Henri de la Falaise
Encyclopedia
Henry de La Falaise, Marquis de La Coudraye, born James Henry Le Bailly de La Falaise (Saint-Cyr-l'École
, France
, February 11, 1898 – April 10, 1972), was a French nobleman
, translator, film director
, film producer
, sometimes actor
and war hero who was best known for his high-profile marriages to two leading Hollywood actresses.
His actual surname was Le Bailly, though he and other members of his family used Le Bailly de La Falaise, referring to an ancestral estate; it is typically abbreviated to de La Falaise. As the marquis told The New York Times (7 October 1925), "My patronymic name is Le Bailly, but ... I use the name de la Falaise because it is one of the great-grandfather branches of the Le Bailly family. De La Falaise is the only existing branch of that family today. So this should be my entire name: James Henry Le Bailly de La Falaise, Marquis de La Coudraye".
The title held by the head of the family, Marquis de La Coudraye, dating from 1707, was granted, by an 1876 act of succession, to the younger son of Pacôme-François Le Bailly, Seigneur de La Falaise, and his wife, Pauline-Louise-Victoire de Loynes, daughter of the Marquis de La Coudraye. Descendants of that couple use the surname "Le Bailly de La Falaise", and after the act of succession, the family's younger sons have called themselves Count de La Falaise.
He had three full siblings:
He also had a half-sibling:
for heroism during World War I
, during which time he was attached to the 70th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces. He received Croix de Guerre for bravery during World War II
, while he was attached to the British 12th Royal Lancers
. In 1943, La Falaise published "Through Hell to Dunkirk" (Military Service Publishing Company), a memoir of his war experiences.
Notably handsome and universally known as "Hank," the marquis was admiringly described by the actress Lillian Gish
as "a real war hero. In his bathing-suit he presents a graphic picture of what modern warfare does to a man — he is so cut-and-shot and covered with scars."
, his first wife, called Paris Luck, a 1927 work that bore the name of Robert Bailly. He also served as the U.S. representative for Pathé
, the French film studio.
La Falaise also produced and directed three films for RKO, which were filmed in French and English versions: L'roi s'ennuie (The Royal Bed) (an adaptation of Robert E. Sherwood
's play The Queen's Husband); Le fils d'autre (The Woman Between), and Nuit d'Espagne (Transgression).
Saint-Cyr-l'École
Saint-Cyr-l'École is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.It used to host the training school for officers of the French army, the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr , which was relocated to Coëtquidan in 1945.The old buildings of the ESM are...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, February 11, 1898 – April 10, 1972), was a French nobleman
French nobility
The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...
, translator, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, sometimes actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and war hero who was best known for his high-profile marriages to two leading Hollywood actresses.
His actual surname was Le Bailly, though he and other members of his family used Le Bailly de La Falaise, referring to an ancestral estate; it is typically abbreviated to de La Falaise. As the marquis told The New York Times (7 October 1925), "My patronymic name is Le Bailly, but ... I use the name de la Falaise because it is one of the great-grandfather branches of the Le Bailly family. De La Falaise is the only existing branch of that family today. So this should be my entire name: James Henry Le Bailly de La Falaise, Marquis de La Coudraye".
The title held by the head of the family, Marquis de La Coudraye, dating from 1707, was granted, by an 1876 act of succession, to the younger son of Pacôme-François Le Bailly, Seigneur de La Falaise, and his wife, Pauline-Louise-Victoire de Loynes, daughter of the Marquis de La Coudraye. Descendants of that couple use the surname "Le Bailly de La Falaise", and after the act of succession, the family's younger sons have called themselves Count de La Falaise.
Early Life
La Falaise was the eldest son and second child of Louis Gabriel Venant Le Bailly de La Falaise, Count de La Falaise (1866-1910), a three time Olympics gold-medallist in fencing and former Army officer.http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/de/georges-count-de-la-falaise-1.html His mother was the former Henriette Frédérique Hennessy (1873-1965), scion of the Cognac family. La Falaise inherited the title of Marquis de La Coudraye from his paternal grandfather, Gabriel-César-Henri Le Bailly de La Falaise, who, like his father, died in 1910 (the father died on 4 April, the grandfather on 6 August). His widowed mother married in 1912, as her second husband, Count Antoine Hocquart de Turtot (1872—1954), a cavalry officer and major French horse-racing figure.He had three full siblings:
- Louise Le Bailly de La Falaise (1894—1910)
- Alain Le Bailly de La Falaise, Count de La Falaise, later Marquis de La Coudraye (1905—1977). He was the first husband of fashion model Maxime de la FalaiseMaxime de la FalaiseMaxime de la Falaise was a 1950s model, and, in the 1960s, an underground movie actress. She is also remembered as a cookery writer and "food maven" and a fashion designer for Chloé and Gérard Pipart...
and the father of fashion muse/designer Loulou de la FalaiseLoulou de la FalaiseLoulou de La Falaise was a fashion muse and designer of fashion, accessories, and jewelry associated with Yves Saint-Laurent. Author Judith Thurman, writing in The New Yorker magazine, called La Falaise "the quintessential Rive Gauche haute bohémienne"....
