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Jacques Deray

{{Short description|French film director and screenwriter (1929–2003)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Jacques Deray

| image = Jacques Deray (1976).png

| caption = Jacques Deray on the set of the film Le Gang in 1976

| birth_name = Jacques Desrayaud

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|02|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = Lyon, France

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|08|10|1929|02|19|df=y}}

| death_place = Boulogne-Billancourt, France

| other_names =

| occupation = Film director
screenwriter

| years_active = 1952–1995

| spouse =

| partner =

| website =

}}

Jacques Deray (born Jacques Desrayaud, 19 February 1929 – 9 August 2003) was a French film director and screenwriter. Deray is prominently known for directing many crime and thriller films.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-11-me-passings11.1-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Jacques Deray, 74, Directed French Thrillers, Crime Dramas|access-date=2 January 2011|date=11 August 2003}}{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3139377.stm|title='French Hitchcock' Deray dies|work=BBC|date=10 August 2003|access-date=2 January 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jacques-deray-548580.html|title=Jacques Deray|work=The Independent|date=13 August 2003|access-date=2 January 2011|last=Vallance|first=Tom}}

Biography

Born Jacques Desrayaud in Lyon, France, in 1929 to a family of Lyon industrialists.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/jacques-deray-87524|title=Jacques Deray: Overview|access-date=2 January 2011|last=German|first=Yuri|work=Allmovie}} At the age of 19 he went to Paris to study drama under René Simon. Deray played minor roles on the stage and in films from the age of 19. From 1952, Deray worked as assistant to a number of directors, including Luis Buñuel, Gilles Grangier, Jules Dassin, and Jean Boyer.

Deray's first film was the drama The Gigolo released in 1960. Deray was fascinated by American film noir and began to focus on crime stories. Deray's early work includes Du rififi à Tokyo, an homage to Jules Dassin's Rififi. Deray's reputation was established with the 1969 film La Piscine which starred Romy Schneider and Alain Delon. La Piscine was not distributed widely outside France, but the follow-up gave Deray his biggest international hit with Borsalino, a film starring Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo about two small-time gangsters who murder their way to the top in bustling 1930s Marseille.

Deray became dedicated to the genre that won him favor with audiences and continued to make thrillers, action films, and spy films throughout the rest of his career adapting works of both French and English authors including Georges Simenon, Jean-Patrick Manchette, and Derek Raymond. In 1981, Deray served as president of the jury of the 34th Cannes Film Festival.{{Cite news|last=Prial|first=Frank J.|author-link=Frank J. Prial|date=May 23, 1981|title=Gilles Jacob, the Man Behind the Films at the Cannes Festival|page=11|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/23/movies/gilles-jacob-the-man-behind-the-films-at-the-cannes-festival.html|access-date=19 November 2021}} Deray's last theatrical release was The Teddy Bear in 1994. Deray worked professionally in television until his death in 2003. On his death, French President Jacques Chirac praised Deray, noting his "innate sense of storytelling and action" and adding that "France has lost one of its most talented filmmakers."

Jacques Deray Prize

{{Main|Jacques Deray Prize}}

Created by in 2005 to honor Deray,{{cite web |title=Le prix Jacques Deray récompense les films policiers français |url=https://www.20minutes.fr/lyon/45246-20050208-lyon-le-prix-jacques-deray-recompense-les-films-policiers-francais |date=8 February 2005 |website=20 Minutes |access-date=5 June 2021}} who served as vice-president of the Institut Lumière until his death, the Jacques Deray Prize rewards the best French crime-thriller film of the year.{{cite web|url=https://www.francetelevisions.fr/et-vous/notre-tele/partenariats/prix-jacques-deray-2023-15521|title=La Nuit du 12 remporte le Prix Jacques-Deray 2023|website=France Télévisions|language=fr|access-date=19 March 2023}}{{cite news|date=29 January 2016|title=Le Prix Jacques-Deray 2016 à "L'enquête" avec Gilles Lellouche|url=https://www.rtbf.be/article/le-prix-jacques-deray-2016-a-l-enquete-avec-gilles-lellouche-9199294|work=RTBF|language=fr|agency=AFP Relaxnews|access-date=19 March 2023}} Among the first laureates are 36 Quai des Orfèvres by Olivier Marchal, The Beat That My Heart Skipped by Jacques Audiard, Tell No One by Guillaume Canet, The Second Wind by Alain Corneau, and later Polisse by Maïwenn (2012).

Filmography

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References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{IMDb name|0220227}}

{{Jacques Deray}}

{{Cannes Film Festival jury presidents}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deray, Jacques}}

Category:1929 births

Category:2003 deaths

Category:French film directors

Category:Mass media people from Lyon

Category:Deaths from cancer in France