Édouard Molinaro
Encyclopedia
Édouard Molinaro is a French
film director
, actor
, and screenwriter
. He was born in Gironde
, Bordeaux
.
He is best known for his comedies with Louis de Funès
(Oscar
, etc.), My Uncle Benjamin (with Jacques Brel
and Claude Jade
), Dracula and Son
(with Christopher Lee
), and the Academy Award-nominated La Cage aux Folles
(with Michel Serrault
and Ugo Tognazzi
). Molinaro is still active as a director, although he produces works almost exclusively for television.
In 1996, his cinematic work was awarded the Prix René Clair
, a prize given by the Académie française
for excellent film work.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. He was born in Gironde
Gironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
, Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
.
He is best known for his comedies with Louis de Funès
Louis de Funès
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was a very popular French actor who is one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel...
(Oscar
Oscar (1967 film)
Oscar is a French comedy of errors movie from 1967, directed by Édouard Molinaro and starring Louis de Funès. In the movie, Louis de Funès plays an industrialist named Bertrand Barnier who discovers over the course of a single day that his daughter is pregnant, he has been robbed by an employee,...
, etc.), My Uncle Benjamin (with Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
and Claude Jade
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade , was a French actress, known for starring as Christine in François Truffaut's three films Stolen Kisses , Bed and Board and Love on the Run . Jade acted in theatre, film and television...
), Dracula and Son
Dracula and Son
Dracula and Son, originally titled Dracula père et fils, is a French comedy about a vampire father and son. It was never intended to be a follow-up to the Dracula series from Hammer productions...
(with Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
), and the Academy Award-nominated La Cage aux Folles
La Cage aux Folles (film)
La Cage aux Folles is a 1978 French-Italian film adaptation of the 1973 play La Cage aux Folle by Jean Poiret. It is co-written and directed by Édouard Molinaro and stars Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault.-Plot:...
(with Michel Serrault
Michel Serrault
Michel Serrault was a celebrated French actor who appeared in over 150 films.-Biography :...
and Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi was an Italian film, TV, and theatre actor, director, and screenwriter.-Early life:Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a traveller clerk for an insurance company.After his return in the native city in 1936, he...
). Molinaro is still active as a director, although he produces works almost exclusively for television.
In 1996, his cinematic work was awarded the Prix René Clair
René Clair Award
René Clair Award is an award instituted in 1994 and presented by the Académie française for the achievements in the field of cinema. The prize was named after a French filmmaker René Clair.-Laureates:*1994 : Alexandre Astruc*1995 : Robert Bresson...
, a prize given by the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
for excellent film work.
Filmography (as director)
- 19571957 in filmThe year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
: Les Alchimistes - 19581958 in filmThe year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946....
: Le Dos au mur (Back to the Wall) - 19591959 in filmThe year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
: Des femmes disparaissent (The Road to Shame) - 1959 : Un témoin dans la ville (Witness in the City)
- 19601960 in filmThe year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
: Une fille pour l'été (A Lover for the Summer, A Mistress for the Summer) - 19611961 in filmThe year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...
: La Mort de Belle (The End of Belle) - 19621962 in filmThe year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
: Les Ennemis (Touch of Treason) - 1962 : Les Sept Péchés capitaux (The Seven Deadly Sins)
- 1962 : Arsène Lupin contre Arsène Lupin (Arsene Lupin vs. Arsene Lupin)
- 19641964 in filmThe year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
: Une ravissante idioteUne ravissante idioteUne ravissante idiote is a 1964 Cold War comedy directed by Édouard Molinaro. François Billetdoux and André Tabet wrote a screenplay based on Charles Exbrayat 1962 novel of the same name...
(Agent 38-24-36, The Ravishing Idiot) - 1964 : La Chasse à l'homme (Male Hunt, The Gentle Art of Seduction)
- 19651965 in filmThe year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
: Quand passent les faisans (When the Peasants Pass) - 19671967 in filmThe year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
: Peau d'espion (To Commit a Murder) - 1967 : OscarOscar (1967 film)Oscar is a French comedy of errors movie from 1967, directed by Édouard Molinaro and starring Louis de Funès. In the movie, Louis de Funès plays an industrialist named Bertrand Barnier who discovers over the course of a single day that his daughter is pregnant, he has been robbed by an employee,...
- 19691969 in filmThe year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
: HibernatusHibernatusHibernatus is a 1969 French comedy science fiction film directed by Édouard Molinaro and written by Jean Bernard-Luc. It stars Louis de Funès as an industrialist named Hubert Barrère de Tartas.-Plot:... - 1969 : Mon oncle BenjaminMon oncle BenjaminMon oncle Benjamin is a 1969 French film directed by Édouard Molinaro. The film is based on a once-popular French comic novel Mon oncle Benjamin by Claude Tillier . The 1969 film Don't Grieve, directed by the Georgian Georgi Daneliya, is also based on Tillier's novel The film was released 28...
(My Uncle Benjamin) - 19701970 in filmThe year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
: La Liberté en croupe - 19711971 in filmThe year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
: Les Aveux les plus doux (The Most Gentle Confessions) - 19721972 in filmThe year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
: La Mandarine (Sweet Deception) - 19731973 in filmThe year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....
