Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais (11 December 1913 – 8 November 1998), known professionally asJean Marais (French:[ʒɑ̃maʁɛ]), was a French actor, film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer and photographer. He performed in over 100 films and was the lover,muse and friend of acclaimed directorJean Cocteau.[1] In 1996, he was awarded theFrench Legion of Honor for his contributions toFrench cinema.[2][3]
A native ofCherbourg, France, Marais was a son of Alfred Emmanuel Victor Paul Villain-Marais, aveterinarian, and his wife, the former Aline Marie Louise Vassord.[4] Having recently lost a two-year-old daughter Madeleine, Aline was very disappointed when she gave birth to a boy. She came to accept him but until Jean was six or seven years old his mother raised him as if he were a girl, dressing him like one and giving him dolls to play with. Sometimes Aline was mysteriously absent from home. When he was eighteen, Marais became aware that his mother was akleptomaniac and that she had been imprisoned for several months or even years in her lifetime.[5]
These were small roles. Marais also appeared on stage. He was in a 1937 stage production ofOedipe directed byCharles Dullin, where he was seen byJean Cocteau. Marais impressed Cocteau, who cast the actor in his playLes Chevaliers de la table ronde.[6]
Marais appeared in Cocteau's playLes Parents terribles (1938), supposedly based on Marais' home life, which was a great success.[6]
On stage he appeared inLa Machine à ecrire (1941) by Cocteau and he directed and designed Racine'sBritannicus (1941). He performed briefly with theComédie-Française, then left acting for a time for fight in Alsace with theFree French Forces, winning theCroix de Guerre.[6]
The success of the James Bond films saw Marais cast in an espionage movie,The Reluctant Spy (1963) for directorJean-Charles Dudrumet. He did a comedy,Friend of the Family (1964), then had a huge box office success withFantomas (1964), playing the villain and hero, under the direction of Hunebelle.[8]
He performed on stage until his 80s, also working as a sculptor. His sculptureLe passe muraille (The Walker Through Walls) can be seen in theMontmartre Quarter of Paris.[14]
In 1985, he was the head of the jury at the35th Berlin International Film Festival. He was featured in the 1995 documentaryScreening at the Majestic, which is included on the 2003 DVD release of the restored print ofBeauty and the Beast.[15]
Marais was a homosexual. He wasJean Cocteau's lover from 1937 to 1947, his muse and longtime friend.[16] After Cocteau's death, Marais wrote a memoir of Cocteau,L'Inconcevable Jean Cocteau, attributing authorship to "Cocteau-Marais". He also wrote an autobiography,Histoires de ma vie, published in 1975. From 1948 until 1959, his companion was the American dancerGeorge Reich.[4] He is rumored to have been among the lovers ofUmberto II of Italy.[17]
In the early 1960s, Marais adopted a young man, Serge Ayala, who eventually took the name Serge Villain-Marais. This adopted son, who became a singer and an actor, committed suicide in 2012 at age 69 after an inheritance litigation and bouts of loneliness and depression.[18][19]
^Sir Harold Hobson (12 June 1978). "Tourists mob box office – and the theaters thrive: Half the audience Impresario White Musical flaw Difficulty overcome".The Christian Science Monitor. p. B10.
