Édouard Molinaro (13 May 1928 – 7 December 2013) was a French

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Biography

He was born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1, ...

. He is best known for his comedies with

Louis de Funès Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in fil ...

('' Oscar'', ''

Hibernatus ''Hibernatus'' is a 1969 French-Italian comedy directed by Édouard Molinaro and written by Jean Bernard-Luc. It stars Louis de Funès as an industrialist named Hubert Barrère de Tartas. Plot A man frozen for 65 years is found in the ice of t ...

''), ''

My Uncle Benjamin ''Mon oncle Benjamin'' (''My Uncle Benjamin'') is a 1969 French film directed by Édouard Molinaro, starring Jacques Brel and Claude Jade. The film is based on a once-popular French comic novel ' by Claude Tillier (1842). The 1969 film ''Don't ...

'' (with

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...

and Claude Jade), '' Dracula and Son'' (with Christopher Lee), and the Academy Award-nominated '' La Cage aux Folles'' (with Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi). Molinaro was active as a director until a few years before his death, although after 1985 he had almost exclusively been producing works for television. In 1996, his cinematic work was awarded the René Clair Award, a prize given by the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

for excellent film work. Molinaro died of a respiratory insufficiency in 2013. He was 85.

Filmography (as director)

*''Les Alchimistes'' (1957, short) *' (''Back to the Wall'', ''Evidence in Concrete'', 1958) — based on a novel by

Frédéric Dard Frédéric Dard (Frédéric Charles Antoine Dard; 29 June 1921, in Bourgoin-Jallieu, Isère, France – 6 June 2000, in Bonnefontaine, Fribourg, Switzerland) was a French crime writer. He wrote more than three hundred novels, plays and screenplays ...

*' (''The Road to Shame'', 1959) — based on a novel by *' (''Witness in the City'', 1959) — screenplay by Boileau-Narcejac *' (''A Lover for the Summer'', ''A Mistress for the Summer'', 1960) — based on a novel by

Maurice Clavel Maurice Clavel () (1920-1979) was a French writer, journalist, and philosopher. Youth Maurice Clavel was born on 10 November 1920 in Frontignan, Hérault to a family headed by a father who was a pharmacist. This conservative milieu of small shop ...

*''

The Passion of Slow Fire ''The Passion of Slow Fire'' (french: La Mort de Belle) is a 1961 French crime drama film directed by Édouard Molinaro and based on the novel ''La mort de Belle'' by Georges Simenon. Cast * Jean Desailly - Stéphane Blanchon * Alexandra Stewart ...

'' (1961) — based on a novel by Georges Simenon *' (''Touch of Treason'', 1962) — based on a novel by *'' The Seven Deadly Sins'' (1962, anthology film) *' (''Arsene Lupin vs. Arsene Lupin'', 1962) — Arsène Lupin sequel *''

Une ravissante idiote ''Une ravissante idiote'' ( ''The Ravishing Idiot'') is a 1964 French-Italian Cold War comedy film directed by Édouard Molinaro. François Billetdoux and André Tabet wrote a screenplay based on Charles Exbrayat 1962 novel of the same name. Brigi ...

'' (''Agent 38-24-36'', ''The Ravishing Idiot'', 1964) — based on a novel by Charles Exbrayat *''

Male Hunt ''Male Hunt'' (french: La chasse à l'homme; it, Caccia al maschio) is a 1964 comedy film directed by Édouard Molinaro and starring Jean-Claude Brialy, Catherine Deneuve, Marie Laforêt, Claude Rich, Françoise Dorléac and Jean-Paul Belmondo. ...

'' (1964) *' (''When the Pheasants Pass'', 1965) *'' To Commit a Murder'' (1967) — based on a novel by Jacques Robert *'' Oscar'' (1967) — based on a play by *''

'' (1969) — based on a play by Jean Bernard-Luc *''

Mon oncle Benjamin ''Mon oncle Benjamin'' (''My Uncle Benjamin'') is a 1969 French film directed by Édouard Molinaro, starring Jacques Brel and Claude Jade. The film is based on a once-popular French comic novel ' by Claude Tillier (1842). The 1969 film '' Don' ...

'' (''My Uncle Benjamin'', 1969) — based on a novel by

Claude Tillier Claude Tillier (11 April 1801 in Clamecy – 12 October 1844 in Nevers) was a French novelist and pamphleteer. Life and work Tiller was born in Clamecy in the family of an upper class locksmith. He studied in Bourges and later in Soissons ...

*' (1970) — based on a novel by

Jacques Perry Jacques Perry (born 1921 Paris – 23 April 2016) was a French novelist. He won the 1952 Prix Renaudot for ''L'Amour de rien'', the 1966 Prix des Libraires for ''Vie d'un païen'', and the 1976 Prix du Livre Inter The Prix du Livre Inter is ...

