Mario David

Biography

He was educated at the school in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. He began his artistic career at a very early age in the world of circus and cabaret, where he worked as a clown, acrobat, and animal trainer of wild animals.

He also had a respectable career in bodybuilding, which helped him develop a strong physique that he later used to advantage in his acting career. Often cast in supporting roles, he frequently portrayed the naïve crook, the simple brute, or the tough man with a kind heart.

Robert Dhéry hired him into his famous troupe Les Branquignols, and in 1954 Robert Hossein employed him at the Grand-Guignol theatre.

On television, he appeared in Les Cinq Dernières Minutes by Claude Loursais, Vidocq by Marcel Bluwal, La Tête des autres by Raymond Rouleau, Les Saintes Chéries by Jean Becker, and Les Dossiers secrets de l'inspecteur Lavardin by Claude Chabrol.

He became especially popular in cinema through his many supporting roles, notably alongside Louis de Funès. One of his notable appearances was in the film Oscar, directed by Édouard Molinaro, where he performs a humorous display of his pectoral and triceps muscles. He played Philippe Dubois, a somewhat dim-witted and naïve massage therapist, a role he had first performed on stage in the play Oscar, directed by Jacques Mauclair in 1958, and again in 1971.

On screen, he was also directed by Jean Renoir in The Elusive Corporal (1962). Claude Chabrol frequently cast him in his films, including Les Bonnes Femmes (1960), Landru (1963), and The Hatter's Ghost (1982). One of his final roles, in 1994, was in another Chabrol film, L'Enfer.

He also collaborated with Robert Hossein in staging major historical productions about the French Revolution.

He was married to Françoise Cornu, with whom he had a daughter named Élisa.

Mario David died of a pulmonary embolism at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. He was buried in the main Louyat Cemetery (sector 6) in Limoges (Haute-Vienne).

Selected filmography

Love Is Not a Sin (1952) - L'agent dans l'escalier (uncredited)

The Tour of the Grand Dukes (1953) - Une attraction au 'Balajo' (uncredited)

The Pirates of the Bois de Boulogne (1954) - L'athlète qui court au mois

Ah! Les belles bacchantes (1954) - L'Homme à 'La création du Monde' (uncredited)

Cherchez la femme (1955)

Impasse des vertus (1955)

Gas-Oil (1955) - Un client des Serin (deleted scenes)

Une fille épatante (1955) - Mario

More Whiskey for Callaghan (1955) - Amédée

Naughty Girl (1956) - The Friesian

Pardonnez nos offenses (1956)

L'Homme et l'Enfant (1956) - Alec

Et par ici la sortie (1957) - Honoré

Nous autres à Champignol (1957) - Gino un sportif de Fouzy

The Tricyclist (1957) - Dabek - le gardien de but

Anyone Can Kill Me (1957) - Paulo - un détenu

The Cat (1958) - Un résistant (uncredited)

A Bullet in the Gun Barrel (1958) - Le protecteur évincé