Louis de Funès
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Wikipedia
Featured: A Scheme for abolishing all Words is one of the wittiest and smartest comments on semantics. (Illustration: extreme close-up from the movie "The Big Swallow" (1901), produced and directed by James Williamson (1855-1933) |
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (July 31 1914 – January 27 1983) was a French actor who is considered by many to be one of the giants of French comedy. His acting style is remembered for its high energy performance, a wide range of facial expressions and an engaging, snappy impatience.
He was enormously successful in several countries for many years — France, also in French-speaking Canada, Bulgaria, Hungary, Iran, Spain, Germany, Belgium, former Yugoslavia, The Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Albania, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, China and the Soviet Union — but remained almost unknown in the English-speaking world. He was only noted in the United States in 1974 with the release of The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob. In a 1968 poll, he was voted France's favorite actor. In a personal statement he claimed only to be interested in films that would draw an audience of 500,000 at least.
