He was one of those familiar faces that we forget and instantly recognize, but whose extensive career is little known. A slender actor, with distinguished bearing, with a sometimes mocking appearance, Pierre Vernier died on Wednesday, October 9, in Vic-Fezensac, in Gers, at the age of 93, Agence-France Presse learned on Saturday from his relatives. He played all kinds of roles in cinema and theatre. As the historian Jean Tulard wrote in his Dictionary of cinematography. The actors (Robert Laffont, 2007), Pierre Vernier was the “a quality, reliable type of actor. His compositions in “Rocambole”, “Offenbach“, “Stavisky“, “M. Klein” or “The drunken power“they were great.” He has appeared in 71 films or television films.
Pierre Rayer, known as Pierre Vernier, was born on May 25, 1931 in Saint-Jean-d’Angély (Charente-Maritime). After his schooling, he took courses at the National Academy of Dramatic Art (class of 1954). He is part of the “conservatory gang”, also known as the “Bébel gang”, a group of friends whose teacher Louis Jouvet brought together future stars such as Jean-Paul Belmondo, Annie Girardot, Jean Rochefort and even Philippe Noiret.
Movies, series
He made his cinema debut in 1951 with the film Juliette or key to dreams. feature film by Marcel Carné. Then, after the conservatory, he went on tour in The Terrible (1958), feature film by Marc Allégret. But it was with Claude Chabrol that he started to get to know the film The Godelureaux, in 1961, then Ophelia in 1963. It was with this filmmaker that he shot the most (four films and a TV series).
The films then follow each other with the best directors: Henri Verneuil, Jacques Deray, Joseph Losey and Claude Lelouch. He plays in six films with Jean-Paul Belmondo (incl A weekend in Zuydcoote, by Henri Verneuil, 1964, The Guignolo, by Georges Lautner, 1980) and appears alongside Jean-Pierre Marielle, Yves Montand and Charlotte Rampling.
But it is with the soap opera Swiss rolladapted from the novel by Ponson du Terrail (1829-1871), for which he became famous. Broadcast in 1964-1965, Rocambole tells the story of a penitent who becomes a vigilante in the heart of 19th century Paris. The soap opera was very successful, which allowed Pierre Vernier to often get leading roles on television, which would not have been the case in the cinema.
Awarded for his television roles
Ten years later, he played in Michel Strogoffwhere he plays the reporter Alcide Jolivet, an international co-production in four episodes, based on the novel by Jules Verne, directed by Jean-Pierre Decourt. This series, filmed in Hungary with a big budget, was a huge success. Other TV series and movies will mark his career. In 2006, he appeared in the series Jihad.