Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil ( native: Achod Malakian; * October 15, 1920 in Tekfurdağı, today Tekirdag, Turkey, † 11 January 2002 in Bagnolet, Seine- Saint- Denis, France) was a French director, screenwriter and film producer of Armenian descent, who for decades was one of the most commercially successful French film directors.
Life
Verneuil's family had emigrated to the genocide of the Armenians from their homeland to France. He was interested in early for the cinema and came through the help of the actor Fernandel the late 1940s to the film and realized his first films as Les nouveaux Misérables (1949 ), On demande un bandit (1950) and Maldonne (1950).
The 1960s marked the height of his career, he turned exceptional, both artistically and commercially successful films like A Monkey in Winter ( 1962), Silent as the Night (1963 ), The 25th Hour (1967 ), The Hell of San Sebastian (1968) and the Clan of the Sicilians (1969).
In the 1970s and 1980s, his films were The Coup (1971 ), The Snake (1973 ), anxiety over the city (1975 ), The Body of My Enemy (1976 ), I like Icarus (1979) and The Magnificent (1984).
Verneuil often worked in his career with a crew before and behind the camera. In addition to the long-time friend and actor Fernandel belonged to Jean Gabin and especially Jean -Paul Belmondo, with whom he worked for more than two decades regularly. For Verneuil were always the biggest stars of French cinema in front of the camera, including Alain Delon, Lino Ventura, Yves Montand, Bernard Blier, Philippe Noiret, Jeanne Moreau, Louis de Funes and Patrick Dewaere.
Verneuil in 1956, nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay and 1980 for the César. Verneuil in 1996 received the honorary Cesar for his life's work.
From the mid- 1980s Verneuil was barely active as a director. His last two films Mayrig - home away from home and Mayrig - 588 rue paradis were marked autobiographical and less commercially oriented than most of his other films. They talk about the genocide of family members, of the run and his growing up in a foreign land.