudonym of Maxime Doucet, who was born in Paris in 1921. His father gave him a passion for the music-hall. There he began his career as a singer with the orchestra of Jacques Hélian, with whom he remained for three years. He then advanced to radio, where he hosted game shows such as Quitte ou double (Double or Nothing) and Crochet radiophonique for Radio Circus, with whom he traveled all over France and Belgium. He did several radio serials: Vas-y Zappy (Go Zappy), Ça va bouillir (It Will Boil) and C'est parti mon Zappy (It's Gone My Zappy). His work at Radio Luxembourg ended in 1966 when it became RTL, but continued his radio career at Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) by hosting the game Quitte ou double (Double or Nothing) again from 1974 until 1982/1983.
Zappy Max performed in plays and in several films, making his film debut with a bit part in the anthology film Souvenirs perdus/Lost Souvenirs (1950, Christian Jacque) and appeared as himself in Quitte ou Double/Double or Nothing (1952, Robert Vernay). He had his first leading role in the comedy Faites-Moi Confiance/Trust Me (1954, Gilles Grangier). His other films include Les Chiffoniers d'Emmaüs/The Chiffoniers Emmaus (1955, Robert Darène) with Dany Carrel, Les lumières du soir/The Evening Lights (1956, Robert Vernay) with Gaby Morlay, and Printemps à Paris/Spring in Paris (1957, Jean-Claude Roy) starring Dominique Boschero. His last film appearance was in the drama Outremer/Overseas (1990, Brigitte Roüan) with Nicole Garcia.
Zappy Max published his memoirs in Ça va bouillir/It Will Boil! (2000) and in L'âge d'or de la radio/ The Golden Age of Radio (2004). He was awarded the Prix Jean Nohain in 2005. A comedy entitled Zappy Max: ça va bouillir/Zappy Max: It's Going to Boil was written by Maurice Tillieux for the journal Pilote in 1959, and was republished in 2010 by Editions de l'Élan. That year Max also published a new book about his passion for the music-hall: Mes GEANTS du music-hall/My GIANTS of the Music-Hall. Indefatigable, he announced a new book, Mes Z d'or... Mémoires d'un cinéphile My Golden Z ... Memoirs of a film buff, with portraits of his favorite actors.- Actress
Born in 1908, Suzet Maïs was active as an actress in the theater, in the movies and later on television from the late 1920s to 1966, the year of her last appearance in the TV series, 'Mésentente Cordiale'.
On the boards, she can boast a rich career with roles in plays by Molière, Tristan Bernard, Jean Giraudoux, Armand Salacrou, Oscar Wilde, Christopher Fry, Clare Booth, etc.
On the big screen , she participated in fewer important works, although she did work for directors such as Pierre Chenal, André Cayatte, Christian-Jaque or Claude Autant-Lara. In fact, whether or not the film she was in was memorable is not the point since the memorable thing in it, among others of the same temperament, was her. Not on account of her beauty. She was appealing: with a fine silhouette, a smooth and harmonious face and full, sensual lips reminiscent of Ginette Leclerc, she was more than just presentable. No, what really set her apart was her talent for playing the mean ladies, whether scheming or simply haughty, Preferably socialites. Her character might be charming but in this case her partner(s) had better beware the rattlesnake lurking in her. A haughty, icy gaze and all of a sudden she pounced on her prey and bit.
Remember how she treated poor André Berley in « Le Martyre de l'obèse », poor Blanchette Brunoy in « Claudine à l'école », poor Pierre Larquey (her father) in « Le Père Goriot », poor Micheline Presle in « Boule de Suif ».
Suzet Maïs was a real pest on the screen, but the kind of pest we love to hate.
