Robert Lamoureux

Robert Lamoureux — Biography

Robert Lamoureux was a many-sided French entertainer who combined acting with humour, songwriting and playwriting. In cinema he is remembered above all for playing the gentleman thief Arsène Lupin in Signé Arsène Lupin and Les Aventures d'Arsène Lupin, and for the military-comedy series La 7ème compagnie; he appeared in more than thirty films between 1951 and 1994.

His early career was shaped by family comedies. He played Robert Langlois in Papa, maman, la bonne et moi (1954) and its sequel Papa, maman, ma femme et moi (1955); Si Paris nous était conté (1956) and La Vie à deux (1958) belong to the same period. In Signé Arsène Lupin (1959) he played both Lupin and the police lieutenant André Laroche, while the 1957 Les Aventures d'Arsène Lupin was entered at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. In the 1970s he turned more to directing: he wrote and directed Mais où est donc passée la 7ème compagnie ? (1973) and appeared in its sequel On a retrouvé la 7ème compagnie (1975) and the 1977 follow-up. He also acted in Opération Lady Marlène (1975) and L'Apprenti salaud (1977), and returned to the screen in Le Jour des rois in 1991.

France honoured him as a knight and officer of the Legion of Honour and an officer of the National Order of Merit. He was married to the actress Magali Vendeuil and died in Boulogne-Billancourt on 29 October 2011.