Gerard Lanvin Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Professions Actor , Screenwriter
Nationality French
Birth June 21, 1950 (Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine – France)

BIOGRAPHY
After stopping his studies at the age of 17, Gérard Lanvin took on odd jobs and joined the Café de la Gare troupe, where he became a bit of a handyman: stagehand, manager, lighting engineer. After his debut on the stage, he made a furtive appearance in , but it was Coluche who offered him his first role in the cinema – the White Knight – in his fanciful historical comedy You will not have Alsace and Lorraine in 1977. But it was from 1980 – 1981, with A Week of Vacation, The Choice of Arms and A Strange Affair, a film for which he received the Jean Gabin Prize, that Gérard Lanvin acquired a certain popularity.

Dark gaze, rough and complex presence, he embodies the new virility of French cinema. Playing the action card, he collaborated twice with director Jean-Claude Messiaen for the thrillers Tir grouped (1982) and Ronde de nuit (1984), played the unsuccessful candidate in a futuristic reality TV game in The Price of Danger (1983) and plays an explosive tandem with Bernard Giraudeau in Les Spécialistes (1985) by Patrice Leconte . But it was in the comedy department that the actor enjoyed his biggest successes with Marche a l’ombre (1984), Les Frères Pétard (1986) and Mes Meilleurs Comies (1988).

In the meantime, Gérard Lanvin co-wrote the screenplay for Me Want You (1985) with Patrice Leconte and Patrick Dewolf , but this romance, also performed by his future wife Jennifer, was both a commercial and critical failure. In the 90s, he filmed sparingly, preferring to work with renowned filmmakers such as Claude Lelouch ( Il ago des jours… et des lunes , La Belle histoire ), Nicole Garcia ( The Favorite Son , a role which earned him the César for Best Actor in 1995), Bertrand Blier ( My Man , 1996) or the Jaoui/Bacri tandem thanks to which he won the César for Best Supporting Actor for Le Goût des autres in 2001.

From 2002, Gérard Lanvin operates a strong comeback in popular comedy, embarking Benoît Poelvoorde in the adventure of Boulet , dabbling in football in 3 Zéros , lending his features to Commissioner San Antonio in 2004, tasting the joys of Campingfor the pleasure of 5 million spectators. Well into his fifties, the actor nevertheless continues to surprise us by showing sensitivity in A La Petite Semaine (2003), Les Enfants (2005) and Le Héros de la famille (2006).

Regretting that he is not called upon more often for physical roles, he accepts with undisguised pleasure to play on screen the gangster Charlie Bauer, accomplice of Mesrine, public enemy n°1 , and to stand out in Secret Défense , a spy film directed by Philippe Haim .

Oscillating between the roles of tough guy and tender-hearted macho, Gérard Lanvin forms a duo with Gérard Jugnot as journalists Very Special Envoys , falsely taken hostage. With the help of Jean-Pierre Darroussin , he commits insider trading in the comedy Error of the bank in your favor and embodies a former rugby glory in Le Fils à Jo (2011), where he rubs shoulders with a certain Olivier Marchal . The latter gave him the main role of Les Lyonnais , centered on a real gang which raged in the 1970s.

In Amitiés sinceres , Gérard Lanvin plays a father who is a little too protective then returns to the thriller via 96 Heures and Colt 45 , two failures both critical and commercial. The actor then favored comedy ( Bon Réestablishment!, 2014; Pension complet , 2015; Papi-Sitter , 2020; J’adore ce que vous fait , 2022), and once again joined the cast of a gangster film directed by Marchal with Bronx (via a secondary character), this time taking place in the very cinematic city of Marseille.

If comedy is his favorite genre, Gérard Lanvin also plays in more dramatic feature films. This is evidenced by his performances in Premiers crus (2015), where he plays a demanding winemaker with a complex relationship with his son ( Jalil Lespert ), but also Envole-moi (2021), in which he plays a surgeon imposing on his son ( Victor Belmondo ) to take care of one of his young patients.