January 5th 1911 - January 29th 2001

I Like Him

Catherine Tasca paid tribute to Jean-Pierre Aumont's "irresistible smile" PARIS, 31 jan (AFP) "With Jean-Pierre Aumont, it's one of the most irresistible smiles of cinema that has faded away", said Mme Catherine Tasca, French minister of Culture and Communication on Wednesday. In a press release published 24 hours after the actor's death, and after MM. Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin's comments, Mme Tasca remembers that "from movie to movie, from play to play, his image as a leading man but also his multi-faceted talent brightened stages in Paris, Broadway and Hollywood, and inspired the eye of Carné, Truffaut, L'Herbier andLelouch". The minister mentioned Jean-Pierre Aumont's work as a playwright and his commitment as a veteran of the Liberation. "His double star from acting and from his Croix-de-Guerre makes him an unforgettable and true romantic hero."

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News Now you can watch a very rare tv appearance by Jean-Pierre Aumont and Marisa Pavan on Youtube! They are the mystery guests on an episode of What's My Line in 1966, made when they were performing their cabaret act on Broadway. It is very funny, priceless really: What's My Line on Youtube ----------- There is a wonderful new Maria Montez website, created by Angel Feliz: WWW.MARIAMONTEZ.NET ----------- ----------- Some sad news. Jean-Pierre Aumont's only daughter Tina Aumont has passed away at the age of 60. She died of a lung embolism on Sunday, October 29th 2006 at her home in the East Pyrenees. All the obituaries are in French, but here is one of them: Obituary for Tina Aumont My sincere condolences to her family.

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Introduction Apologies for not updating this page in, well, years. I have become computer impaired, but I hope to eventually make some changes and hope I will always maintain this site. Quiet, but still here! Welcome to my unofficial dedication to French actor and writer, Jean-Pierre Aumont. Aumont passed away at the age of 90 on the night of January 29th 2001, at his home at Saint-Tropez in Var, of cardiac arrest. My goal in creating this page has, obviously, been to create a center of information for this great man. If anyone has any information to contribute it will be greatly appreciated. Don't forget to sign my Guestbook!

I first became aware of Jean-Pierre Aumont's existence when I was 12 years old. I was flipping through channels and came across the movie Heartbeat . Maybe not the best film, not a terrific script or intellectually illuminating (I understand the original French version is much better) just a typical Hollywood love story, but it was very entertaining and included an excellent cast. The one performance that stuck out for me was that of the French leading man. Ok, he was gorgeous and had a French accent for starters, but he also had a special charm and charisma on screen that held me transfixed. So I was hooked and in the years that have elapsed since then I have tried to see as many of Jean-Pierre Aumont's films as I could lay my hands on and learn as much about him and his work as I could. My admiration for the amazing talent and hard work he has put into everything he has done in his long career has continued to grow every year. I hope to express that admiration and respect through this page.

What I Know About Jean-Pierre Aumont Jean-Pierre Aumont was born Jean-Pierre Salomons in Paris on January 5th 1911, not 1909 as many sources list it... Really, I promise. His parents were Alexandre Salomons, director of 'La Maison Du Blanc', a linen department store, and his wife Suzanne Cahen. His father's family came from Holland and were in the diamond business, while his mother's family was French. As the member of a theatrically inclined family, Aumont caught the acting bug at a very young age. His mother's uncle was the distinguished French actor, Georges Berr, who appeared at the Comedie Francaise and gave Aumont a glimpse into the theatre world, which lead to his desire to become an actor. His younger brother Francois, called Poum, grew up to become a director, Francois Villiers. Despite many objections from his family, Aumont auditioned for and was accepted at the dramatic conservatory in Paris and began to train for his future career. Jean-Pierre Aumont first came into the limelight at the Comedie de Champs-Elysees in Paris playing Oedipus in Louis Jouvet's acclaimed production of Jean Cocteau's La Machine Infernale . Cocteau had personally selected Aumont for the part. At the time Aumont had been a member of Jouvet's theatre company for quite some time and it is Jouvet's influence that Aumont credits for much of his growth and success as an actor. La Machine Infernale took on almost a cult like following among the youth of Paris and was considered a greatly influential breakthrough in the French theatre. From there his career both on stage and screen began to take off. His first film was Jean de la Lune. His first hit was starring opposite Simone Simon in Marc Allegret's Lac aux Dames (1934) in the role of a swimming instructor, originally intended for Johnny Weismuller. Throughout the 30s he was a rising star in French cinema, starring alongside Jouvet in Marcel Carné's Drole de Drame and Hotel du Nord. When the war came his career was cut short.

He joined the army and served until France came under German occupation, afterwhich he went to unoccupied Vichy and briefly returned to the stage in Cannes. Aware that he should leave France soon, due to the jewish origins of his family, Aumont was lucky enough to obtain a visa from the consul of Honduras who had come back stage following a performance. He arrived in New York and began a new career first on the stage on Broadway and in Canada and then at MGM in Hollywood. It was there that he made the war propaganda film, Assignment in Brittany, his first American film, which showed the plight of the people of occupied France and the French resistance. Not content with his success while his countrymen were still suffering under Nazi rule, Aumont joined the Free French Forces. His first assignment, however, was to appear in the film The Cross of Lorraine for MGM. The film had already been on the drawing board when Aumont announced that he was leaving to join the FFL so Louis B. Mayer simply changed the story to incorporate the FFL and DeGuaulle and used that as a means of retaining his new French star. Once this film was complete Aumont was shipped to North Africa and participated in the liberation of Italy and France. He was wounded twice: first on a mission with his brother, he was fired upon and shot in the leg, then later he was wounded in a jeep accident at a mined bridge in which the French General Brosset was killed. He received the Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre for gallantry in action.

It was during his time in Hollywood that he met and married Dominican actress Maria Montez in 1943. The two had been married for a month when Aumont left for North Africa. Reunited after the war the couple soon began to work together in the films Siren of Atlantis, The Pirates Revenge, and The Wicked City (Hans le Marin), which was also directed by Aumont's brother, Francois Villiers. Montez was known as the 'Queen of Technicolor' and their's was a very popular marriage publicly as well as being very happy privately. They had one daughter, Maria Christine Aumont (Tina), in 1946 who later became an actress. The family made their home with Montez's three sisters in Beverly Hills and in France at a villa in Suresnes. It was at Suresnes, on September 7th 1951, that Maria Montez died after fainting and drowning in her bath.

Aumont continued to work both in Hollywood and Europe after his wife's tragic death. In 1953 he starred as the magician in Lili with Leslie Caron and the film was an enormous success. Then in 1956 Aumont married Italian actress Marisa Pavan, twin sister of Pier Angeli and star of such highly acclaimed films as The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit and The Rose Tattoo. The two starred in one film together, John Paul Jones, in which Pavan played the romantic lead to Robert Stack and Aumont made a cameo as Louis XVI. They were divorced in 1962 and then remarried eachother! They had two children, Jean-Claude and Patrick, and remained happily married until Aumont's death.

Aumont continued to build both his stage and film career, working alongside many notable actors and directors. In 1963 he starred on Broadway with Vivien Leigh in the musical Tovarich, to rave reviews. He continued in the musical vein with a nightclub act at The Persian Room in New York, with his wife Marisa Pavan. Later he was a great success in Gigi in the 70s and in the 80s on the London stage. In the seventies he starred both on stage and television in Days in Trees with Madeleine Renaud. In 1973 he worked with the great French director, Francois Truffaut, in Day for Night (La Nuit Americaine), a masterul film about the rigours of film making. Aumont played the aging and somewhat philisophical matinee idol, Alexandre. In 1975 he starred with Michele Morgan in director Claude Lelouch's Le Chat et La Souris (Cat and Mouse). His most recent work includes A Tale of Two Cities (1989) -one of my favorites- and the Merchant Ivory films Jefferson in Paris (1995) and The Proprietor (1996). In 1991 he was decorated with the cross of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. In 1992 he received an honourary César award for his many achievements. He accepted with his customary modesty saying, "For the last few days I've been wondering why I had been chosen to receive this honour... And now I believe I know the answer: it's to reward me for my longevity!"

As a writer, Aumont has written numerous plays and books. His first play, The Emperor of China, was successfully produced in Paris, but its hackneyed American translation, My Name is Aquilon, was not as well received either by critics or Aumont himself. Other plays include, L'Ile Heureuse , Un Beau Dimanche, Farfada, Lucy Crown, Ange, Madame Mousse, and Objection, Votre Honneur. His books include Souvenirs Provisoires, La Pomme de Son Oeil, and his autobiography, Sun and Shadow (Le Soleil et les Ombres), which received the Prix des Critiques and the Prix de L'Academie Francaise.

The number of acting credits Aumont surmounted, in his career of near 70 years, are both numerous and diverse. From tv melodrama to the pinnacle of art house cinema. He continued to give us one shining performance after another. No matter how weak the script his performances were always strong and he always made a great part his own. I continue to remain transfixed whenever he is on the screen, from Drole de Drame to The Proprietor, he never disappointed.

In 1999 Aumont's niece, Patty Villiers, made a detailed and intimate documentary about her uncle entitled "Jean-Pierre Aumont, Charme et Fou-Rires", which includes several interviews with Aumont and his family and friends along with home movies from his life and interviews and theatre footage from his long career; a very touching portrait. For more information on Aumont visit Vivian and Luisa's biography on their Maria Montez Page.

There is also a bio of his daughter, Tina, and of Marisa Pavan there. For the whole story read Jean-Pierre Aumont's autobiography, 'Sun and Shadow' (Le Soleil et Les Ombres). This is an excellently written book and is hugely entertaining, I highly recommend it. It is available at Amazon.com They will do an out of print book search for you. I got mine in a couple of weeks so it shouldn't take long. Special thanks go to Vivian for all her help and all the pictures; to Michael for the Paris Match, Oh La, Guardian, and other articles; and to Sylvie for the pictures and especially for the wonderful article translations she has worked so hard on. Visit her beautiful Louis Jouvet page.

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