Louis Jourdan

He appeared in two adaptations of Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel "The Count of Monte Cristo". He played the title character Edmond Dantès in The Story of the Count of Monte Cristo (1961) and his enemy Villefort in The Count of Monte-Cristo (1975).

At the beginning of the 40's, he was engaged to Micheline Presle, whom he first met during a holiday in St.Tropez in 1938. They were close to getting married at one point, but eventually broke up in a hard way. Jourdan took this so badly that, when he was reunited with Micheline in Twilight (1944), he refused to speak any word to her except for when they were in front of the camera. Micheline was initially irritated by this, but eventually ended up laughing at the whole thing.

Louis Jourdan was born Louis Robert Gendre in Marseille, France, to Yvonne (née Jourdan) and Henry Gendre, a hotel owner. He was educated in France, Britain, and Turkey. He trained as an actor with René Simon at the École Dramatique. He debuted on screen in 1939, going on to play cultivated, polished, dashing lead roles in a number of French romantic comedies and dramas. During World War II, after his father, the manager of the Cannes Grand Hôtel, was arrested by the Gestapo, Louis and his two brothers (both of whom became film directors, Pierre Jourdan and Robert Gendre) joined the French underground; his film career came to a halt when he refused to act in Nazi propaganda films.

Selznick invited him to Hollywood to appear in The Paradine Case (1947); he remained in the USA and went on to star in a number of Hollywood films.

In 1948, David O.

Jourdan's wife, Berthe, was known by the nickname "Quique"; the two were childhood sweethearts. Their only child, a son, Louis Henry George Jourdan, was born October 6, 1951 and died in 1981, aged 29, predeceasing his parents. Louis Jourdan found his son's body in his Beverly Hills home. His son had suffered from depression and had apparently taken an overdose of drugs. The police labeled it a suicide, even though it may have been an accidental overdose.

After 1953, he appeared in international productions and, in 1958, appeared in Gigi (1958), his best-known film by American audiences. He also made numerous appearances on American television.

Played the Maurice Chevalier role in "Gigi" on stage at the age of 63. Chevalier was 70 and frail when he did the movie Gigi (1958).

Played Edmond Dantes in "The Story of the Count of Monte Cristo" (1961) and later played De Villefort in "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1975).

He was nominated for a 1975 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist for his performance in the play, "13 Rue De L'Amour", at the Arlington Park Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

According to an 1985 news article, he reads Nietzsche and Schopenhauer.

In 2010, Jourdan received the 'French Legion of Honor.' The French Ambassador to the U.S presented the medal in Los Angeles, California.