Charles Denner

Charles Denner was born in 1926 to a Yiddish-speaking Jewish family in the city of Tarnów in Galicia in south-eastern Poland. His parents were Joseph Denner, a tailor, and Jenta Micenmacher. He had a sister, Élise, and two brothers, Alfred and Jacques. When he was four, the family emigrated to France. During World War II, his family took refuge in Brive-la-Gaillarde, where they were helped by Rabbi David Feuerwerker. Denner served as a Free French partisan in the Vercors mountains and destroyed a Nazi SS truck with a grenade; he was wounded and later received the Croix de Guerre for this operation. Passionate about theatre from his childhood, Denner became a student of Charles Dullin, a famous theatre teacher of his time, under whose guidance he remained until 1945. Another great figure of French theatre, Jean Vilar, impressed by Denner's performance at Les mamelles de Tirésias (The Breasts of Tiresias), called him four years after he left Vilar to join the Théâtre National Populaire (TNP). It was there that he gave some of his earliest stage performances, in plays such as Heinrich von Kleist's Prinz Friedrich von Homburg and Alfred de Musset's Lorenzaccio, among others.

In 1955, director Yves Allégret offered Denner a small role in La Meilleure part (The Best Part), thus introducing him for the first time to cinema audiences. Two years later, in 1957, he secured another secondary role in Louis Malle's legendary Elevator to the Gallows, alongside Jeanne Moreau, a co-performer of his from the days of the TNP. In 1962 Jean-Luc Godard wanted to film Jean Giraudoux's play Pour Lucrèce starring Denner along with Sami Frey and Michel Piccoli, but when cast and crew had already been assembled he called off the shoot on the first day of filming after a prolonged downpour caused a long delay. In 1963 Denner was offered his first leading role by Claude Chabrol in Landru, a film considered by many as his greatest on-screen performance. Despite his growing recognition on the big screen, the stage remained his true passion. He gave his most memorable performances in plays such as Molière's Les Fourberies de Scapin (Scapin's Schemings) and Brecht's Drums in the Night.

On 10 September 1995 Denner died of pneumonia in Dreux, France.

• Year — Title — Role — Director — Notes • 1954 — Poisson d'avril — a guest in a café — Gilles Grangier — Uncredited • Men in White — Un interne — Ralph Habib • La Meilleure Part — Un ingénieur adjoint — Yves Allégret • 1958 — Elevator to the Gallows — L'adjoint du commissaire Cherrier — Louis Malle • 1963 — Bluebeard — Henri Désiré Landru — Claude Chabrol • 1964 — La Vie à l'envers — Jacques Valin — Alain Jessua • Les plus belles escroqueries du monde — the swindler — Jean-Luc Godard — (segment "Le Grand Escroq") (scenes deleted) • Les Pieds nickelés — Filochard — Jean-Claude Chambon • Mata Hari, Agent H21 — Soldier #1 — Jean-Louis Richard — Uncredited • 1965 — Marie-Chantal contre le docteur Kha — Johnson — Claude Chabrol • The Sleeping Car Murders — Bob Vaski - l'amant de Georgette — Costa-Gavras • 1966 — YUL 871 — L'ingénieur européen — Jacques Godbout • 1967 — The Thief of Paris — Jean-François Cannonier — Louis Malle • The Two of Us — Monsieur Langmann — Claude Berri • 1968 — The Bride Wore Black — Fergus — François Truffaut • La trêve — Julien — Claude Guillemot • 1969 — Z — Manuel — Costa-Gavras • Le corps de Diane — Julien Keller — Jean-Louis Richard • 1970 — Le Voyou — Monsieur Gallois — Claude Lelouch • 1971 — The Married Couple of the Year Two — the traveller — Jean-Paul Rappeneau • Les Assassins de l'ordre — Graziani — Marcel Carné • 1972 — L'aventure, c'est l'aventure — Simon Duroc — Claude Lelouch • Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me — Arthur — François Truffaut • 1973 — The Inheritor — David Loweinstein — Philippe Labro • Un officier de police sans importance — Serge Monnier — Jean Larriaga • Défense de savoir — Jean Ravier — Nadine Trintignant • 1974 — The Holes — Ministre des travaux publics — Pierre Tchernia • And Now My Love — David Goldman — Claude Lelouch • 1975 — Peur sur la ville — Inspector Moissac — Henri Verneuil • Vous ne l'emporterez pas au paradis — Nicolas — François Dupont-Midi • 1976 — If I Had to Do It All Over Again — the lawyer — Claude Lelouch • Mado — Reynald Manecca — Claude Sautet • La Première Fois — Father — Claude Berri • 1977 — The Man Who Loved Women — Bertrand Morane — François Truffaut • 1978 — Robert et Robert — Robert Goldman — Claude Lelouch • 1980 — La verdad sobre el caso Savolta — Lepprince — Antonio Drove • Le coeur à l'envers — Guillaume — Franck Apprederis • 1982 — Mille milliards de dollars — Walte — Henri Verneuil • A Captain's Honor — Maître Gillard - un avocat — Pierre Schoendoerffer • 1983 — Rock 'n Torah — Joseph, le père d'Isaac — Marc-André Grynbaum • Stella — Richard — Laurent Heynemann • 1986 — L'unique — Vox, le producteur — Jérôme Diamant-Berger • Golden Eighties — M. Schwartz — Chantal Akerman — (final film role)

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