Celebrity Biographies
Claude Berry
Legendary figure of French cinema, Claude Berri was one of the most important French producers, and his power and influence was so great that he was known as ‘the last sultan’ or ‘the godfather of French cinema’. He was also highly respected as a director, although he started out in film as an actor. Passionate about art, Berri was a great collector of paintings and had just opened an exhibition hall in Paris. This authentic banner of the Seventh Art passed away on Monday, January 12, as a result of a stroke, at the age of 74. “Berri was a sad man capable of being happy,” said Pedro Almodóvar, who had Berri as a producer on Todo sobre mi madre .
Born on July 1, 1934 in Paris, Claude Langmann (his real name) was the son of a Jewish couple made up of a furrier and a woman who did menial jobs. Although for a time he worked in his father’s business, he was very clear at that time that he wanted to be an actor, so he attended acting courses. He ended up being recruited for small roles in films such as Jacques Becker ‘s L’estrapade and Claude Autant-Lara ‘s The Green Wheat . As a consequence of the fact that he had not yet established himself as an interpreter and success was resisting him, Berri made the decision to turn to directing with the short film Poulet, which received an excellent reception and won the Oscar for best short film in 1965.
Claude Berri’s first feature film as a director was The Old Man and the Boy , from 1967, which included many autobiographical elements from when he was a child. The action takes place during World War II, when an elderly Catholic couple in rural France takes in a child without knowing that he is Jewish. During the filming, Berri had a loud confrontation with the protagonist, Michel Simon , one of the great actors of French cinema and theater, due to his attitude of the type “nobody directs Michel Simon”.
Berri achieved notable success with Adiós pelele , where he gave a dramatic range to Coluche, one of the most famous French comedians. He then specialized in period films based on novels, such as the diptych formed The Spring of the Hills and The Revenge of Manon or Germinal , based on the works of Pagnol and Zola, in which he worked with famous actors from his country, like Yves Montand , Gérard Depardieu or Emmanuelle Béart .
As a producer, he carried out projects by great directors, such as Roman Polanski ( Tess ), Patrice Chéreau ( The Wounded Man ), Jean-Jacques Annaud ( The Bear ), Volker Schlöndorff ( The Ogre ), Costa-Gavras ( Amen ) and the aforementioned Almodóvar. He was also behind Asterix and Obelix against Caesar , a film adaptation of the adventures of the famous comic book character.
During the filming of Juntos, nothing else – which was the last film he directed – he suffered a brain disease that left him quite affected. He managed to finish the shooting thanks to the help of the actor François Dupeyron , who became his assistant. Despite everything, he continued to be active. His latest work as a producer has been Welcome to the North , a comedy that has had unprecedented success in France. He was currently together with the writer Nathalie Rheims, although she had three children from a previous relationship.