Pierre Larquey

Pierre Larquey (1884-1962) was one of the great supporting actors of French cinema from the 1930s to the 1950s. He appeared in 233 films and 11 television films.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 4. Photo: Pathé Cinema.


French postcard by Editions O.P., Paris, no. 24.


French postcard by Editions Chantal, Paris, no. 542. Photo: Tobis.

Variety and Parisian cabarets

Pierre Raphael Larquey was born in 1884 in Cénac, a small town in the Gironde, near Bordeaux in south-west France. He was the son of a cart driver.

Pierre was reluctant to enter the seminary before enlisting in the colonial infantry. He served for five years, notably from 1905 to 1907 in Madagascar, and returned to civilian life as a corporal. On his return to France, he tried his luck in the theatre.

He graduated from the Bordeaux Conservatoire with a first prize in acting. He moved to Paris and joined the Théâtre des Variétés, where he stayed for fifteen years. He also appeared in some early silent films, like Le Nabab (Albert Capellani, 1911), Germinal (Albert Capellani, 1913), and Patrie (Albert Capellani, 1914).

During the First World War, he was called up as a corporal. Then, he served as a sergeant and finally as a sergeant-major at the Front from 1915 to 1918. In 1919, he returned to the variety theatre, but also worked in several Parisian cabarets.

Pierre Larquey started his film career really with the advent of sound film. He was 47 when he had a small part in the drama Sola / Alone (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1931) with the singer Damia. More than two hundred films followed.


French collector card by Massilia.


French mini-poster (collector card) by Pathé. Photo: CICC / Pathé. Janine Darcey and Pierre Larquey in Sixième Étage / Sixth Floor (Maurice Cloche, 1941).


French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 4. Photo: Studio Piaz.

Directed by Pagnol, Feyder and Clouzot

In his memoirs, Marcel Pagnol recounted that Pierre Larquey, then a toy dealer, was hired in 1928 to play a very small role in the original stage version of 'Topaze'. His talent and the defection of an actor led Pagnol and André Lefaur to give him the more important role of Tamise. Larquey would play Tamise again in the 1933 film version directed by Louis Gasnier and starring Louis Jouvet. In 1951, he also played Tamise in the second film version directed by Marcel Pagnol with Fernandel.

He was directed by Jean Renoir in Madame Bovary (1934), by Jacques Feyder in Le Grand Jeu (1934) and by Abel Gance in Poliche (1935). Marcel L'Herbier directed him in Le Scandale / The Scandal (1934) starring Gaby Morlay, La Citadelle du silence / The Citadel of Silence (1937) with Annabella, and Adrienne Lecouvreur (1938) starring Yvonne Printemps.

Among his best-known roles are also those of Monsieur Colin in the comedy thriller L'assassin habite au 21 / The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (1942) and Docteur Michel Vorzet in Le Corbeau / The Raven (1943), both directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. In Le Corbeau, he played one of his few more sinister and mysterious characters.

During two years of the German occupation of France, 1942 and 1943, the actor did a regular Thursday morning youth radio program in which he would talk about the country's culture, such as its museums and the glories of the Napoleonic era. After the war, he starred opposite Odette Joyeux and François Périer in the fantasy Sylvie et le fantôme / Sylvie and the Ghost (Claude Autant-Lara, 1946) and the police drama Quai des Orfèvres / Goldsmiths' Quay (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1947) starring Suzy Delair, Bernard Blier and Louis Jouvet.

In 1954, he was the voice of the lamplighter (‘La consigne, c'est la consigneuh...’) on the Little Prince album with Gérard Philipe and Georges Poujouly. The following year, he had a small role in the classic thriller Les Diaboliques / Diabolique (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955), starring Simone Signoret. He also appeared with Signoret in the historical drama Les Sorcières de Salem / The Crucible (Raymond Rouleau, 1957) with a screenplay adapted by Jean-Paul Sartre from the 1953 play 'The Crucible', by Arthur Miller. In 1960, he appeared in Henri Verneuil's Le Président with Jean Gabin. Pierre Larquey died of a heart attack in 1962 and was buried in Maisons-Laffitte. He was 77.


French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 982. Photo: Paramount.


French postcard by Editions Chantal, Paris, no. 542. Photo: Tobis.


French postcard by Imp. I.D.E.A.C., Paris. Photo: Radio-Luxembourg. Caption: Grandpapa Larquey to thousands of grandchildren on Radio-Luxembourg.

Sources: James Travers (French Films), Caroline Hanotte (CinéArtistes - French), Wikipedia (French and English) and IMDb.