Daniel Gélin
Born
May 19, 1921
Died
November 29, 2002 (81 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France
Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin (19 May 1921 – 29 November 2002) was a French actor.
Gélin was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, the son of Yvonne (née Le Méner) and Alfred Ernest Joseph Gélin.
When he was ten, his family moved to Saint-Malo where Daniel went to college until he was expelled for 'uncouthness'. His father then found him a job in a shop that sold cans of salted cod. It was seeing the shooting of Marc Allégret's film Entrée des artistes that triggered his desire to go to Paris to train to be an actor. He trained at the Cours Simon in Paris before entering the Conservatoire national d'art dramatique. There he met Louis Jouvet and embarked on a theatrical career. He made his first film appearance in 1940 in Miquette and for several years was an extra or played small roles in French films. He appeared with Jean Gabin and Marlene Dietrich in Martin Roumagnac (1946).
He won his first leading role in Rendez-vous de juillet (1949). From that time, he went on to appear in more than 150 films, including Max Ophüls' films La Ronde (1950) and Le Plaisir (1952), Jacques Becker's Édouard et Caroline (1951), Sacha Guitry's films Si Versailles m'était conté (Royal Affairs in Versailles) (1954) and Napoléon (1955), Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Jean Cocteau's Le Testament d'Orphée (1960), Le souffle au cœur (Murmur of the Heart) (1971), and La Nuit de Varennes (That Night in Varennes) (1982). He also wrote and directed one film, The Long Teeth, in 1952.
Gélin was a leading man in French cinema during the 1950s, but his career declined with the coming of the New Wave. He worked in theater for several years, but later found new success on screen as a character actor. He appeared extensively in French films and television productions from the 1970s until his death, often playing cynical characters or grumpy old men.
In 1946, Gélin married actress Danièle Delorme with whom he had a son, actor, director and producer Xavier Gélin. They divorced in 1954. While still married to Delorme, he had an affair with 17 year old model Marie Christine Schneider that produced a daughter, Maria Schneider. Due to his status as a married man, Gélin could not recognize Maria as his daughter. He visited the child several times but eventually severed his relationship with her mother. Maria Schneider and Daniel Gélin reconnected when she was sixteen and came to visit him. They remained in contact, although their relationship was irregular.
Gélin was married to model Sylvie Hirsch from 1954 until their divorce in 1968. This marriage produced three children, Pascal (who died aged one year), Fiona , and Manuel, the latter two also becoming actors. In 1973, he remarried to Lydie Zaks with whom he had a daughter, Laura.
Gélin died in Paris on 29 November 2002 of kidney failure.
Source: Article "Daniel Gélin" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For

Max par Marcel: Lola Montès
Self (archive footage)
2009
Working with Max Ophuls: Daniel Gélin on "Le Plaisir"
Self (archive footage)
2008
Working with Max Ophuls: Daniel Gélin on "La Ronde"
Self (archive footage)
2008

À l'abri des regards indiscrets
Abdel-Robert
2002

Une femme d'action
Charles
1997

Obsession
Xavier Favre
1997

Men, Women: A User's Manual
le veuf
1996

Les Bidochon
Le père Bidochon
1996

Ghost with Driver
Le passeur (Le guide céleste)
1996

Runaways
Bruno
1995

Pushing the Limits
Le père de Fiona
1994

Fear City: A Family-Style Comedy
Mr. Mireille, the 2nd projectionist
1994

Poorly Extinguished Fires
The gentleman from the beach
1994
Warrior Spirit
John Ball
1994

Roulez jeunesse !
Jean Moulinier
1993
De force avec d'autres
L'autre lui-même
1993

Coup de jeune
Gaudeamus at 70
1993

Iran: Days of Crisis
Shah
1991

The Professional Secrets of Dr. Apfelgluck
Roland Grumaud
1991

Mauvaise fille
Fernand
1991

Les Nuls, l'émission
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
1990

Promotion canapé
Le responsable des inspecteurs de la Justice
1990

Max Ophüls - Den schönen guten Waren
Self
1990

Mister Frost
Simon Scolari
1990

The summer of all sorrows
papy
1989

Itinerary of a Spoiled Child
Pierre Duvivier, Albert's father
1988

Life Is a Long Quiet River
Docteur Mavial
1988

Dandin
Monsieur de Sotenville
1988

Marc et Sophie
Edmond, le beau-père · (220 episodes)
1987

Sacrée soirée
Self · (4 episodes)
1987

Public Security
Martino Morando
1987

Via Montenapoleone
padre di Elena
1987

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Self (archive footage)
1987

The Legacy of Guldenburgs
Gregor Baschkurin · (1 episode)
1987
Pétition
Stanek
1987

Le Tiroir secret
Jean-Pierre Jolivet · (1 episode)
1986

Killing Cars
Kellermann
1986
Blitz
1985

The Children
Enrico
1985
Un delitto
1984

The Night of Varennes
De Wendel
1982

Guy de Maupassant
Gustave
1982

Season of Peace in Paris
1981

Signé Furax
Broutechoux
1981

Tarendol
Bazalo · (4 episodes)
1980

Arrête de ramer, t'attaques la falaise !
Don Gomez
1979
Schwüle Tage
Vater
1978

The Suspended Vocation
Malagrida
1978

La Discorde
Bernard
1978

We Will All Meet in Paradise
Bastien, stage director
1977

Urgent ou à quoi bon exécuter des projets puisque le projet est en lui-même une jouissance suffisante
Self
1977

