Louis Jourdan

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French actor famous for his smooth, sophisticated screen presence in many Hollywood films. His best-known performances include The Paradine Case (1947), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), Gigi (1958), The Best of Everything (1959), The V.I.P.s (1963), and Octopussy (1983). He also played Count Dracula in a 1977 BBC TV production.

Jourdan grew up in Marseille, the son of Yvonne Jourdan and hotel owner Henry Gendre. He trained as an actor in France, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, and studied at the École Dramatique. He began acting on stage and was spotted by director Marc Allégret, who hired him as a camera assistant and then cast him in Le Corsaire (1939). World War II interrupted filming, but Jourdan kept acting in France and, when Germany invaded, he refused to make propaganda films and instead joined his family in unoccupied France. He worked with the French Resistance, helping to print and distribute illegal leaflets. His father was arrested by the Gestapo, but the family later escaped.

After the war, Jourdan married Berthe Frédérique Takar in 1946. A talent scout for David O. Selznick spotted him, and Jourdan moved to the United States. His first American film was The Paradine Case (1947) with Alfred Hitchcock directing. He went on to star in several English-language films, including Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), and built a successful career in Hollywood and Europe, with many standout roles on stage and screen.

In 1958, Jourdan starred in Gigi, a huge hit that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He continued acting in a mix of films and TV appearances, including the TV movie Count Dracula (1977) and the James Bond classic Octopussy (1983). He also appeared in other projects like Swamp Thing (1982) and its sequel.

Jourdan retired from acting in 1992 and lived in Los Angeles. In 2010, he was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. He earned two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Louis Jourdan died at his home in Beverly Hills in 2015 at the age of 93. He is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.