Pierre Blaise
Encyclopedia
Moissac
Moissac is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is famous world-wide mostly for the artistic heritage handed down by the ancient Saint-Pierre Abbey.-History:...
– 31 August 1975, Moissac), a French
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...
actor. He is best known for the role of Lucien Lacombe in director Louis Malle
Louis Malle
Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
's 1974 film Lacombe, Lucien.
Personal
Blaise was born at Moissac, France.Only a year after Lacombe, Lucien was released, Blaise was killed in a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
. Following a party, he was driving a car, a Renault 17 Gordini, which he had purchased with funds from his acting work. Accompanied by two friends whom he had brought along for company, Blaise lost control and crashed against a plane tree on the route de Laujol between Moissac and Durfort-Lacapelette
Durfort-Lacapelette
Durfort-Lacapelette is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France.-References:*...
, where he lived with his parents. There were no survivors. According to Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine, the accident took place after the vehicle "skidded around a curve in pouring rain".
He is buried at the cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
of Durfort-Lacapelette
Durfort-Lacapelette
Durfort-Lacapelette is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France.-References:*...
in Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.-History:...
.
Career
Malle had been looking for a non-actor to play the titular character in Lacombe, Lucien and was convinced that Blaise, then working as a woodcutter, would bring great authenticity to the role. (Writing of the film in 1977, Current BiographyCurrent Biography
Current Biography is an American monthly magazine published by the H. W. Wilson Company of The Bronx, New York, a publisher of reference books, that appears every month except December. Current Biography contains profiles of people in the news and includes politicians, athletes, businessmen, and...
referred to Blaise as a "real-life Provencal farm boy.") In winning the role, Blaise was chosen over 1,000 other actors. Following his appearance in Malle's film, Blaise appeared in three further films, the best regarded of which is Per le antiche scale in which he co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
and Marthe Keller
Marthe Keller
Marthe Keller is a Swiss actress and opera director. She studied ballet as a child, but stopped after a skiing accident at age 16...
.
Controversy
The film Lacombe, Lucien was quite controversial, not only because of the topic of the French ResistanceFrench Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
and collaborators in Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, and scenes involving nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
, but also due to the main character's casual and frequent animal cruelty, such as a hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
whose neck he breaks and a chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
which he beheads with his bare hands. The beheading of the chicken was unplanned.
Filmography
- 1974, Lacombe, Lucien. Directed by Louis Malle.
- 1975, Le Grand Délire. Directed by Dennis BerryDennis BerryDennis Alfred Berry was an English musician, composer, arranger, and producer. His work has been used in filmmaking and television productions.- Early life :...
. - 1975, Noces de porcelaine. Directed by Roger CoggioRoger CoggioRoger Coggio was a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 40 films between 1954 and 1998...
. - 1975, Per le antiche scale. Directed by Mauro BologniniMauro BologniniMauro Bolognini was an Italian film director of literate sensibility, known for masterful handling of period subject matter.-Biography:Mauro Bolognini was born in Pistoia, Tuscany....
.