. - Richard Le Bailly de La Falaise, Count de La Falaise (1910—died at Buchenwald in 1945)
He also had a half-sibling:
- Henriette-Hyacinthe-Olympe-Geneviève Hocquart de Turtot (born circa 1913)
Military Service
The Marquis de La Coudraye was awarded the Croix de GuerreCroix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
for heroism during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, during which time he was attached to the 70th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces. He received Croix de Guerre for bravery during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, while he was attached to the British 12th Royal Lancers
12th Royal Lancers
The 12th Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. In 1960, it was amalgamated with 9th Queen's Royal Lancers, to form 9th/12th Royal Lancers .-History:...
. In 1943, La Falaise published "Through Hell to Dunkirk" (Military Service Publishing Company), a memoir of his war experiences.
Notably handsome and universally known as "Hank," the marquis was admiringly described by the actress Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
as "a real war hero. In his bathing-suit he presents a graphic picture of what modern warfare does to a man — he is so cut-and-shot and covered with scars."
Career
La Falaise directed at least five motion pictures, among them two dramas about primitive life and customs: Kliou the Killer (1934, released 1936, also known as Kliou the Killer Tiger) and Legong: Dance of the Virgins (1933, released 1935, also known as Djanger: Love Rite of Bali).The latter production was described many years later as a "seductive blend of serious documentary, lyrical effusion and unbridled prurience".He may also have written a film script for Gloria SwansonGloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
, his first wife, called Paris Luck, a 1927 work that bore the name of Robert Bailly. He also served as the U.S. representative for Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
, the French film studio.
La Falaise also produced and directed three films for RKO, which were filmed in French and English versions: L'roi s'ennuie (The Royal Bed) (an adaptation of Robert E. Sherwood
Robert E. Sherwood
Robert Emmet Sherwood was an American playwright, editor, and screenwriter.-Biography:Born in New Rochelle, New York, he was a son of Arthur Murray Sherwood, a rich stockbroker, and his wife, the former Rosina Emmet, a well-known illustrator and portrait painter known as Rosina E. Sherwood...
's play The Queen's Husband); Le fils d'autre (The Woman Between), and Nuit d'Espagne (Transgression).
Marriages
La Falaise was married three times, to:- Gloria SwansonGloria SwansonGloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
, American movie actress. They married in Paris, France, on January 28, 1925, after meeting on the set of the Swanson film Madame Sans-GêneMadame Sans-Gene (1925 film)Madame Sans-Gene is a silent romantic comedy/costume drama directed by Léonce Perret and starring Gloria Swanson.-Production background:The film was produced in France, as Swanson was on extended vacation there...
, on which La Falaise was working as a translator. They were officially divorced in November 1931, at which time Swanson was several months pregnant by Michael Farmer, an Irish sportsman, who would become her fourth husband. (Thinking her divorce from La Falaise was already finalized, the actress had married Farmer in August, which was technically bigamy, and was forced to remarry him, legally, in November.) Swanson conceived a child with La Falaise but had an abortion because, as The New York Times noted, in 2004, "if she had given birth seven months after her marriage, her career would have been ruined". During their marriage La Falaise was employed as the California representative of PeugeotPeugeotPeugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
American Corp., the U.S. branch of the European automobile manufacturer.
- Constance BennettConstance Bennett-Early life:She was born in New York City, the daughter of actor Richard Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison, whose father was the stage actor Lewis Morrison , a wealthy performer of English and Spanish ancestry...
, American movie actress, whom he married in November 1931, days after his divorce from Swanson was finalized. With her, he founded Bennett Productions, a film company for which he directed Legong: Dance of the Virgin (the first color movie filmed in BaliBaliBali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
and the last of Hollywood's silent films) and Kliou the Killer (filmed in present-day VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and the last movie made in two-tone TechnicolorTechnicolorTechnicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
). Bennett and La Falaise divorced in 1940.
- Emma "Emmita" Rodriguez Restrepo de Roeder, a Colombian divorcée, whose father had been a diplomat.
Title
Since La Falaise had no children, the title of Marquis de La Coudraye was inherited by his younger brother, Alain de La Falaise (died 1977). It then passed to his nephew, Alexis de La Falaise (died 2004). It is now held by his grand-nephew, Daniel de La Falaise, a professional chef and former fashion model and actor.External links
- Les gens du cinéma for birth certificate