Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais, known professionally as Jean Marais, was a French actor, film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer and photographer.
36 Facts About Jean Marais
2.
Jean Marais performed in over 100 films and was the muse and lover of acclaimed director Jean Cocteau.
3.
Jean Marais' first role was an uncredited bit in Song of the Streets and he was in Etienne.
4.
Jean Marais was in a 1937 stage production of Oedipe directed by Charles Dullin, where he was seen by Jean Cocteau.
5.
Jean Marais impressed Cocteau, who cast the actor in his play Les Chevaliers de la table ronde.
6.
Jean Marais appeared in Cocteau's play Les Parents terribles, supposedly based on Jean Marais' home life, which was a great success.
7.
Jean Marais had bigger film parts in The Pavilion Burns directed by Jacques de Baroncelli, and The Four Poster directed by Roland Tual.
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Jean Cocteau 8.
Jean Marais performed briefly with the Comedie-Francaise, then left acting for a time for fight in Alsace with the Free French Forces, winning the Croix de Guerre.
9.
Jean Marais was the male lead in Voyage Without Hope with Simone Renant directed by Christian-Jaque.
10.
Jean Marais became a star in Beauty and the Beast, written and directed by Cocteau.
11.
Jean Marais performed in a popular revival of Cocteau's 1938 play Les Parents terribles on stage.
12.
Jean Marais did To the Eyes of Memory with Michele Morgan for director Jean Delannoy, a big commercial success, then Les Parents Terribles for Cocteau again.
13.
Jean Marais did Orpheus with Cocteau, which was regarded as a classic.
14.
Jean Marais did two films for Yves Allegret: Miracles Only Happen Once with Alida Valli and Leathernose.
15.
Jean Marais starred in a version of The Count of Monte Cristo that was hugely popular.
16.
Jean Marais then made some all-star Guitry films, Royal Affairs in Versailles, Napoleon and If Paris Were Told to Us ; School for Love for Allegret, with a young Brigitte Bardot, a box office flop; Kiss of Fire for Robert Darene; and The Whole Town Accuses.
17.
Jean Marais starred in the swashbuckler Le Bossu, appearing alongside Bourvil and directed by Andre Hunebelle which was a mammoth hit launched a new stage of his career.
18.
Jean Marais was reunited with Cocteau for Testament of Orpheus.
19.
Jean Marais played Lazare Carnot in the all-star The Battle of Austerlitz, then was reunited with Bourvil and Hunebelle in another swashbuckler, Captain Blood.
20.
Jean Marais did Princess of Cleves for Delannoy with Marina Vlady based on a script by Cocteau.
21.
Marais had a supporting role in Napoleon II, l'aiglon then did some films in Italy: Romulus and the Sabines with Roger Moore, and Pontius Pilate, where Marais played the title role alongside Jeanne Crain and Basil Rathbone.
22.
Jean Marais was reunited with Hunebelle for The Mysteries of Paris, then did The Iron Mask for Decoin.
23.
The success of the James Bond films saw Marais cast in an espionage movie, The Reluctant Spy for director Jean-Charles Dudrumet.
24.
Jean Marais did a comedy, Friend of the Family, then had a huge box office success with Fantomas, playing the villain and hero, under the direction of Hunebelle.
25.
Jean Marais did Ivory Coast Adventure directed by Christian-Jaque; Killer Spy, directed by Georges Lampin; a sequel to The Reluctant Spy; and Operation Double Cross, a spy film; then a Fantomas sequel, Fantomas Unleashed.
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Jean Cocteau 26.
Jean Marais played Simon Templar in The Saint Lies in Wait for Christian-Jaque, and a French general in Seven Guys and a Gal, directed by Bernard Borderie.
27.
Jean Marais went on to appear in Le Paria ; Renaud et Armide, based on a play by Cocteau; and Le jouet criminel, a short.
28.
Jean Marais was in the miniseries Karatekas and co and Joseph Balsamo, and did the TV movies Vaincre a Olympie and Les Parents terribles, based on the play by Cocteau.
29.
Jean Marais directed stage productions of Le bel indifferent and Les Parents terribles.
30.
Jean Marais performed on stage until his 80s, working as a sculptor.
31.
Jean Marais was featured in the 1995 documentary Screening at the Majestic, which is included on the 2003 DVD release of the restored print of Beauty and the Beast.
32.
Jean Marais appears on the cover sleeve of The Smiths single "This Charming Man".
33.
Jean Marais wrote an autobiography, Histoires de ma vie, published in 1975.
34.
Jean Marais is rumored to have been among the lovers of Umberto II of Italy.
35.
Jean Marais died from cardiovascular disease in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes in 1998.
36.
Jean Marais is interred in the Village cemetery at Vallauris, near Antibes.