Maurice Ronet

Maurice Ronet

1927-04-13 – 1983-03-14 (age 55) Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France
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Biography

Maurice Ronet (13 April 1927 – 14 March 1983) was a French film actor, director, and writer.

Maurice Ronet was born Maurice Julien Marie Robinet in Nice, Alpes Maritimes. He was the only child of professional stage actors Émile Robinet and Gilberte Dubreuil. He made his stage debut at the age of 14 alongside his parents in Sacha Guitry's Deux couverts in Lausanne. After attending the Parisian acting school Centre du Spectacle de la Rue-Blanche, he entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1944, where Jean-Louis Barrault was one of his mentors. When he made his film debut at 22 in Jacques Becker's Rendez-vous de juillet (1949) in a role that was written specifically for him by Becker, he had little interest in pursuing an acting career.

After completing the film, he married Maria Pacôme (a French stage actress and playwright), and they departed to Moustiers-Sainte-Marie in Provence, where he tried his hand at ceramics. After completing his military service, he returned to Paris in the early 1950s where he took courses in philosophy and physics, and pursued his passion for literature, music (piano and organ), film and painting. His artwork, part of the peinture non figurative movement, was exhibited with friends Jean Dubuffet and Georges Mathieu. He also acted occasionally in small roles in the films of French directors like Yves Ciampi and René Wheeler, with ambitions of becoming a filmmaker himself. Gradually, however, he came to discover a freedom in acting and a creative satisfaction that provided a synthesis of all his interests.

Maurice Ronet became one of European cinema's more prolific actors. Between 1955 and 1975 he appeared in over 60 films. He often portrayed characters who were in conflict with themselves or society. He first garnered acclaim at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival for a supporting role in Jean Dreville's Endless Horizons (Horizons sans fin) and over the next few years as the romantic lead in André Michel's La sorcière (The Blonde Witch/The Sorceress, 1956) and in Jules Dassin's He Who Must Die (Celui qui doit mourir, 1957). It was at the presentation of "La Sorcière" at Cannes where he met a creative and an intellectual counterpart in Louis Malle. Two years later, he made his international box-office breakthrough as Julien Tavernier in Malle's first feature film Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud 1958), which features Jeanne Moreau. He originated the role of Philippe Greenleaf in Purple Noon (Plein soleil, 1960), René Clément's adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley. ...

Source: Article "Maurice Ronet" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

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Known For

Beau Pere
Beau Pere

1981

as Charly

Purple Noon
Purple Noon

1960

as Philippe Greenleaf

The Swimming Pool
The Swimming Pool

1969

as Harry

Elevator to the Gallows
Elevator to the Gallows

1958

as Julien Tavernier

Seduction
Seduction

1973

as Giuseppe Lagana

Sphinx
Sphinx

1981

as Yvon Mageot

The Unfaithful Wife
The Unfaithful Wife

1969

as Victor Pegala

The Vixen
The Vixen

1969

as Jérôme

Amador
Amador

1965

as Amador

House of Ricordi
House of Ricordi

1954

as Vincenzo Bellini

The Fire Within
The Fire Within

1963

as Alain Leroy

To the Bitter End
To the Bitter End

1975

as Paul Jordan

Lost Command
Lost Command

1966

as Capain. Boisfeuras

Line of Demarcation
Line of Demarcation

1966

as Pierre, comte de Damville

The Victors
The Victors

1963

as French Lieutenant

Madame Claude
Madame Claude

1977

as Pierre

The Marseille Contract
The Marseille Contract

1974

as Inspector Briac

Castles in Spain
Castles in Spain

1954

as Miguel Murillo

Midnight Meeting
Midnight Meeting

1962

as Pierre Neyris

Bloodline
Bloodline

1979

as Charles Martin