Gérard Oury (; born Max-Gérard Houry Tenenbaum; 29 April 1919 – 20 July 2006) was a French film director, actor and writer. He is best known for a number of comedies he directed and co-wrote between the 1960s and 1980s, most notably The Sucker (1965), Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At! (1966), The Brain (1969), The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973), and Ace of Aces (1982).
Life and career Max-Gérard Houry-Tenenbaum was the only son of Serge Tenenbaum, a violinist of Russian-Jewish origin, and French Jewish Marcelle Houry, a journalist and art critic., Définitivement Belmondo, p. 239 Tenenbaum was absent from the life of Oury and he was raised in an unobservant house of his mother and maternal grandmother Berthe Goldner.Mulvey, Michael. (2017). "What Was So Funny about Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob (1973): A Comedic Film between History and Memory", French Politics, Culture & Society, 35(3), pp. 24-43 , p. 29 Oury studied at the Lycée Janson de Sailly and then at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art. He became a member of the Comédie-Française before World War II, but fled with all his family (mother, grandmother and unofficial wife, actress ) to Switzerland to escape the anti-Jewish persecutions by the Vichy government. When in 1942 his daughter Danièle Thompson was born, his fatherhood was concealed, to avoid her classification as a Jew.
After 1945 he returned to the liberated Paris and restarted his career as an actor, performing in the theatre and in supporting roles in the cinema. Oury became a movie director in 1959 () and gained his first success in 1961 with Crime Does Not Pay (Le crime ne paie pas).
Pairing André Bourvil and Louis de Funès as a comic duo, he burst into commercial filmmaking with 1965's The Sucker (Le corniaud). The film was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival. The following year, Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At! (La Grande Vadrouille) was even more successful, attracting the largest audiences ever in France (17.27 million admissions). This box-office record stood for decades, only surpassed in 1997 by Titanic from James Cameron.
Oury shot the 1969 comedy Le Cerveau (The Brain) in English, starring David Niven in the lead role as a criminal mastermind.
With actress Jacqueline Roman, he was the father of French writer Danièle Thompson and grandfather of actor/writer Christopher Thompson. He lived together with the French actress Michèle Morgan for the second half of his life. He died aged 87 in Saint-Tropez on 20 July 2006.
Filmography Year Title Director Writer 1958 Le Miroir à deux faces 1960 Come Dance with Me! 1961 1962 Crime Does Not Pay 1965 The Sucker 1966 La Grande Vadrouille 1969 The Brain 1971 Delusions of Grandeur 1973 The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob 1978 La Carapate 1980 The Umbrella Coup 1982 The Ace of Aces / The Super Ace 1984 La vengeance du serpent à plumes 1987 1993 La Soif de l'or 1996 1999 Le schpountz
Actor Year Title Role Director Notes1942Les Petits RiensPhilinteRaymond Leboursier1947Antoine and Antoinettea customerJacques Becker1949Jo la RomanceRoland GrenierGilles GrangierDu GuesclinCharles V of FranceBernard Delatour1950La SouricièrePetit rôleHenri CalefUncreditedLa Belle que voilàBrunoJean-Paul Le Chanois1951Without Leaving an Addressa journalistJean-Paul Le ChanoisMr. Peek-a-BooMauriceJean BoyerThe Night Is My KingdomLionel MoreauGeorges Lacombe1952Le Costaud des BatignollesRécitant / Narrator Guy LacourtVoice1953Endless HorizonsJean DrévilleVoiceSea DevilsNapoleonRaoul WalshThe Sword and the Rosethe DauphinKen AnnakinThe Heart of the MatterYusefGeorge More O'Ferrall1954They Who DareCaptain George TwoLewis MilestoneFather BrownInspector DuboisRobert HamerLoves of Three QueensNapoleon BonaparteMarc Allégret and Edgar G. Ulmer(segment: Napoleon and Josephine)The River GirlEnzo CintiMario SoldatiI cavalieri dell'illusioneNapoleone BonaparteMarc Allégret1955The Heroes Are TiredVilleterreYves Ciampi1956La Meilleure PartGérard Bailly - un ingénieurYves AllégretHouse of SecretsJulius PindarGuy Green1957Méfiez-vous fillettesMarcel PalmerYves Allégret1958 Seventh HeavenMaurice PortalRaymond Bernard Back to the WallJacques DecreyÉdouard MolinaroLe Miroir à deux facesDoctor BoscAndré Cayatte1959The JourneyTeklel HafouliAnatole Litvak1960La Main chaudeCameo AppearanceGérard OuryUncredited1961The MenaceLe docteurGérard Oury1963The PrizeDoctor Claude MarceauMark Robson1986A Man and a Woman: 20 Years LaterUn spectateur de '40 ans déjà'Claude LelouchUncredited2003Là-haut, un roi au-dessus des nuagesLe général de La Motte-NoirePierre Schoendoerffer(final film role)
References
External links
Gérard Oury at UniFrance Films