Jean-Claude BrialyPARIS (AP) — French actor Jean-Claude Brialy, an emblematic figure of the New Wave film movement, has died. He was 74.
Brialy died in his Paris home Wednesday following a long battle with cancer, family friend Michel del Burgo said.
Brialy was a familiar face in films by legendary French directors including Claude Chabrol, Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, who spearheaded the avant-garde New Wave movement in the late 1950s.
Brialy was born in 1933 in Aumale, Algeria, where his father, a military man, was stationed. The family moved often, and Brialy studied drama at a conservatory in Strasbourg.
Brialy began his career as a stage actor. His appearance in the title role of the 1958 Chabrol film "Le beau Serge" ("Handsome Serge") catapulted him to fame.
"I owe my career to Claude Chabrol," said Brialy, who was known for his charm and dark good looks. "He was always convinced I was a good actor."
Brialy went on to star in Eric Rohmer's 1969 "Le Genou de Claire" (Claire's Knee) and "Le Phantom de la liberte" ("The Phantom of Liberty") by Spanish director Luis Bunuel in 1974.
He acted well into his seventies, featuring in the 2005 comedy "Quartier VIP" ("VIP Neighborhood.")
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Brialy "incarnated the New Wave and was a presence in a half century of cinema, filling nearly 200 films with his generosity, his humor, his finesse and his light spirit."
― C. Grisso/McCain, Thursday, 31 May 2007 16:34 (nineteen years ago)