Jean-Claude Brialy, 1933 - 2007.

French actor Jean-Claude Brialy, an emblematic figure of the New Wave film movement, has died. He was 74.... He was a familiar face in films by legendary French directors including Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard... French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Brialy "incarnated the New Wave and was a presence in a half century of cinema, filling nearly 200 films with his generosity, his humor, his finesse and his light spirit."

He began his career as a stage actor. His appearance in the title role of the 1958 Chabrol film Le beau Serge (Handsome Serge) catapulted him to fame. "I owe my career to Claude Chabrol," Brialy once said. "He was always convinced I was a good actor."

The AP.

Updated through 6/2.

Updates, 6/1: "With Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Gérard Blain, Brialy was among that generation of actors with a fresh look and an acting style that crystallised the ideological and cinematic goals of the New Wave," writes Ronald Bergan for the Guardian. "The acting was a departure from much that had gone before, with the actors being encouraged to improvise, or talk over each others' lines, as would happen in real life." Later, "he went on to become one of the most prominent figures in the arts, prolific in films, on television and in the theatre; a brilliant raconteur with the air of a boulevardier, he was also one of the few French stars to be openly gay."

Bilge Ebiri finds clips for ScreenGrab.

In the German press: Lars-Olav Beier remembers talking with Brialy for Der Spiegel just four weeks ago: the interview. Also, Daniel Kothenschulte in the Frankfurter Rundschau and Hanns-Georg Rodek in Die Welt.

Update, 6/2: Looker's got another clip.

Posted by dwhudson at May 31, 2007 6:23 AM