Jean-Pierre Rassam (14 October 1941 – 28 January 1985) was a French film producer of the 1970s. He was found dead, age 43, in his suite at the

Plaza Athénée The Hotel Plaza Athénée is a Brunei-owned historic luxury hotel in Paris, France. It is located at 25 Avenue Montaigne in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, near the Champs-Élysées and the Palais de Tokyo. The hotel is part of the Dorchester ...

, the cause of death being

barbiturate Barbiturates are a class of depressant, depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medication, medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological a ...

overdose, in 1985.

Career

With his brother-in-law,

Claude Berri Claude Berri (; 1 July 1934 – 12 January 2009) was a French film director, writer, producer, actor and distributor. Early life Born Claude Beri Langmann in Paris, Berri was the son of Jewish immigrant parents. His mother, Beila (née Bercu), ...

, they played a role in the production of

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech Americans, Czech-American film film director, director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the Uni ...

's ''

The Firemen's Ball ''The Firemen's Ball'' (or ''Fireman's Ball''; - "Fire, My Lady") is a 1967 Czechoslovak New Wave Satire, satirical Comedy film, comedy directed by Miloš Forman. It is set at the annual ball of a small town's volunteer fire department, and th ...

'' (1967) and bought international rights. Rassam worked as an assistant to

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

and then went on to produce Godard's 1972 film '' Tout va bien'' which was also co-directed by

Jean-Pierre Gorin Jean-Pierre Gorin (born 17 April 1943) is a French filmmaker and professor, best known for his work with ''Nouvelle Vague'' luminary Jean-Luc Godard, during what is often referred to as Godard's "radical" period. Jean-Pierre Gorin was a student ...

. As well as his film production credits, he also made contributions to '' The Mother and the Whore'' (1973) and '' Tess'' (1979). He was critical of

Gaumont Film Company Gaumont SA () is a French film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Founded by the engineer-turned-inventor Léon Gaumont (1864–1946) in 1895, it is the oldest extant film company in ...

and unsuccessfully tried to buy them in 1974. He stopped his involvement in film for several years before returning to help on '' Good King Dagobert'' (1984).

Personal life

Born in Beirut, to Thomas Joseph Rassam, a diplomat from a bourgeois family of

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

Christian origin. He was in a relationship with actress Carole Bouquet, with whom he has one son, film producer Dimitri Rassam. Bouquet has called him the love of her life. His brother Paul was an executive for French distributor AMLF who distributed films for Berri in the early 1970s.

Partial filmography

* '' Don't Touch The White Woman!'' (1974) * '' Lancelot of the Lake'' (1974) * ''

Chinese in Paris ''Chinese in Paris'' (, ) is a 1974 French-Italian comedy film directed by Jean Yanne. The movie features an hypothetical Chinese invasion of western Europe and the life in Paris under communist Chinese rule. Cast * Jean Yanne - Régis Forneret ...

'' (1974) * ''

Blood for Dracula ''Blood for Dracula'' is a 1974 comedy horror film written and directed by Paul Morrissey, and starring Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Maxime McKendry, Stefania Casini, Arno Juerging and Vittorio de Sica. Upon its initial 1974 release in West Ge ...

'' (1973) * ''

Flesh for Frankenstein ''Flesh for Frankenstein'' is a 1973 horror film written and directed by Paul Morrissey. It stars Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Monique van Vooren and Arno Juerging. In West Germany and the United States, the film was released as ''Andy Warhol's ...

'' (1973) * ''

La Grande Bouffe ''La Grande Bouffe'' (, English titles ''The Grand Bouffe'' and ''Blow-Out'') is a 1973 French–Italian satirical film directed by Marco Ferreri. It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret and Andréa Ferréol ...

'' (1973) * '' Tout va bien'' (1972) *'' We Won't Grow Old Together'' (1972)

References

French film producers 1942 births 1985 deaths French people of Syrian descent 1985 suicides {{France-film-bio-stub