Marcel Mouloudji
Born
September 16, 1922
Died
June 14, 1994 (71 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Paris, France
Marcel Mouloudji, born September 16, 1922 in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and died June 14, 1994 in Neuilly-sur-Seine is a French-Algerian singer, songwriter, painter and actor. His songs, alternately committed and sentimental, evoke love, war, nostalgia between sadness and loneliness. He has notably interpreted texts by poets such as Boris Vian, Louis Aragon and Philippe Pauletto.
Marcel Mouloudji was born in 1922 in Paris to a bricklayer father and a housekeeper mother. His father, Saïd Mouloudji was born in 1896 in French Algeria in the Kabyle village of Leflaye (tribe of Aït Waghlis, daïra of Sidi-Aïch), and his mother, Eugénie Roux is a Breton born in Paris in 1901. The family knows serious problems: when Marcel was only ten years old, his mother was hospitalized for a mental disorder and his illiterate father, housed in a maid's room, had trouble raising his two sons, the eldest of whom, André, was gravely ill and the second, a gentle dreamer who finds accommodation by chance encounters.
During his adolescence, Marcel enrolled with his brother in a left-wing youth movement, the Faucons Rouges, close to the SFIO. In 1935, he met Sylvain Itkine, director and member of the October Group, an organization affiliated with the Fédération des Théâtres Ouvriers de France. Marcel Maillot, director of a Syndicat du livre summer camp, encouraged him to sing with his brother. He was soon noticed by Jean-Louis Barrault. During this period, Marcel was thus hosted by Jean-Louis Barrault, who introduced him to the artistic milieu of Paris. He participated in the artistic life associated with the Popular Front in 1936. In 1936, he appeared in the film La Guerre Des Gosses by Jacques Daroy. In 1937, for the film Claudine À L'École by Serge de Poligny, the screenwriter Jacques Constant, around Blanchette Brunoy, created the character of "Petit Moulou"... soon to be Mouloudji. In 1938, Marcel played one of the three young heroes in Disparus De Saint-Agil by Christian-Jaque. In 1939, Marcel played the role of Louis in Christian-Jaque's film L'Enfer Des Anges, a film selected for the 1939 Cannes Film Festival which did not take place, and released in February 1941. In 1942, he played the role of 'Ephraïm Luska in Henri Decoin's film, The Strangers in the House, after Georges Simenon...
Jacques Canetti, famous artistic agent. He will offer him to record "Comme Un P'tit Coquelicot" thanks to which Mouloudji obtains the Grand Prix du Disque 1953 and the Charles-Cros Prize in 1952 and 1953. He repeats with "Un Jour Tu Verras" the following year. He reappears in films like Henri Calef in 1949 or We Are All Assassins three years later. His last roles, he did in Rafles sur la ville by Pierre Chenal then in Llegaron Dos Hombres in 1958.
After recording a disc with accordionist Marcel Azzola in 1976 called "And it was turning", he released "Unknown Unknowns" thanks to which he went on tour throughout the country. Exhausted, he decides to devote more time to writing and painting. He partially lost his voice due to pleurisy in 1992 but was still working on a new album. He died on June 14, 1994 and is buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Known For

Boris Vian, un cœur qui battait trop fort
Self (archive footage)
2020

La Chance aux chansons
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
1984

La Chance aux chansons
Self · (7 episodes)
1984

Champs-Elysées
Self · (1 episode)
1982

Numéro un
Self · (5 episodes)
1975

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self · (2 episodes)
1975

Apostrophes
Self · (1 episode)
1975
Midi trente
Self · (2 episodes)
1972

Le Grand Échiquier
Self · (6 episodes)
1972

Le Grand Échiquier
Self - Main Guest · (1 episode)
1972
Samedi soir
Self · (1 episode)
1971

Dim Dam Dom
Self · (1 episode)
1965

The Hideout
Georges
1962

Two Men in Town
Angel Garcia
1959

Discorama
Self · (3 episodes)
1959

Sinners of Paris
Jeannot Donati
1958
58.2/B
1958

Until the Last One
Quedchi
1957

Until the Last One
The fairground Quedchi
1957

The Indiscreet
1956

Tout chante autour de moi
Georges
1954

The Secrets of the Bed
Ricky (segment "Riviera-Express")
1954

Boom on Paris
Self
1954

The Virtuous Scoundrel
Singer
1953

Three Women
Raoul (segment "Mouche")
1952

We Are All Murderers
René Le Guen
1952

The Bonnadieu House
1951

The Bonnadieu House
Le chanteur des rues
1951

Gigolo
Ernest
1951

Justice Is Done
Amadeo, Malingré farmhand
1950

Tête blonde
Bernard
1950

Sorceror
Mouton
1950

Troubled Waters
1949

Kindergarten
Paulo
1949

Bagarres
Angelin
1948

The Chips Are Down
Lucien Derjeu
1947

Sky Battalion
Le Canaque
1947

Les Cadets de l'océan
Passicot
1945

Angel and Sinner
Irregular (uncredited)
1945

Angel of the Night
Un étudiant (uncredited)
1944

Vautrin the Thief
Calvi (uncredited)
1943

Adieu Léonard
Chimney sweep (uncredited)
1943

The Roquevillards
Boy from the Italian Boarding House (uncredited)
1943

Strangers in the House
Ephraïm (Amédé) Luska
1942

Hell of Angels
Léon
1941

They Met on Skis
Pierrot
1940
Les Gaietés de l'exposition
1938

Boys' School
Macroy
1938

Mirages
1938

Claudine at School
Mouloud
1937

In Venice, One Night
Young Toto
1937

Ménilmontant
Toto
1936

Generals Without Buttons
Kid (uncredited)
1936

Jenny
le chanteur des rues
1936