*' (''The Most Gentle Confessions'', 1971) — based on a play by Georges Arnaud *' (''Sweet Deception'', 1972) — based on a novel by

Christine de Rivoyre Christine Berthe Claude Denis de Rivoyre (29 November 1921 – 3 January 2019) was a French journalist and writer. Biography The daughter of Francois Denis de Rivoyre and Madeleine Ballande, she was born in Tarbes. She was educated in Catholi ...

*' (''The Hostage Gang'', 1973) *''

L'Emmerdeur ''L'emmerdeur'' (literally ''The Troublemaker'', with the English title of ''A Pain in the Ass'', often promoted as ''A Pain in the A__'') is a 1973 French-Italian black comedy film starring Jacques Brel, appearing in his tenth and final feature ...

'' (''A Pain in the A...'', 1973) — screenplay by Francis Veber *' (''The Irony of Chance'', 1974) — based on a novel by Paul Guimard *'': Un jour comme les autres avec des cacahuètes'' (1974, TV series episode) *' (''The Pink Telephone'', 1975) — screenplay by Francis Veber *'' Dracula and Son'' (1976) — Dracula parody *'' Man in a Hurry'' (1977) — based on the novel ''

The Man in a Hurry ''The Man in a Hurry'' () is a 1941 novel by the French writer Paul Morand. It tells the story of a busy Paris antiques dealer who does not seem to be able to relax and settle down, not even when he finally falls in love, gets married and has a c ...

'' by Paul Morand *'': Le Dossier Françoise Muller'' (1978, TV series episode) *' (1978, TV miniseries) — based on the '' Claudine'' novels by Colette *'' La Cage aux folles'' (1978) — screenplay by Francis Veber, based on the play '' La Cage aux Folles'' by Jean Poiret *''Il était un musicien: Monsieur Strauss'' (1979, TV series episode) *' (1979) — screenplay by Francis Veber, based on a novel by Peter Marks *''La Pitié dangereuse'' (1979, TV film) — based on '' Beware of Pity'' by Stefan Zweig *'' Sunday Lovers'' (1980, anthology film) — screenplay by Francis Veber *'' La Cage aux Folles II'' (1980) — screenplay by Francis Veber, sequel to ''La Cage aux Folles'' *''Au bon beurre'' (1981, TV film) — based on ''

The Best Butter ''The Best Butter'' () is a 1952 novel by the French writer Jean Dutourd. It was published in the United Kingdom as ''The Milky Way''. It tells the story of a Paris dairy shop during the German occupation, and how the politically uninterested man ...

'' by Jean Dutourd *'' Pour cent briques, t'as plus rien...'' (''For 200 Grand, You Get Nothing Now'', 1982) — based on a play by *' (1983, TV film) — based on a novel by Armand Lanoux *'' Just the Way You Are'' (1984) *' (1985) *' (''Love on the Quiet'', 1985) *'' Le Tiroir secret'' (1986, TV miniseries) *''Un métier du seigneur'' (TV film) — based on ''A Noble Profession'' by Pierre Boulle *'' L'Ivresse de la métamorphose'' (1988, TV miniseries) — based on ''

The Post Office Girl ''The Post Office Girl'' (german: Rausch der Verwandlung, which roughly means ''The Intoxication of Transformation'') is a novel by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It tells the story of Christine Hoflehner, a female post-office clerk in a small t ...

'' by Stefan Zweig *'' Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator'' (1988) — based on a play by Gérard Lauzier *''La Ruelle au clair de lune'' (1988, TV film) — based on '' Moonbeam Alley'' by Stefan Zweig *''Manon Roland'' (1989, TV film) — biographical film about Madame Roland *''Les Grandes Familles'' (1989, TV miniseries) — based on a novel by Maurice Druon *'': La Peau du gorille'' (1990, TV series episode) *' (1991, TV film) — based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler *''Coup de foudre: Résurgence'' (1992, TV series episode) *''Coup de foudre: Grand, beau et brun'' (1992, TV series episode) *''La Femme abandonnée'' (1992, TV film) — based on ''The Deserted Woman'' by

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

*'' The Supper'' (1992) — based on a play by Jean-Claude Brisville *''Ce que savait Maisie'' (1995, TV film) — based on '' What Maisie Knew'' by Henry James *'' Beaumarchais'' (1996) — biographical film about Beaumarchais, based on a play by

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follo ...

*'' H'' (1998–1999, TV series, 14 episodes) *''Nora'' (1999, TV film) — based on '' Watch and Ward'' by Henry James *' (1999, TV film) *''Nana'' (2001, TV film) — loosely based on '' Nana'' by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

*' (2003, TV film) *'' Navarro: Double meurtre'' (2005, TV series episode) *' (2005, TV film) *' (2005–2006, TV series, 3 episodes) *'' Navarro: Manipulation'' (2005, TV series episode) *' (2005–2008, TV series, 5 episodes) *''Dirty Slapping'' (2008, TV short film)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Molinaro, Edouard 1928 births 2013 deaths French film directors French male screenwriters French screenwriters French television directors French people of Italian descent Mass media people from Bordeaux Deaths from respiratory failure