Jean-Pierre Aumont

Jean-Pierre Aumont was a French film and theatre actor. He was a matinée idol and a leading man during the 1930s, but his burgeoning career was interrupted by the Second World War. He served in the Free French Forces, and receiving both the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre for his actions.
After the war, Aumont resumed his career, in Hollywood as well as his native France, typically playing suave romantic leads. In 1991, he received an Honorary César for his contributions to the French film industry.

Early life

Aumont was born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons in Paris, the son of Suzanne, an actress, and Alexandre Salomons, owner of La Maison du Blanc. His mother's uncle was well-known stage actor Georges Berr. His father was from a Dutch-Jewish family; his mother's family were French Jews. Aumont's younger brother was the noted French film director François Villiers.

Career

At age 16, Aumont began studying drama at the Paris Conservatory, where his mother also studied. His professional stage debut occurred at the age of 19. His film debut came one year later when Jean de la Lune was produced in 1931.
However, his most important, career-defining role came in 1934 when Jean Cocteau's play La Machine infernale, was staged. While his film and stage career began rising quickly, World War II began. Aumont remained in France until 1942 when he realized that as a Jew he would have to flee the Nazis. He migrated from the unoccupied zone of Vichy France to New York City, then to Hollywood, California to pursue his film career.
He began working for MGM, but after finishing The Cross of Lorraine, he joined the Free French Forces. He was sent to North Africa, where he participated in Operation Torch in Tunisia. He then moved with the Allied armies through Italy and France. He was wounded twice. The first was on a mission with his brother; the second was more serious. Aumont's Jeep was blown up near a land-mined bridge. General Diego Brosset, commander of the 1st Free French Division, to whom Aumont was aide de camp, was killed. For his bravery during the fighting, Aumont received the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre.
After the war, Aumont quickly resumed his movie career, starring with Ginger Rogers in Heartbeat and as the magician in Lili with Leslie Caron. He worked with a number of prominent theatre director and stars, including his wife Maria Montez. In the mid-1950s, Aumont began working in television, appearing on several anthology programs, such as Robert Montgomery Presents and as a guest on the show What's My Line?. In the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared in various theater productions, including the musicals Tovarich with Vivien Leigh, Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, South Pacific, and Gigi.
One of his later performances was in A Tale of Two Cities. Two years later, in 1991, aged 80, he received an honorary César Award as well as being decorated with the cross of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.

Personal life

Aumont was married four times to three women. His first wife was French actress Blanche Montel, to whom he was married from 1938 to 1940, ultimately divorcing. While in Hollywood, Aumont married Maria Montez, a Dominican actress. She was known as the Queen of Technicolor, and their marriage was very happy. However, Montez drowned in her bathtub on 7 September 1951 after suffering an apparent heart attack at the family's villa in Suresnes. Montez and Aumont had one child, a daughter, Tina.
In 1955, Aumont was dating Grace Kelly at the time she first met Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
In 1956, Aumont married Italian actress Marisa Pavan. The couple starred in John Paul Jones, in which Pavan played the romantic interest of the lead, and Aumont appears as King Louis XVI. They divorced, but later remarried and remained together until his death. Aumont and Pavan had two sons, Jean-Claude and Patrick.

