Jacques Herlin

Biography

Jacques Herlin (1927–2014) was a French character actor whose career moved between the stage, cinema and television. Born Jacques de Jouette in Le Vésinet, he grew up in Toulon and moved to Paris in 1951, where he spent a year studying drama in Raymond Girard's class.

He started out in small theatres performing classic plays before working in larger houses alongside stars such as Pierre Fresnay and Yvonne Printemps. In 1962 a stage engagement took him to Italy, where Elio Petri offered him a film role. That opened more than seventeen years of steady work at Cinecittà, in films by Petri, Alberto Lattuada and Sergio Leone. He also took comedy roles in Germany despite not speaking the language. When Italian production declined, he returned to Paris in the early 1980s and built a French career that included Jefferson in Paris and Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia.

His legacy lies in a large number of supporting parts, often aristocrats, clerics or officials, that gave his brief appearances a memorable presence. He died in 2014 at 86, and his last role was released posthumously.

Key films

• For a Few Dollars More (1965): a small part in Sergio Leone's western.
• The 10th Victim (1965): the owner of the Masoch Club in Elio Petri's satire.
• Juliet of the Spirits (1965): a brief appearance in Fellini's film.
• Jefferson in Paris (1995): the role of Savant in James Ivory's drama.
• The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999): Orleans' priest in Luc Besson's film.
• Farewell, My Queen (2012): the Marquis de Vaucouleurs in Benoît Jacquot's drama.