Grégoire Aslan
Grégoire Aslan | |
---|---|
Born | Krikor Aslanian 28 March 1908 |
Died | 8 January 1982 | (aged 73)
Resting place | Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery |
Other names | Coco Aslan |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1935–1982 |
Spouse(s) | Jacqueline Dumonceau (m. 1940; div. 19??) Denise Noël
(m. 1948; div. 1955) |
Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Aslanian; 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was an Armenian actor and musician based in Switzerland.[1]
Early life[]
Born in Switzerland or in Constantinople,[2] according to different sources, Aslan made his professional début at 18 as a vocalist, trumpeter and drummer[3] with the Paris dance band of Ray Ventura et ses Collegiens, then launched an acting career under the name of Coco Aslan. He also performed with the famed Django Reinhardt.[4] From 1948 to 1955 he was married to French theatre actress Denise Noël.[5]
Career[]
His first film appearance was uncredited in Marc Didier's 1935 Le Bille de mille.[6] His first credited appearance was in Feux de joie (1939), along with conductor Ventura.[7] During World War II he toured South America with actor Louis Jouvet and eventually started his own theatre troupe.[8] He became an indispensable feature in many British and American films, usually playing foreigners – Russians, Frenchmen, Italians, Germans, Albanians and Middle Easterners – with equal finesse.
Aslan's more prominent screen appearances include gangster boss Duca in Joe MacBeth (1955), King of Kings (1961) as Herod, and Cleopatra (1963) as Pothinus. In 1961, in The Devil at 4 O'Clock, alongside Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy, he portrayed Marcel, a criminal who finds repentance by giving his life to save children from being killed by a volcanic eruption on a South Sea island. In Paris When It Sizzles (1964), he played a police chief. He played another police chief in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975). He appeared in over 110 film and TV roles.[9] He also appeared on the French stage in productions from 1946 to 1981.[10]
Death[]
Aslan died of a heart attack in Breage, whilst visiting Cornwall, England.[11]
Selected filmography[]
- (1935)
- Adventure in Paris (1936) as Un membre de l'orchestre de Ray Ventura (uncredited)
- Feux de joie (1939) as Coco
- The Maelstrom of Paris (1939) as Coco
- Radio Surprises (1940) as Robert
- La fruta mordida (1945)
- (1947) as Coco
- Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948) as Poirier, the chef
- Keep an Eye on Amelia (1949) as Le prince
- Wicked City (aka Hans le marin, 1949) as Le Brésilien
- A Man Walks in the City (1950) as Ambilarès
- Last Holiday (1950) as Gambini
- Cairo Road (1950) as Lombardi (as Coco)
- Cage of Gold (1950) as Duport
- The Adventurers (1951) as Dominic
- (1951) as Ernest Duranval
- The Red Inn (1951) as Barboeuf
- No Vacation for Mr. Mayor (1951) as M Beaudubec
- Jouons le jeu (1952) as l'acteur (segment 'La jalousie')
- (1952) as Coudert
- A Mother's Secret (1952) as Georges Lavier
- Innocents in Paris (1953) as Carpet Seller
- (1953) as Varesco
- Le Chevalier de la nuit (1953) as Le préfet de police
- This Man Is Dangerous (1953) as Siegella
- Act of Love (1953) as Commissaire (uncredited)
- (1954) as Mortimer Schoom
- La soupe à la grimace (1954) as Karl Worden
- Oasis (1955) as Pérez
- Mr. Arkadin (1955) as Bracco
- Joe MacBeth (1955) as Duncan
- Une fille épatante (1955) as Atcheminocc
- (1956) as Bodoni
- (1956) as Zajir
- He Who Must Die (1957) as Agha
- Les suspects (1957) as Inspecteur Ben Hamman
- (1957) as Le prince Yucca
- Casino de Paris (1957) as Mario
- (1957) as Général Ribera
- Windom's Way (1957) as Mayor Lollivar
- (1957) as Mouillefarine
- The Snorkel (1958) as The Inspector
- Sea Fury (1958) as Fernando
- The Roots of Heaven (1958) as Habib
- (1959) as Stanley père
- Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) as Ben Ahmed
- Our Man in Havana (1959) as Cifuentes
- Under Ten Flags (1960) as Master of Abdullah
- The Criminal (1960) as Frank Saffron
- The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) as King Brob
- Bernadette de Lourdes (1961)
- The Rebel (1961) as Aristotle Carreras
- The Invasion Quartet (1961) as Debrie
- King of Kings (1961) as Herod the Great
- The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) as Marcel
- The Happy Thieves (1961) as Dr. Victor Muñoz
- Village of Daughters (1962) as Gastoni (A Father)
- (Marco Polo, unfinished French film, 1962)
- Cleopatra (1963) as Pothinus
- The Main Chance (1964) as Potter
- Une ravissante idiote (1964) as Bagda
- Paris When It Sizzles (1964) as Police Insp. Gilet
- (1964) as Inspecteur Rossi
- Crooks in Cloisters (1964) as Lorenzo
- Amori pericolosi (1964) as Il generale (segment "Il generale")
- The Gorillas (1964) as Maître Lebavard
- The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964) as the Albanian Ambassador
- The High Bright Sun (1965) as Gen. Stavros Skyros
- Marco the Magnificent (1965) as Achmed Abdullah
- Moment to Moment (1965) as Insp. DeFargo
- A Man Could Get Killed (1966) as Florian
- Our Man in Marrakesh (1966) as Achmed
- Lost Command (1966) as Dr. Ali Ben Saad
- The 25th Hour (1967) as Dobresco
- Tiffany Memorandum (1967) as The Shadow
- Marry Me! Marry Me! (1968) as Mr. Schmoll
- A Flea in Her Ear (1968) as Max, Hotel Coq Dor Owner
- The Thirteen Chairs (1969) as Psychiarist
- You Can't Win 'Em All (1970) as Osman Bey
- Le Cinéma de papa (1971) as Le producteur
- The Pebbles of Etratat (1972) as Timakoff
- Die rote Kapelle (1972, TV miniseries) as Baron Maximowitsch
- Sex-shop (1972) as Le père d'Isabelle / Father-in-law
- The Girl from Hong Kong (1973) as Harris
- The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) as Hakim
- QB VII (1974, TV miniseries) as Sheik Hassan
- The Girl from Petrovka (1974) as Minister
- The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) as Chief of Lugash Police
- Bloedverwanten (1977) as Rudolphe De Guys
- Gloria (1977) as Le patron du cabaret
- Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979) as Armenian Priest / Le prêtre arménien
References[]
- ^ "Grégoire Aslan". BFI. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012.
- ^ McFarlane, Brian (16 May 2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Manchester University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-07190-9139-1 – via Google Books.
- ^ Ray Ventura (1908-1979) – piano player and band Leader - part 2
- ^ Coco Aslan Discography at Discogs
- ^ Denise Noël - IMDb
- ^ Le billet de mille (1935) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb
- ^ Ray Ventura et son Orchestre - Le nez de Cléopâtre (1938)
- ^ GRÉGOIRE ASLAN - Encyclopædia Universalis
- ^ Grégoire Aslan - IMDb
- ^ fr:Grégoire Aslan#Au th.C3.A9.C3.A2tre ce soir
- ^ Screen World, Volume 34 (1983), p. 233
External links[]
- 1908 births
- 1982 deaths
- Armenian male actors
- Swiss male film actors
- Swiss male television actors
- 20th-century Swiss male actors
- Swiss people of Armenian descent
- Burials at Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery