
Acting
May 21, 1937
Paris, France
Guy Marchand
Acting
Biography
Guy Marchand (22 May 1937 – 15 December 2023) was a French actor, musician, and singer. He appeared in over 100 films in over 30 years, but was best known for his role as the fictional television private detective Nestor Burma. Guy Émile Marchand was born in Paris, 19th arrondissement, the son of a scrap merchant and a housewife and grew up in Belleville, during the Occupation and contracted tuberculosis at the age of ten. Spending time in Sarthe in the country he learned to ride and kept a love of horses throughout his life. In Paris, he regularly went to the Danube cinema. While at the Lycée Voltaire secondary school in Paris he played the clarinet in night clubs in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. His military service was in an airborne troops division at the École des troupes aéroportées (BETAP) in Pau, becoming a sous-lieutenant – parachutist. He was assigned to the 3rd foreign infantry regiment as liaison officier during the Algerian war. As a parachute officer he was an advisor for the film Le Jour le plus long and entered the world of cinema. He made around 60 parachute jumps in his life. His first success however was as a crooner, with a popular hit of 1965 La Passionata, followed by other albums and singles. His film career mainly saw him in supporting roles; an inspector opposite Lino Ventura in Garde à vue, by Claude Miller won him a César in 1982 and the same year he was in Nestor Burma, détective de choc, by Jean-Luc Miesch, where Michel Serrault took the title role, but which Marchand later interpreted for over ten years in the television series Nestor Burma. Other important roles included Coup de torchon by Bertrand Tavernier (1981), with Philippe Noiret, Cousin, Cousine, by Jean-Charles Tacchella (1975), and a cynical provincial garage man in L'été en pente douce, by Gérard Krawczyk (1987). He published an autobiography entitled Le Guignol des Buttes-Chaumont in 2007 in which he wrote of his childhood, experiences in Algeria, his singing career and love for cars. Marchand died in Cavaillon on 15 December 2023, at the age of 86. Description above from the Wikipedia article Guy Marchand, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Feature Films (80)

Marie, the charming daughter of Italian immigrants, has a dream : to become rich. In Roubaix, where she lives, she meets and marries small-time crooner Marcel Potier. Together they leave for the South of France where they live happily but poorly. Now, Marie hasn't forgotten her hopes of wealth and with this aim still in mind she pushes Marcel into becoming the swimming instructor of Achille Zopoulos, an oil tycoon.
Swimming Instructor

Young sociologist Stanislas Previne is writing a thesis on criminal women, so he visits Camille Bliss in prison for an interview. Accused of murdering her husband and her lover, Camille recounts her life and love affairs.
A Gorgeous Kid Like Me

Martinaud, an illustrious notary suspected of being the perpetrator of two horrendous crimes, voluntarily agrees to be questioned by Inspector Gallien on New Year's Eve. What initially is a routine procedure, soon becomes a harsh interrogation that seems to confirm the initial suspicions.
The Inquisitor

Two distant cousins meet at a wedding banquet for an elderly couple. Over time, a close friendship develops between them, but their spouses begin to think that they are more than just friends.
Cousin, Cousine

Christophe Maquet will receive the Legion of Honor. But he learns that his father, seriously ill and extremely diminished, with whom he has been angry for years, has decided to organize "his departure" on the very day of his ceremony. Shocked by the news but suspecting his father of knowingly stealing his day of glory, Christophe decides to spend 3 days with him to attempt a final reconciliation.
La Dernière Partie
Television & Series (28)

Cynical private detective Nestor Burma investigating murders, missing persons, kidnapping and extortion cases in every arrondissement of Paris.
Nestor Burma

Hélène de Graf, a wealthy heiress, is found dead in her home in Savoie, on the shores of Lake Bourget. Thomas, her lover, is accused because he visited her shortly before she was discovered dead. He will spend thirteen years in prison. Upon his release, he has only one desire: to unmask the real murderer. Thus begins a veritable manhunt for him, and for us, a mystery: who killed Hélène? Thomas can count on his sister and her husband, an eminent local doctor who has always believed in his innocence, but also on his best friend, none other than his fellow prisoner. But then, who killed Hélène de Graf, and above all, why? Everyone around her is suspected, starting with her husband Alex, his new wife Paola, and even the casino director, Gilles Delprat.

















