Pierre Blaise

Pierre Blaise
Pierre Blaise in Lacombe Lucien
Born	Pierre-Marc Blaise 11 June 1955(1955-06-11) Moissac  France
Died	31 August 1975(1975-08-31) (aged 20) Moissac  France
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1974–1975

Pierre Blaise, born Pierre-Marc Blaise, (11 June 1955, Moissac – 31 August 1975, Moissac), a French actor. He is best known for the role of Lucien Lacombe in director Louis Malle's 1974 film Lacombe, Lucien.

Personal

Blaise was born in Moissac, France^[1].

Only a year after Lacombe, Lucien was released, Blaise was killed in a car accident. Following a party, he was driving a car, a Renault 17 Gordini, which he had purchased with funds from his acting work. Accompanied by two friends whom he had brought along for company, Blaise lost control and crashed against a plane tree on the route de Laujol between Moissac and Durfort-Lacapelette, where he lived with his parents. There were no survivors.^[2] According to Newsweek magazine, the accident took place after the vehicle "skidded around a curve in pouring rain".^[3]

He is buried in the cemetery of Durfort-Lacapelette in Tarn-et-Garonne.

Career

Malle had been looking for a non-actor to play the titular character in Lacombe, Lucien and was convinced that Blaise, then working as a woodcutter, would bring great authenticity to the role. (Writing of the film in 1977, Current Biography referred to Blaise as a "real-life Provençal farm boy.") In winning the role, Blaise was chosen over 1,000 other actors.^[4] Following his appearance in Malle's film, Blaise appeared in three further films, the best regarded of which is Per le antiche scale in which he co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni and Marthe Keller.

Controversy

The film Lacombe, Lucien was quite controversial, not only because of the topic of the French Resistance and collaborators in Vichy France, and scenes involving nudity, but also due to the main character's casual and frequent animal cruelty‎, such as a hare whose neck he breaks and a chicken which he beheads with his bare hands. The beheading of the chicken was unplanned.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

• 1974, Lacombe, Lucien. Directed by Louis Malle.
• 1975, Le Grand Délire. Directed by Dennis Berry.
• 1975, Noces de porcelaine. Directed by Roger Coggio.
• 1975, Per le antiche scale. Directed by Mauro Bolognini.

Bibliography

• Malle, Louis. Malle on Malle. London: Faber, 1993.

References

External links

• Pierre Blaise at the Internet Movie Database

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