- Born
- Died
- Treading the boards since 1920, Marcel Herrand lent his natural elegance and his exceptional presence to plays by major playwrights such as Jules Romains, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Schnitzler, John Ford or Albert Camus, under the direction of such geniuses as Jacques Copeau, Charles Dullin, or Georges Pitoëff. Not content to act, he also staged plays by 'Federico Garcia Lorca', Henrik Ibsen, Julien Gracq and many others, for which he was rightly acclaimed. As far as movies are concerned, Marcel Herrand made only twenty-six films (and only two during the nineteen thirties) but he was chosen by the best director of his time, Marcel Carné, for whom he appeared in two masterpieces, Les Visiteurs du Soir (1942) and the immortal Children of Paradise (1945), in which he was particularly impressive as Lacenaire, the dandy killer in revolt against the society in the time of King Louis-Philippe. And even if all the directors he worked with were not on par with Carné, Marcel Herrand mainly played in good quality films, most often in the role of the villain, but not any villain, the high-class scene-stealing villain, with exquisite manners but all the more dangerous for that. He is also memorable as the faithless policeman Corentin, who swears to ruin the Marquis de Montauran (Jean Marais), the scheming Don Salluste, who swears to ruin Ruy Blas (Jean Marais again!) and the Queen of Spain in Ruy Blas (1948) and the infamous killer Larsan in Le mystère de la chambre jaune (1949), in one of his rare leading roles. He was also an amusing King Louis XV in a merry adventure flick that has wonderfully stood the test of time, Fanfan la Tulipe (1952).- IMDb Mini Biography By: Guy Bellinger
- Often played villain roles, usually saccharine-voiced men of refined manners and great inner perversity
- Often played real life figures
- Compelling screen presence
- Often appeared in period pieces, usually literary adaptations
- He has an entry in Jean Tulard's Dictionnaire du Cinéma/Les Acteurs published in Paris in 2007 by Robert Laffont/Bouquins, page 551 (ISBN: 978-2-221-10895-6).
- Accomplished stage actor and director. Having been lured to theatre since his childhood, he first tread the boards in 1917 at the Maubel theatre in the play 'Les Mamelles de Tirésias'. He later attended the acting courses of Jacques Copeau (as well as working on the stage under his direction) before Georges Pitoëff and Ludmilla Pitoëff would offer him to join their theatre company.
- He appeared in 3 movies with Jean Marais: Le pavillon brûle (1941), The Royalists (1947) and Ruy Blas (1948). Both Herrand and Marais played the role of Fantômas on the screen.
- Lifetime companion of Jean Marchat. Together, they founded their own theatre company, 'Le rideau gris' (the grey curtain). In 1939, they were put in charge of directing the 'Théâtre des Mathurins' by Georges Pitoëff and Ludmilla Pitoëff, who were the owners of the theatre. They carried on their job very successfully for many years.
- Theatre was always his primary love. He was never too fond of cinema for depriving him of the direct contact with the audience.
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