Death

Jean-Pierre Aumont died 30 January 2001 of a heart attack in Gassin, France, aged 90, and was cremated.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1931	Jean de la Lune	Alexandre	Director: Jean Choux
1931	Checkmate	Jacques	Director: Roger Goupillières
1932	Should We Wed Them?	Jim	Director: Pierre Billon and Karel Lamač
1933	On the Streets	Jacques	Director: Victor Trivas
1933	La merveilleuse tragédie de Lourdes	Georges	Director: Henri Fabert
1933	Le voleur	Fernand Lagardes	Director: Maurice Tourneur
1933	Ève cherche un père	Jacques de la Motte	Director: Mario Bonnard
1934	A Day Will Come	Henri de Langillier	Director: Gerhard Lamprecht and Serge Véber
1934	Lake of Ladies	Eric Heller	Director: Marc Allégret
1934	Maria Chapdelaine	Lorenzo Surprenant	Director: Julien Duvivier
1935	Les yeux noirs	Karpoff	Director: Victor Tourjansky
1935	The Crew	L'aspirant Jean Herbillon	Director: Anatole Litvak
1935	Beautiful Days	Pierre – le premier amoureux de Sylvie	Director: Marc Allégret
1936	Taras Bulba	André Boulba	Director: Alexis Granowsky
1936	La Porte du large	Pierre Villette	Director: Marcel L'Herbier
1937	Cargaison blanche	Henri Voisin	Director: Georges Lacombe
1937	The Messenger	Gilbert Rollin	Director: Raymond Rouleau
1937	Bizarre, Bizarre	Billy	Director: Marcel Carné
1937	Maman Colibri	Georges de Chambry	Director: Jean Dréville
1938	The Woman from the End of the World	Lt. Robert Jacquet	Director: Jean Epstein
1938	Chéri-Bibi	Raoul Palas	Director: Léon Mathot
1938	Beautiful Star	Jean-Pierre	Director: Jacques de Baroncelli
1938	S.O.S. Sahara	Paul Moutier	Director: Jacques de Baroncelli
1938	Le Paradis de Satan	Jean Larcher	Director: Félix Gandéra
1938	Hôtel du Nord	Pierre	Director: Marcel Carné
1943	Assignment in Brittany	Bertrand Corlay / Capt. Pierre Matard	as Pierre Aumont. Director: Jack Conway
1943	The Cross of Lorraine	Paul Dupré	as Jean Pierre Aumont. Director: Tay Garnett
1946	Heartbeat	Pierre de Roche	as Jean Pierre Aumont. Director: Sam Wood
1947	Song of Scheherazade	Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	Director: Walter Reisch
1948	Affairs of a Rogue	Prince Leopold	Director: Alberto Cavalcanti
1949	Siren of Atlantis	Andre St. Avit	Director: Gregg G. Tallas
1949	Wicked City	Eric Martin, alias Hans Norben	Director: François Villiers
1949	Golden Arrow	Andre Marchand	Director: Gordon Parry
1950	The Happy Man	Henri Perlis	Director: Gilles Grangier
1950	The Straw Lover	Stanislas Michodier	Director: Gilles Grangier
1951	Revenge of the Pirates	Enrico di Roccabruna	Director: Primo Zeglio
1951	Last Meeting	Michele Bonesi	Director: Gianni Franciolini
1952	Wolves Hunt at Night	Cyril	Director: Bernard Borderie
1953	Lili	Marc	as Jean Pierre Aumont. Director: Charles Walters
1953	Koenigsmark	Le précepteur Raoul Vignerte	Director: Solange Térac
1953	The Sparrows of Paris	Césarin	Director: Maurice Cloche
1954	Royal Affairs in Versailles	Cardinal de Rohan	Director: Sacha Guitry
1954	Charge of the Lancers	Capt. Eric Evoir	Director: William Castle
1955	Napoléon	Régnault de Saint-Jean d'Angély	Director: Sacha Guitry
1955	Eighteen Hour Stopover	Robert Vitrac	Director: René Jolivet
1955	Mademoiselle from Paris	Maurice Darnal	Director: Walter Kapps
1956	Hilda Crane	Prof. Jacques De Lisle	Director: Philip Dunne
1957	The Seventh Sin	Paul Duvelle	Director: Ronald Neame
1959	John Paul Jones	King Louis XVI	Director: John Farrow
1960	The Enemy General	Lionel Durand	Director: George Sherman
1960	The Devil at 4 O'Clock	Jacques	as Jean Pierre Aumont. Director: Mervyn LeRoy
1961	The Blonde from Buenos Aires	the Actor	Director: George Cahan
1961	Le Puits aux trois vérités	a spectator at the vernissage	Director: François Villiers
1962	The Seven Deadly Sins	the husband	Segment: "L'Orgueuil". Director: Roger Vadim
1962	Una domenica d'estate	Valerio	Director: Giulio Petroni
1962	Carnival of Crime	Mike Voray	Director: George Cahan
1962	Five Miles to Midnight	Alan Stewart	Director: Anatole Litvak
1963	Portuguese Vacation	Jean-Pierre	Director: Pierre Kast
1969	Castle Keep	Henri Tixier, Count of Maldorais	Director: Sydney Pollack
1970	El coleccionista de cadáveres	Claude Marchand	Director: Santos Alcocer and Edward Mann
1971	Biribi	Le général	Daniel Moosmann
1971	L'Homme au cerveau greffé	Le professeur Jean Marcilly	Director: Jacques Doniol-Valcroze
1973	Day for Night	Alexandre	Director: François Truffaut
1974	Two Missionaries	Monsignor Delgado	Director: Franco Rossi
1975	The Happy Hooker	Yves St Jacques	Director: Nicholas Sgarro
1975	Cat and Mouse	Monsieur Richard	Director: Claude Lelouch
1975	Mahogany	Christian Rosetti	Director: Berry Gordy
1975	Catherine & Co.	Marquis de Puisargue	Director: Michel Boisrond
1977	Des journées entières dans les arbres	Jacques – le fils préféré	Director: Marguerite Duras
1978	Blackout	Henri Lee	Director: Eddy Matalon
1978	Two Solitudes	Jean-Claude Tallard	Director: Lionel Chetwynd
1979	Something Short of Paradise	Jean-Fidel Milieu	Director: David Helpern
1981	Allons z'enfants	Commandant Félix	Director: Yves Boisset
1982	Don't Look in the Attic	Ugo Ressia	Director: Carlo Ausino
1982	Difendimi dalla notte	Giacomo Guerra	Director: Claudio Fragasso
1983	Nana	Count Muffat	Director: Dan Wolman
1983	La java des ombres	Monsieur Jean	Director: Romain Goupil
1986	On a volé Charlie Spencer!	Le héros, séq. Hôtel du Nord	Director: Francis Huster
1987	Sweet Country	Mr. Araya	Director: Michael Cacoyannis
1988	À notre regrettable époux	Alexandre Mouton-Sabrat, dit Moutonni Sabracco	Director: Serge Korber
1991	Becoming Colette	Captain Colette	Director: Danny Huston
1991	A Star for Two	Alphonse	Director: Jim Kaufman
1992	Los mares del sur	Marqués de Munt	Director: Manuel Esteban
1992	Les enfants du diable	Le curé	Director: Claude Gaignaire
1994	Giorgino	Sebastien	Director: Laurent Boutonnat
1995	Jefferson in Paris	D'Hancarville	Director: James Ivory
1996	The Proprietor	Franz Legendre	Director: Ismail Merchant

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966	Flipper	Guy Courtney	Episode: "Dolphins Don't Sleep"	-
1979	Beggarman, Thief	Jean Delacroix	TV movie. Director: Lawrence Doheny
1980	The Memory of Eva Ryker	Inspector Laurier	TV movie. Director: Walter Grauman
1984	The Blood of Others	Monsieur Blomart	TV movie. Director: Claude Chabrol
1985	Le regard dans le miroir	Vasco Pessoa	TV miniseries. Director: Jean Chapot
1992	Counterstrike	Jean-Jacques Truffaut	Episode: "I Remember It Well"