Acting
Feb 4, 1936
Chamalières, Puy-de-Dôme, France
Claude Giraud
Acting
Biography
Claude Giraud (5 February 1936 in Chamalières – 3 November 2020) was a French actor. Claude Giraud studied with Tania Balachova at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier; Berthe Bovy and Jean Meyer at the École de la rue Blanche (École nationale supérieure des arts et techniques du théâtre, ENSATT). In November 1957 he was accepted as a student at CNSAD Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique, where he studied with Jean Debucourt and Fernand Ledoux. Upon his graduation he was the first male student to win all three categories during the Concourse (Classical Comedy, Modern Comedy, Tragedy). In 1962 he was the first recipient of the newly created Prix Gérard Philipe. He was engaged at the Comédie Française in 1962 as a pensionnaire. Besides his debut role as Valère in Molière's The Miser, he played Arsace in Corneille's Bérénice, and the narrator in the stage adaptation of André Gide's short story Le retour de l'enfant prodigue (The Return of the Prodigal Son). Disappointed that he was only cast in small roles, he left the Comédie Française after a few months to start his film career. He played the leading role as Capitaine Langlois in François Leterrier's movie adaptation of Jean Giono's novel A King Without Distraction in 1962. He was Oedipus in the film adaptation of Jean Cocteau's The Infernal Machine. He joined the Compagnie Marie Bell to play a US tour in New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., and Princeton in October–November 1963. For his presentation of Hippolite in Phèdre and Titus in Bérénice at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway, he was awarded the Theater World Award. He played the role of the soldier Georges in Roger Vadim's Circle of Love, a film adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's scandalous play La Ronde (play). Between 1964 and 1966, Claude Giraud played the part of Philippe de Plessis-Bellières beside Michèle Mercier in three Angélique films: Angélique, Marquise des Anges, Marvelous Angelique, and Angelique and the King. He returned to the Comédie Française in 1972 and became the 460th sociétaire in 1976. He left again in 1982 to join Jean-Laurent Cochet's newly created Théâtre Hébertot. He gained fame in TV series as hero Morgan/Jacques de Saint-Hermine in the adventure series Les Compagnons de Jéhu by Michel Drach adapted from the eponymous novel by Alexandre Dumas. Bernard Toublanc-Michel engaged him in 1967 for the role of d'Aulnay in Adolphe ou l'âge tendre. The TV series Les rois maudits, where he played the role of Sir Roger Mortimer, was another huge success. In 1973, he played the fictional Arab revolutionary leader Mohamed Larbi Slimane, who poses as Rabbi Zeiligman in The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob with Louis de Funès. In the TV movie Mamie Rose (1976) he played Claude Jade's husband Régis, whose marriage is saved by an au-pair granny played by Gisèle Casadesus. Other TV series include Mathias Sandorf (1979), in which he played corrupt banker Silas Toronthal, based on Jules Verne's eponymous novel. He married Catherine Marquand (1943-2012), a fellow acting student at the Conservatoire, in 1963. They had a son, Louis (*1963), and a daughter, Marianne (*1966), who is also an actress and married to French actor and director Jean Martinez. ... Source: Article "Claude Giraud" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Feature Films (26)
In this riot of frantic disguises and mistaken identities, Victor Pivert, a blustering, bigoted French factory owner, finds himself taken hostage by Slimane, an Arab rebel leader. The two dress up as rabbis as they try to elude not only assasins from Slimane's country, but also the police, who think Pivert is a murderer. Pivert ends up posing as Rabbi Jacob, a beloved figure who's returned to France for his first visit after 30 years in the United States. Adding to the confusion are Pivert's dentist-wife, who thinks her husband is leaving her for another woman, their daughter, who's about to get married, and a Parisian neighborhood filled with people eager to celebrate the return of Rabbi Jacob.
The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob
Agathe and Regis have a little boy, Benoît, who is very capricious and sometimes aggressive. The couple, on the verge of divorce, is planning to go on vacation in order to better reflect on their decision. To do this, Agathe and Regis publish an ad in a newspaper: "Young couple seeks au pair grandmother to take care of little boy, 10 years old...". An old lady, Rose, shows up. She arrives with a fish and a bird she can't part with. The first contacts with Benoît are very unpleasant. Not discouraged, she realizes that he is unhappy and that he suffers a lot from feeling unloved in his family.
Mamie Rose
Twenty-year-old Henri Rebecque wants to make his dream come true: to bring Benjamin Constant's Adolphe to the screen in amateur format. Armed with a sixteen-millimeter camera and a team of friends, Henri embarks on this adventure, playing the role of Adolphe himself. Despite all the warnings, he lived through the passion and ordeal of the novel's hero, right to the end. Different times and circumstances will not change this.
The Tender Age
Angelique is saved by the king of the cutthroats when she is endangered in the streets of Paris. After her hero is killed, she has many amorous affairs and becomes a successful businesswoman.
Angelique: The Road to Versailles
Television & Series (11)
Ulysses and his crew struggle against the divine entities that rule the universe, the ancient gods from Greek mythology.
Ulysses 31
Count Mátyás Sándor is the protagonist of this exciting series based on the popular novel by Jules Verne. In 1859, after the defeat of the Habsburgs in Italy, the wealthy Transylvanian lord sees the time has come to launch another armed struggle for Hungary's independence. The Viennese Chamberlain, however, learns of his activities and decides to 'liquidate' him. Two adventurous criminals are commissioned to carry out the assassination.
Sándor Mátyás
It is the start of the 14th century and Philip IV the Fair reigns supreme over France. His three sons would rule after him. Isabelle, his only daughter, is married to King Edward II of England. Under Philip's reign, France is great but its people are unhappy. Only one power dares to stand up to him: the order of the Knights Templar. When the last Grand Master of the Temple, Jacques de Molay, is burned at the stake, he curses Philip and so begins a dark period, full of blood and violence, death and tears ...
