Pierre Brasseur

(pseudonym of Albert Espinasse). Born Dec. 22, 1905, in Paris; died 1972. French actor; studied at the Paris Conservatory.

Brasseur performed on the boulevards and in such theaters as the Théâtre des Champs Elysées. In the 1960’s he was an actor in the Théâtre de l’Athénée. He began acting in motion pictures in 1925.

Brasseur is noted for portraying people of strong passions and colorful characters; his art is distinguished by a brilliant mastery of varying characters. His theater roles include Kean (Kean by Dumas père), Petrucchio (Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew), and Don Juan (Montherlant’s Don Juan). His movie roles include Lucien (Quay of Fogs, 1933), Frédéric Lemaître (Children of Paradise, 1945), the captain (Master After God, 1951), Juju (Portes des Lilas, 1957; on Soviet screens as On the Outskirts of Paris), Lulu Maublanc (The Great Families, 1958; on Soviet screens as The Powerful of This World), and the lawyer (Irrefutable Evidence, 1963). Brasseur is the author of several plays.