Georges Renavent

Georges Renavent
Born	April 23, 1894(1894-04-23) Paris, France
Died	January 2, 1969 (aged 74) Guadalajara, Mexico
Occupation	Actor
Spouse(s)	Selena Royle

Georges Renavent (April 23, 1894 - January 2, 1969) was a star of American classic films, Broadway plays and operator of American Grand Guignol. He was born in Paris, France.

He was married to Selena Royle, an actress and daughter of Edwin Milton Royle author of The Squaw Man, which was adapted for film and starred Cecile B. Demille. They left the United States to live in Mexico after Selena was unfairly entangled in the McCarthy era Communism investigations and Hollywood blacklist. While in Mexico, both Selena and Georges continued to be active in the arts and put out various cookbooks, including Pheasants for Peasants, A Gringa's Guide to Mexican Cooking and Guadalajara As I Know, Live It, Love It.

Acting career

His first American film appearance came in 1915, with the production of the Seven Sisters. Fourteen years later, in 1929, Renavent played an impressive starring role as the Kinkajou in RKO's musical spectacular, Rio Rita.

Rio Rita is the name of a very successful 1927 stage musical by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous. In 1929, Radio Pictures (later known as RKO) purchased the rights to film this lavish musical. The film was the biggest and most expensive production for Radio Pictures for 1929 and it proved to be a huge success. The last portion of the film was photographed in Technicolor.

Renavent also starred in East of Borneo,which was one of the most frequently telecast films of the 1950s and 1960s. East of Borneo starred Rose Hobart as Linda, the wife of African missionary Dr. Clark (Charles Bickford). whom she finds he's been living in luxury as court physician of the Prince of Marudu (Georges Renavent).

East of Borneo went on to achieve latter-day fame when an avant-garde filmmaker, Joseph Cornell, spliced together all of the leading lady's close-ups, and came up with a surrealistic exercise titled Rose Hobart. When Cornell screened the film, Salvador Dalí was in attendance. Dalí was incensed that Cornell had created such a masterpiece before he could.

In 1936, Renavent played opposite Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in Universal Pictures, The Invisible Ray. In 1940, he took on a role in Hal Roach's, Turnabout. His final film was made in 1952, when he played Ortega in Mara Maru, with Errol Flynn.

Broadway career

Renavent also ran his own American Grand Guignol and was involved in many Broadway plays in New York [1].

Death

Renavent died in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1969. He is survived by his daughter, Francette Paretti, his granddaughter, Lynne Paretti Smaldone and her two sons, Matthew Aaron Smaldone and Gregory Andrew Smaldone and his grandson, Michael Paretti and his daughter Lisa Paretti.

Filmography

• Mara Maru
• East of Borneo
• Rio Rita
• Seven Sisters
• Strangers on a Train
• The Invisible Ray
• Whistlin Dan
• Casablanca
• Moulin Rouge
• Sullivan's Travels

Plays list

• Goin' Home
• Diplomacy
• The Last Torture
• Antonia
• Grounds for Divorce
• The Crooked Square
• The Texas Nightingale
• The Pigeon
• Genius and the Crowd
• Mis' Nelly of N'Orleans
• Flo-Flo
• Somebody's Luggage

External links

• Georges Renavent at Find a Grave