Jean Servais (French: [sɛʁvɛ]; 24 September 1910 – 17 February 1976) was a Belgian film and stage actor. He acted in many 20th century French cinema productions, from the 1930s through the early 1970s.He was married to Gilberte Graillot, and later actress Dominique Blanchar.
Selected filmography
Mater dolorosa (1932)
Criminel (1932) – Bob Graham
Youth (1933) – Pierre
The Faceless Voice (1933) – Gérard
Les Misérables (1934) – Marius Pontmercy
Angèle (1934) – Albin
Amok (1934) – Jan
La Chanson de l’adieu (1934) – Frédéric Chopin
Dernière heure (1934) – Jean Benoit
Bourrasque (1935) – Marcel Bardet
Rose (1936) – Jean Sergent
Valse éternelle (1936) – Pierre Kramer
Une fille à papa (1936) – Henri Guiraud
Les réprouvés (1937) – Prieur
Gigolette (1937) – Docteur Jacques Bernais
Police mondaine [fr] (1937) – l’ingénieur Philippe Dancourt
Terra di fuoco [fr] (1939) – Maxime / Massimo
L’Étrange Nuit de Noël [fr] (1939) – Le docteur Maire
Quartier sans soleil (1939) – Jo
La vie est magnifique [fr] (1940) – Paul
Ceux du ciel [fr] (1941) – Monval
Fromont jeune et Risler aîné (1941) – Fromont jeune
Patricia (1942) – Fabien
Tornavara [fr] (1943) – Anders
Finance noire (1943) – François Carré
Mahlia the Mestiza (1943) – Henri de Roussière -le fils des parents adoptifs de Mahlia
La vie de plaisir [fr] (1944) – Le vicomte Roland de la Chaume – un oisif
Amanti senza amore [fr] (1948) – Enrico Miller – il violinista
La septième porte (1948) – Le chauffeur du car
The Dance of Death (1948) – Kurt
Une si jolie petite plage (1949) – Fred
Mademoiselle de La Ferté (1949) – Lord Osborne
Le furet (1950) – Stadler
The Glass Castle (1950)
Une si jolie petite plage (1950) – Laurent Bertal (French version)
Le Plaisir (1952) – L’ami de Jean / La voix de Maupassant (segment “Le Modèle”)
Mina de Vanghel (1953) – Ruppert
Rue de l’Estrapade (1953) – Jacques Christian
Tourbillon (1953) – Fred Maurin
Le Chevalier de la nuit (1953) – Le châtelain
Les crimes de l’amour (1953) – Ruppert (segment 1 : ‘Mina de Vanghel’)
Rififi (1955) – Tony le Stéphanois
Heroes and Sinners, Les héros sont fatigués (1955) – François Séverin
Le couteau sous la gorge (1955) – Marc Hourtin
The Lebanese Mission (1956) – Maj. Charles Hobson
Akinek meg kell halnia – Celui qui doit mourir (1957) – Priest Fotis
La roue (1957) – Pierre Pelletier
Quand la femme s’en mêle, He Who Must Die (1957) – Henri Godot
Tamango (1958) – Doctor Corot
Cette nuit-là (1958) – André Reverdy
Les Jeux dangereux (1958) – Fournier, le détective privé
La Fièvre Monte à El Pao (1959) – Alejandro Gual
Murder at 45 R.P.M. (1960) – Maurice Faugères
Le Sahara brûle (1961) – Wagner
World in My Pocket (1961) – Gypo
Les Menteurs (1961) – Paul Dutraz
Le jeu de la vérité (1961) – Jean-François Vérate
Korzikai testvérek – The Corsican Brothers – I fratelli Corsi (1961) – Gerolamo Sagona
Le Crime ne paie pas (1962) – Ernest Vaughan (segment “L’affaire Hugues”)
The Longest Day (1962) – Rear Admiral Robert Jaujard
The Cage (1963) – Rispal
La soupe aux poulets [fr] (1963) – Commissaire Beronnet
Un soir… par hasard [fr] (1963) – Piort
Una spia sulla città, Rififi in the City (1963) – Maurice Leprince
That Man from Rio (1964) – Prof. Norbert Catalan
Sursis pour un espion [fr] (1965) – Dr. Roussel
Thomas the Impostor (1965) – Pasquel-Duport
Lost Command (1966) – General Melies
Avec la peau des autres (1966) – Wegelt
Qualcuno ha tradito (1967) – Jean
Coplan Saves His Skin (1968) – Saroghu
Black Jesus (1968) – Commander
Better a Widow (1968) – Baron Misceni
They Came to Rob Las Vegas (1968) – Gino
Peau d’âne (1970) – La voix de (voice)
The Devil’s Nightmare (1971) – Baron von Rhoneberg
Le Seuil du vide [fr] (1972) – De Gournais, le directeur de la galerie
L’Affaire Crazy Capo (1973) – Joseph Marchesi, dit Crazy Capo
Le Protecteur (1974) – Ancelin
Un tueur, un flic, ainsi soit-il… (1977) – Forzi (final film role)
Career
Servais trained at the Brussels Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, where he won the Second Prize. His acting skills came to the attention of Raymond Rouleau, and he was hired at the Théâtre du Marais, where he acted in Le mal de jeunesse, which was successful in Brussels and in Paris. He was also a member of Jean-Louis Barrault’s theatre company.
His first film role was as the simple country dweller who was the victim of an error by the justice system in the film Criminel (1932), directed by Jack Forrester. Servais’s film career continued in the 1930s with roles in films such as La Chanson De L’Adieu (1934) and La Vie Est Magnifique (1938). After a break in acting during World War II, he returned to the screen with roles in films such as La Danse De Mort (1948).
In the 1950s, he appeared in the crime drama Rififi (1955), which François Truffaut ranked as the best film noir, directed by American Jules Dassin, in which he played a leader of a gang of jewel thieves.
He appeared in another film directed by Jules Dassin in 1957, He Who Must Die (Celui qui doit mourir). He also appeared in a film written and directed by Luis Buñuel, La fièvre monte à El Pao (1959).
In the 1950s and 1960s, Servais rejoined the Renaud-Barrault theatre troupe for several plays, including La Répétition ou l’Amour puni (1950), Volpone (1955), and Marat/Sade (1966).
In the 1960s, Servais took small character roles in popular international fare such as The Longest Day (1962), an epic recreation of the Allied invasion of Normandy, and That Man from Rio (1964). Other films in which he acted include Le Sahara brûle (1961), Un Soir Par Hasard (1964), and Avec la peau des autres (1966).
He had roles in several films in the early 1970s, such as The Devil’s Nightmare (1971), an Italian horror series, and Le Protecteur (1974), about a recently released prisoner who tries to find his daughter who has fallen into the underworld of prostitution.
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