Louis Jourdan
Jourdan in trailer for Madame Bovary (1949)
Born	Louis Robert Gendre (1921-06-19) 19 June 1921 (age 103) Marseille, France
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1939–1992
Spouse(s)	Berthe Frédérique "Quique" Jourdan (m.1946–present; 1 child)
Children	Louis Henry Jourdan (1951-1981)

Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre, 19 June 1921)^[1] is a retired French film and television actor. He is known for his roles in several Hollywood films, including The Paradine Case (1947), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), Gigi (1958), The Best of Everything (1959) and Octopussy (1983). His final film before his retirement was The Year of the Comet in 1992.

Jourdan was born as Louis Gendre in Marseille, France, the son of Yvonne (née Jourdan) and Henry Gendre, a hotel owner.^[2] He was educated in France, Turkey, and Britain, and he studied acting at the École Dramatique. While studying he began acting on the professional stage, where he was brought to the attention of director Marcel Allegret, who hired him to play a role in Le Corsaire in 1939 opposite Charles Boyer. Filming was interrupted by the Second World War, but Jourdan went on to make other films for Allegret, as well as other directiors.

After refusing to participate in Nazi propaganda films, Jourdan joined the French Resistance. His father was arrested by the Gestapo.^[3]

In 1947, Jourdan accepted an offer to appear in The Paradine Case, a drama directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Gregory Peck. In Hollywood, he became friends with several stars who shared his love of the game of croquet.

After acting in a number of American films, most notably in the romantic drama Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), Jourdan made his Broadway début in the lead role in Billy Rose's drama, The Immoralist. He returned to the Great White Way for a short run in 1955, and also that year he made his American TV début as Inspector Beaumont in the TV series Paris Precinct. In 1956, he appeared in the film The Swan along with Grace Kelly and Sir Alec Guinness, playing the role of "Dr Nicholas Agi".

During the 1950s, Jourdan acted in several major films, taking the male lead in The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful (1956) with Brigitte Bardot as the lead actress. However, he may be best remembered as the romantic lead with Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier in the film version of the novella by Colette, Gigi (1958). This film won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Jourdan co-starred with Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine in the musical Can-Can (1960).

In later years, Jourdan also appeared on television, including 1977's Count Dracula for the BBC and the 1978 Columbo episode Murder Under Glass. He later played Anton Arcane in the movie Swamp Thing (1982) and in its sequel The Return of Swamp Thing (1989).

During the 1970s, Jourdan recorded a series of spoken word albums of the Babar the Elephant books that were released by Caedmon Records. In 1983, Jourdan played the villainous Kamal Khan in the James Bond movie Octopussy. He played the role of Pierre de Coubertin in The First Olympics: Athens 1896, a 1984 TV series about the 1896 Summer Olympics.

On 11 March 1946, Jourdan married Berthe Frédérique (nicknamed "Quique"), with whom he had his only child, Louis Henry Jourdan (b. 6 October 1951),^[4] a son who died of a drug overdose on 12 May 1981^[5] and was buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Jourdan has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6153 and 6445 Hollywood Boulevard.

He retired and lived, at least part-time, with his wife of more than sixty years, "Quique", in Los Angeles, California.They resided in the Greater Los Angeles Area for many years. In July of 2010, Jourdan was made an Officier de la Legion d'honneur, which he received, accompanied by friends, including Sidney Poitier and Kirk Douglas.^[6]

• Gigi (1985) - road tour

• Louis Jourdan at IMDb
• Louis Jourdan at the Internet Broadway Database

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