: Le Gang des otages (The Hostage Gang) - 1973 : L'EmmerdeurL'emmerdeurL'emmerdeur is a 1973 French-Italian black comedy film starring Jacques Brel, appearing in his tenth and final feature film...
(A Pain in the A...) - 19741974 in filmThe year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
: L'Ironie du sort (The Irony of Chance) - 1974 : Histoires insolites (TV series) (episode Un jour comme les autres avec des cacahuètes)
- 19751975 in filmThe year 1975 in film involved some significant events, with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws topping the box office.-Events:*March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London....
: Le Téléphone rose (The Pink Telephone) - 19761976 in filmThe year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
: Dracula père et fils (Dracula and Son) - 19771977 in filmThe year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network....
: L'Homme pressé (Man in a Hurry) - 19781978 in filmThe year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
: Claudine à l'école (TV) - 1978 : Madame le juge (TV series) (episode Le Dossier Françoise Muller)
- 1978 : Claudine à Paris (TV)
- 1978 : Claudine en ménage (TV)
- 1978 : Claudine s'en va (TV)
- 1978 : Il était un musicien (TV series)
- 1978 : La Cage aux follesLa Cage aux Folles (film)La Cage aux Folles is a 1978 French-Italian film adaptation of the 1973 play La Cage aux Folle by Jean Poiret. It is co-written and directed by Édouard Molinaro and stars Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault.-Plot:...
- 19791979 in filmThe year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
: Cause toujours... tu m'intéresses! - 19801980 in film- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
: Les Séducteurs (Sunday Lovers) - 1980 : La Cage aux Folles IILa Cage aux Folles IILa Cage aux Folles II is a French-Italian film released in 1980. It is a sequel to 1979's La Cage aux Folles. It is directed by Édouard Molinaro and stars Michel Serrault as Albin, , the female impersonator star of a gay night-club revue, and Ugo Tognazzi as Renato, his mate of over twenty...
- 19811981 in film-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
: Au bon beurre (TV) - 19821982 in film-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
: Pour 100 briques t'as plus rien... (For 200 Grand, You Get Nothing Now) - 19831983 in film-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
: La Veuve rouge (TV) - 19841984 in film-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
: Just the Way You AreJust the Way You Are (film)Just the Way You Are is a 1984 comedy/drama film that stars Kristy McNichol and Michael Ontkean. It was directed by Edouard Molinaro.-Plot:... - 19851985 in film-Events:* 3 December - Roger Moore steps down from the role of James Bond after twelve years and seven films. He is replaced by Timothy Dalton.* The Academy Award for Best Picture was won by Out Of Africa, while the highest grossing film was Back to the Future.* Bliss wins AFI Award for best Movie...
: Palace - 1985 : L'Amour en douce (Love on the Quiet)
- 19861986 in film-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
: Un métier du seigneur (TV) - 1986 : Le Tiroir secretLe Tiroir secretLe Tiroir secret is a 1986 French family drama TV mini-series directed by Michel Boisrond, Edouard Molinaro, Nadine Trintignant and Roger Gillioz. The screenplay was written by Danièle Thompson, Jean-Patrick Manchette, Patrick Besson and Roger Grenier...
(TV mini-series) - 19881988 in film-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
: À gauche en sortant de l'ascenseurÀ gauche en sortant de l'ascenseurDoor on the Left as You Leave the Elevator is a 1988 French comedy written by Gérard Lauzier , directed by Édouard Molinaro, and starring Pierre Richard, Emmanuelle Béart, and Richard Bohringer.-Plot:...
(The Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator) - 1988 : Coup de foudre (TV series)
- 1988 : La Ruelle au clair de lune (TV)
- 19891989 in film-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...
: Manon Roland (TV) - 1989 : L'Ivresse de la métamorphose (Rausch der Verwandlung) (TV mini-series)
- 1989 : Navarro (TV series) (episodes Double meurtre an Manipulation)
- 1989 : Les Grandes Familles (TV mini-series)
- 19901990 in filmThe year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
: Le Gorille (TV series) (episode La Peau du gorille) - 19911991 in filmThe year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...
: L'Amour maudit de Leisenbohg (Das Schicksal des Freiherrn von Leisenbohg, The Fate of Baron Leisenbohg) - 19921992 in filmThe year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...
: La Femme abandonnée (TV) - 1992 : Le Souper (The Supper)
- 19951995 in film-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....
: Ce que savait Maisie (TV) - 19961996 in filmMajor releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
: Beaumarchais, l'insolent (Beaumarchais the Scoundrel) - 19981998 in film-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
: H (TV series) - 19991999 in filmThe year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
: Nora (TV, English title: Watch and Ward) - 1999 : Tombé du nid (TV)
- 20012001 in filmThe year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
: Nana (TV) - 20032003 in filmThe year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
: Un homme par hasard (TV) - 20052005 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
: Une famille pas comme les autres (TV) - 2005 : Les Hommes de cœur (TV series) (episode Le mal du pays)