Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin , Daniel Gelin

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 87

TV Involvements: 9


Most Famous Work

Biography

Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin (19 May 1921 – 29 November 2002) was a French actor. Gélin was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, the son of Yvonne (née Le Méner) and Alfred Ernest Joseph Gélin. When he was ten, his family moved to Saint-Malo where Daniel went to college until he was expelled for 'uncouthness'. His father then found him a job in a shop that sold cans of salted cod. It was seeing the shooting of Marc Allégret's film Entrée des artistes that triggered his desire to go to Paris to train to be an actor. He trained at the Cours Simon in Paris before entering the Conservatoire national d'art dramatique. There he met Louis Jouvet and embarked on a theatrical career. He made his first film appearance in 1940 in Miquette and for several years was an extra or played small roles in French films. He appeared with Jean Gabin and Marlene Dietrich in Martin Roumagnac (1946). He won his first leading role in Rendez-vous de juillet (1949). From that time, he went on to appear in more than 150 films, including Max Ophüls' films La Ronde (1950) and Le Plaisir (1952), Jacques Becker's Édouard et Caroline (1951), Sacha Guitry's films Si Versailles m'était conté (Royal Affairs in Versailles) (1954) and Napoléon (1955), Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Jean Cocteau's Le Testament d'Orphée (1960), Le souffle au cœur (Murmur of the Heart) (1971), and La Nuit de Varennes (That Night in Varennes) (1982). He also wrote and directed one film, The Long Teeth, in 1952. Gélin was a leading man in French cinema during the 1950s, but his career declined with the coming of the New Wave. He worked in theater for several years, but later found new success on screen as a character actor. He appeared extensively in French films and television productions from the 1970s until his death, often playing cynical characters or grumpy old men. In 1946, Gélin married actress Danièle Delorme with whom he had a son, actor, director and producer Xavier Gélin. They divorced in 1954. While still married to Delorme, he had an affair with 17 year old model Marie Christine Schneider that produced a daughter, Maria Schneider. Due to his status as a married man, Gélin could not recognize Maria as his daughter. He visited the child several times but eventually severed his relationship with her mother. Maria Schneider and Daniel Gélin reconnected when she was sixteen and came to visit him. They remained in contact, although their relationship was irregular. Gélin was married to model Sylvie Hirsch from 1954 until their divorce in 1968. This marriage produced three children, Pascal (who died aged one year), Fiona , and Manuel, the latter two also becoming actors. In 1973, he remarried to Lydie Zaks with whom he had a daughter, Laura. Gélin died in Paris on 29 November 2002 of kidney failure. Source: Article "Daniel Gélin" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Most Famous Work

Le Grand Échiquier
Average
8

Le Grand Échiquier

(1972) Self
Midi Première
Average
10

Midi Première

(1975) Self
Système 2
Average
0

Système 2

(1975) Self
Arsène Lupin
Average
8

Arsène Lupin

(1971) Daubrecq
Der große Preis
Average
6

Der große Preis

(1974) Self
Numéro un
Average
6

Numéro un

(1975) Self
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Average
7

The Man Who Knew Too Much

(1956) Louis Bernard
Le Tiroir secret
Average
4

Le Tiroir secret

(1986) Jean-Pierre Jolivet

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2009 Self (archive footage)
2008 Self (archive footage)
Self (archive footage)
2002 Abdel-Robert
1997 N/A
Xavier Favre
1996 le veuf
Le père Bidochon
Le passeur (Le guide céleste)
1995 Bruno
1994 Le père de Fiona
Mr. Mireille, the 2nd projectionist
The gentleman from the beach
John Ball
1993 Jean Moulinier
L'autre lui-même
Gaudeamus at 70
1991 Shah
Roland Grumaud
Fernand
1990 Self - Guest
Le responsable des inspecteurs de la Justice
Self
Simon Scolari
1989 papy
1988 Pierre Duvivier, Albert's father
Self (archive footage)
Docteur Mavial
Monsieur de Sotenville
1987 Edmond, le beau-père
Martino Morando
padre di Elena
Gregor Baschkurin
Stanek
1986 Jean-Pierre Jolivet
Kellermann
1985 N/A
Enrico
1982 De Wendel
Gustave
1981 N/A
Broutechoux
1980 Bazalo
1979 Don Gomez
1978 Vater
Malagrida
Bernard
1977 Bastien, le metteur en scène
1976 Albert Blondel
1975 Flic
N/A
Self
Self
Self
Self
1974 The comedian
Laurence
Self
1973 Dupin
Brera
1972 Self
Jean
1971 Gustave, the bartender
André
Charles Chevalier
Daubrecq
1970 Dr. Robert Marbois
1969 Bernard Alione
Charles
Le père d'Evelyne
1968 Le capitaine
Arno
1967 Bora Petrović
1966 Guy Rodier
Yves Bayet
Bernard
Doctor Jacques Lafaye
Léo
Ballard
1965 Le vétérinaire titulaire, chargé de cours (non crédité)
Pierre Lagarde
(archive footage)
Davod
Gunther Smith
1964 Self, guest at Sylvie Vartan's show (uncredited)
Raymond
1963 Raymond
Daniel
N/A
1962 le comédien qui répète "Cyrano"
1961 Masure
Un drogué
Jacques Saint-Ford
Eric Kraemmer
1960 Lieutenant Miguel Villard
The Intern (uncredited)
Phegor
1959 Édouard Lavigne / Jean Lavigne
Guillaume Féraud
1958 Michel Corbier
Pierre
Simon Belin
1957 Alain Cartier
Robert Montillon
Paul Horcier
1956 Bernard Cormière
Georges Bernier / Self
Daniel Roy
Louis Bernard
Self
Antoine du Merlet
1955 Napoléon Bonaparte
Pierre Roubier
1954 Il soldato Frédéric d'Héricourt
Mino
Léonard Maurizius
Ricardo Garcia
Narrator (voice)
N/A
Frank Friedmayer
Jean Collinet
1953 Michel Landa
L'ancien prisonnier
Robert
Louis Commandeur
1952 Daniel Prevost
The Man who sleeps in a Coffin
Jean
André Noblet
1951 Jean Bompart
Hugo
Coffino
Self
Edouard Mortier
Narrator (voice)
1950 Joseph Le Berre
Alfred, le jeune homme
1949 Lucien Bonnard
Lieutenant Villeneuve
1948 Léopold
1947 Saladin
Charles
Stany
1946 Le surveillant du collège
Pierre Ribault
Michel
1945 Philippe Demantes
N/A
1944 (uncredited)
1943 Un collégien
1942 N/A
(rôle non nommé et non crédité)
1941 Chauveau-Laplace (uncredited)
1940 Extra (uncredited)
N/A
Year Character Movie/Tv

Directing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1953 Director
Year Role Movie/Tv

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
1953 Adaptation
Year Role Movie/Tv

Join the discussion

Please Log in to comment