Marcel Dalio (born Marcel Benoit Blauschild; 23 November 1899 in Paris – 18 November 1983) was a French movie actor. He had major roles in two films directed by Jean Renoir, La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939).
In June 1940, Dalio and Lebeau left Paris ahead of the invading German army and reached Lisbon. They are presumed to have received transit visas from Aristides de Sousa Mendes, allowing them to enter Spain and journey on to Portugal. It took them two months to get visas to Chile. However, when their ship, the S.S. Quanza, stopped in Mexico, they were stranded (along with around 200 other passengers) when the Chilean visas they had purchased turned out to be forgeries. Eventually they were able to get temporary Canadian passports and entered the United States. Meanwhile, the advancing German Nazi army in occupied France used posters of his face as a representative of "a typical Jew". All other members of Dalio's family died in Naziconcentration camps.[5]
In Hollywood, although Dalio was never quite able to regain the profile he had in France, he appeared in 19 American films during the Second World War, in stereotypical roles as a Frenchman. Dalio's first film in the United States was the Fred MacMurray comedy One Night in Lisbon (1941) in which he portrayed a hotel concierge. Around the same time, he appeared in the Edward G. Robinson film Unholy Nights and the Gene Tierney film The Shanghai Gesture (also 1941). He remained busy, appearing in Flight Lieutenant (1942) starring Pat O'Brien and Glenn Ford. Dalio next portrayed a Frenchman, Focquet, in the film The Pied Piper (also 1942). In this film, Monty Woolley portrayed an Englishman trying to get out of France with an ever-increasing number of children ahead of the German invasion. Dalio then appeared among the star-studded cast in Tales of Manhattan (both 1942).
In the uncredited role of Emil the croupier in Casablanca (also 1942), he appeared in the scene when Captain Renault closes down Rick's Cafe American using the pretext, "I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!", Emil approaches him and hands him his usual bribe money saying, "Your winnings sir", while Rick darts Emil a flabbergasted look. His wife Madeleine Lebeau was also in the film, playing Yvonne, Rick's intermittent girlfriend. On 22 June, while Lebeau was filming her scenes with Hans Twardowski as the German officer, Dalio filed for divorce in Los Angeles on the grounds of desertion.
When the war in Europe ended in May 1945, Dalio returned to France to continue his movie career. His first appearance that year was in Her Final Role (Son dernier rôle, 1946). He appeared in ten more movies in France and one in England through the late 1940s. He played Captain Nikarescu in Black Jack (1950).
After making more movies in France, Dalio received a major supporting role in the mystery The List of Adrian Messenger (1963), set entirely in England but filmed primarily in Hollywood. Two of Dalio's previous co-stars, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra, had cameos in the film. This was followed with the part of Father Cluzeot in the John Wayne movie, Donovan's Reef (also 1963). After appearing again with Tony Curtis in Wild and Wonderful (1964), Dalio returned to France. He continued making movies for Hollywood, but he also appeared in many French productions.
Dalio married Hollywood based French journalist Madeleine [Alena] Prime in Los Angeles, in 1981.
Dalio, who appeared in almost 150 movies, died in Paris on 18 November 1983, just 5 days shy of his 84th birthday. He is buried in Cimetière parisien de Montrouge in Hauts de Seine, France.
