Gérard, Charles

(Naubar Agjenor / Decem­ber I, 1926, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France - )

   Of Armenian descent (his father was a general in the czar's army), he settled in Paris in the 1930s. A former worker at Renault, he had his first contact with cinema as an extra (1946 Destins, Richard Pottier; Macadam / UK and USA: Back Streets of Paris, Marcel Blistène; 1947 Voyage Surprise, Pierre Prévert; Monsieur Vincent, Maurice Cloche). He directed his first short in 1954 and briefly worked as an assistant to directors Henri Decoin (1957 Tous peuvent me tuer / Tutti possono uccidermi / UK: Anyone Can Kill Me / US TV: Everybody Wants to Kill Me, also actor, France / Italy; 1958 La Chatte / UK: The Face of the Cat / USA: The Cat) and Michel Boisrond (1956 Cette Sacrée Gamine / USA: Mam'zelle Pigalle / Naughty Girl / That Naughty Girl). After directing several shorts and half a dozen feature films, he enrolled in the ORTF (French TV) in 1966 as a reporter and cameraman and filmed many sport reports for Les Coulisses de l'Exploit. While shooting a report on Claude Lelouch, the director offered him a role in Le Voyou / Voyou—La canaglia / UK: Simon the Swiss / USA: The Crook (France / Italy, 1970). He began a new career playing supporting roles in almost sixty films. Autobiography: 1994 La Vie . . . c'est pas toujours du Cinéma (Ramsay).

 Filmography

1954 ◘ Signal au vert (short; co-director with Fran­çoise Sweerts)

        ◘ Autour d'un Film (documentary; short; co-director with Michel Deville)

        ◘ Une Balle dans le Canon / USA: A Bullet in the Gun Barrel (co-director with Michel Deville; also co-adapter)

1960 ◘ L'Ennemi dans l'Ombre / US TV: Enemy in the Shadows (also co-adapter)

        ◘ Jeudi en Peinture (short)

        ◘ Laris à l'Heure du Rêve (short)

1962 ◘ Les Démons de Minuit / UK: Demons at Midnight (co-director with Marc Allégret; Charles Gérard directed the film after Marc Allégret fell ill)

        ◘ La Loi des Hommes (also co-adapter, co-dialogist)

        ◘ Caméra indiscrète (short)

        ◘ Balade dans Paris (documentary; short; also screenwriter)

        ◘ A Couteaux tirés / USA: Daggers Drawn (also screenwriter, co-adapter)

        ◘ Entre Ciel et Mer (short)

        ◘ Rêve d'Enfant / Flashes Festival (documentary; short; also screenwriter)

        ◘ La Bande à Bébel (documentary; short)

        ◘ L'Homme qui trahit la Mafia / Calibro 38 / Canada: The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia (also co-screenwriter; France / Italy)

        ◘ Calibre 38 (short)

1979 ◘ La Fabuleuse Histoire de Roland Garros (documentary; short)