Biography

Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (French: [lwi d(ə) fynɛs]; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. According to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, he is France's favourite actor, having played over 150 roles in film and over 100 on stage. His acting style is remembered for its high-energy performance and his wide range of facial expressions and tics. A considerable part of his best-known acting was directed by Jean Girault.

The larger-than-life, conservative petit bourgeois characters he played, who typically kissed up to authority while persecuting their subordinates, particularly resonated with the changing Western societies of the 1960s and drove him to success. Yet in private life, De Funès was a notoriously shy and reserved man, and a devout Catholic.

One of the most famous French actors of all time, Louis de Funès remains to this day the most bankable actor in French cinema history. He enjoys widespread international recognition: in addition to his immense fame in the French-speaking world, he remains a household name throughout most of continental Europe including the former Eastern Bloc, the former Soviet Union, as well as Iran, Turkey, and Israel. Despite this international popularity, Louis de Funès remains an obscure figure in the English-speaking world. He was exposed to a wider audience only once in the United States, in 1973, with the release of The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob, which is best remembered for its Rabbi Jacob dance scene and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

De Funès has two museums dedicated to his life and acting: one in the Château de Clermont, near Nantes, where he resided, as well as another in the town of Saint-Raphaël, Southern France.

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