Louis de Funès

Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza French lwi də 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 Frances favourite actor having played over 150 roles in film and over 100 on stage His acting style is remembered for its highenergy performance and his wide range of facial expressions and tics A considerable part of his bestknown acting was directed by Jean Girault The largerthanlife 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 Frenchspeaking 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 Englishspeaking 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 SaintRaphaël Southern France Description above from the Wikipedia article Louis de Funès licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia