Jaque Catelain

Jaque Catelain (9 February 1897 – 5 March 1965) was a French actor who came to prominence in silent films of the 1920s, and who continued acting in films and on stage until the 1950s. He also wrote and directed two silent films himself, and he was a capable artist and musician. He had a close association with the director Marcel L'Herbier. (He was born as Jacques Guérin-Castelain; other variations of his name used at different times were Jaque-Catelain, Jacques Catelain, Jacques Catelin, and Jacque Cathelain.) Early life Jaque Catelain was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the Pavillon Henri IV (he was said to have been born in the same room as Louis XIV). His father was then the mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and also moved in literary and theatrical circles, which allowed the young Jacques to encounter many famous names in his childhood, including Catulle Mendès, Anatole France, Sarah Bernhardt, and Gabrielle Réjane. He showed early enthusiasm for the arts and music, and at the age of 16 he entered the Académie Julian in Paris to study fine arts. With the outbreak of war in the following year, he changed direction and chose to study acting at the Conservatoire, enrolling in the class of Paul Mounet, before being mobilised into the artillery. Career In 1914 Catelain met Marcel L'Herbier, then a writer and critic, who became a major influence on his life and career, and with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. When L'Herbier began directing films in 1917, Catelain became his leading man of choice and starred in twelve of his silent films, starting with Le Torrent. The first major role to attract attention was that of the dissolute son of a Breton fisherman in L'Homme du large (1920). This was followed by El Dorado, Don Juan et Faust, L'Inhumaine, and Le Vertige, and they made Catelain into a leading star who was in demand to appear in foreign films as well as in productions of other French directors such as Léonce Perret (in Kœnigsmark). In 1922 he was working in Munich under contract to a German film company and he returned there in 1925 to appear in Robert Wiene's (silent) production of Der Rosenkavalier. Also in 1925 he was offered a seven-year contract by MGM to work in America, but he turned this down. Jaque Catelain's activities in this period extended beyond acting.