La jalousie
Albert Blondel
1976

Trop c'est trop
Flic
1975

Dialogues of the Exiles
1975

Numéro un
Self · (2 episodes)
1975
Système 2
Self · (1 episode)
1975

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self · (3 episodes)
1975

Midi Première
Self · (1 episode)
1975

Ariane
The comedian
1974

No Pockets in a Shroud
Laurence
1974
Der große Preis
Self · (1 episode)
1974

The Police Serve the Citizens?
Brera
1973

Double assassinat dans la Rue Morgue
Dupin
1973
Far from Dallas
Jean
1972

Le Grand Échiquier
Self · (1 episode)
1972
Un enfant dans la ville
Gustave, the bartender
1971

Swedish Fly Girls
André
1971

Murmur of the Heart
Charles Chevalier
1971

Arsène Lupin
Daubrecq · (1 episode)
1971

The Servant
Dr. Robert Marbois
1970

Destroy, She Said
Bernard Alione
1969

Sadistic Hallucinations
Charles
1969

Slogan
Le père d'Evelyne
1969

The Most Beautiful Month
Le capitaine
1968

The Truce
Arno
1968

Witness Out of Hell
Bora Petrović
1967

Black Sun
Guy Rodier
1966

Is Paris Burning?
Yves Bayet
1966

À belles dents
Bernard
1966

Line of Demarcation
Doctor Jacques Lafaye
1966

The Sultans
Léo
1966

An Affair of States
Ballard
1966

The Sleeping Car Murder
Le vétérinaire titulaire, chargé de cours (uncredited)
1965

Les Saintes Chéries
Pierre Lagarde · (39 episodes)
1965

Uncertain Verification
(archive footage)
1965

The Hour of Truth
Davod
1965

The Boy and the Ball and the Hole in the Wall
Gunther Smith
1965

Les murs
François Bonjean
1964

Cherchez l'idole
Self, guest at Sylvie Vartan's show (uncredited)
1964

How to Make a French Dish
Raymond
1964

Three Girls in Paris
Raymond
1963

Portuguese Vacation
Daniel
1963

Règlements de compte
1963

Hitch-Hike
le comédien qui répète "Cyrano"
1962

Réveille-toi, chérie
Masure
1961

In the Mouth of the Wolf
Un drogué
1961

The Season for Love
Jacques Saint-Ford
1961

Shadows of Adultery
Eric Kraemmer
1961

Three Etc.'s and the Colonel
Lieutenant Miguel Villard
1960

Testament of Orpheus
The Intern (uncredited)
1960

Carthage in Flames
Phegor
1960

Julie la rousse
Édouard Lavigne / Jean Lavigne
1959

This Desired Body
Guillaume Féraud
1959

Follow Me Young Man
Michel Corbier
1958

Port of Desire
Pierre
1958

Three Days to Live
Simon Belin
1958

Too Many Lovers
Alain Cartier
1957

There's Always a Price Tag
Robert Montillon
1957

Mort en fraude
Paul Horcier
1957

I'll Get Back to Kandara
Bernard Cormière
1956

Good Evening Paris
Georges Bernier / Self
1956

Plucking the Daisy
Daniel Roy
1956

The Man Who Knew Too Much
Louis Bernard
1956

Cinépanorama
Self · (1 episode)
1956

Maid in Paris
Antoine du Merlet
1956

Napoleon
Napoléon Bonaparte
1955

Lovers' Net
Pierre Roubier
1955

The Cheerful Squadron
Il soldato Frédéric d'Héricourt
1954

Woman of Rome
Mino
1954

On Trial
Léonard Maurizius
1954

Love in a Hot Climate
Ricardo Garcia
1954

Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances
Narrator (voice)
1954

Reflets de Cannes
Self · (2 episodes)
1954

Public Opinion
1954

Stain on the Snow
Frank Friedmayer
1954

Royal Affairs in Versailles
Jean Collinet
1954

The Slave
Michel Landa
1953

Rue de l'estrapade
Robert
1953

Voice of Silence
L'ancien prisonnier
1953

Les Dents longues
Louis Commandeur
1953
Torticola versus Frankensberg
The Man who sleeps in a Coffin
1952

Le Plaisir
Jean
1952

Venom and Eternity
Self
1952

Adorable Creatures
André Noblet
1952

Young Love
Jean Bompart
1951

Dirty Hands
Hugo
1951

Chicago Digest
Coffino
1951

The Moment of Truth
Daniel Prévost
1951

Edward and Caroline
Edouard Mortier
1951

La légende cruelle
Narrator (voice)
1951

God Needs Men
Joseph Le Berre
1950

La Ronde
Alfred, le jeune homme
1950

Rendezvous in July
Lucien Bonnard
1949

The Hell of Lost Pilots
Lieutenant Villeneuve
1949

The Murdered Model
Léopold
1948

The Woman in Red
Saladin
1947

Mirror
Charles
1947

La Nuit de Sybille
Stany
1947

Martin Roumagnac
Le surveillant du collège
1946

A Friend Will Come Tonight
Pierre Ribault
1946

The Temptation of Barbizon
Michel
1946

Les Cadets de l'océan
Philippe Demantes
1945

L'Enquête du 58
1945

The Little Ones of the Flower Platform
(uncredited)
1944
Lucrèce
College student
1943

Soyez les bienvenus
1942

Strangers in the House
(uncredited)
1942

Her First Affair
Chauveau-Laplace (uncredited)
1941

Radio Surprises
Extra (uncredited)
1940

Miquette
1940