Jean Renoir facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jean Renoir
Renoir in 1959
Born	(1894-09-15)15 September 1894 Paris, France
Died	12 February 1979(1979-02-12) (aged 84) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, actor, screenwriter, producer, author
Years active	1924–1978
Notable work	La Grande Illusion, La règle du jeu, The Southerner, The River, French Cancan
Spouse(s)	Catherine Hessling ​ ​ (m. 1920; div. 1943)​ Dido Freire ​ (m. 1944)​
Partner(s)	Marguerite Renoir (1932–1939)
Relatives	Pierre-Auguste Renoir (father) Pierre Renoir (brother) Claude Renoir (nephew) Sophie Renoir (grand-niece)

Jean Renoir (born September 15, 1894 – died February 12, 1979) was a famous French film director, writer, actor, and producer. He made over 40 films, starting from the silent movie era and continuing until the late 1960s.

Two of his most famous films, La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939), are often called some of the greatest films ever made. In 2002, a poll by the BFI ranked him as the fourth greatest director of all time. In 1975, he received a special Academy Award for his amazing contributions to movies.

Jean Renoir was the son of the well-known painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. His nephew, Claude Renoir, also became a famous cinematographer (someone who works with cameras in films). Jean Renoir was one of the first filmmakers to be known as an auteur, which means a director whose personal style and vision are very clear in their films.

Growing Up and Early Life

The young Renoir with Gabrielle Renard in a painting by his father Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1895-96)

Jean Renoir was born in Montmartre, a neighborhood in Paris, France. He was the second son of Aline Renoir and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the famous painter. His older brother, Pierre Renoir, became an actor. His younger brother, Claude, also worked briefly in films, helping Jean. Jean was also the uncle of another Claude Renoir (Pierre's son), who became a cinematographer and worked on some of Jean's movies.

Jean was mostly raised by his nanny, Gabrielle Renard, who was also his mother's cousin. They had a very close relationship. Gabrielle introduced young Jean to Guignol puppet shows, which later inspired his film career. He wrote in his book, "She taught me to see the face behind the mask... She taught me to hate things that were too simple or fake." Gabrielle also loved early movies and took Jean to see his first film when he was very young.

As a child, Jean moved with his family to the south of France. He and his family members were often subjects in his father's paintings. Because his father was successful, Jean went to fancy boarding schools. However, he often ran away from them.

When World War I started, Renoir joined the French cavalry. Later, after being shot in the leg, he became a reconnaissance pilot, flying planes to gather information. His leg injury left him with a permanent limp. But it also gave him time to watch many films while he recovered, including movies by Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith. After the war, he tried making ceramics, as his father suggested. But he soon decided to make films instead, inspired by the director Erich von Stroheim.

Filmmaking Career

Starting Out in Movies

In 1924, Jean Renoir directed Une Vie Sans Joie (A Life Without Joy). This was his first of nine silent films. Most of these movies starred his first wife, Catherine Hessling, who had also been a model for his father. At first, his films didn't make money. Renoir had to sell paintings he inherited from his father to pay for them.

Becoming Famous in the 1930s

The 1930s were a very successful time for Renoir as a filmmaker. In 1931, he directed his first sound film, On purge bébé (Baby's Laxative). The next year, he made Boudu Saved from Drowning. This was a funny story about a middle-class family trying to change a homeless man, with funny and surprising results.

By the mid-1930s, Renoir was connected with the Popular Front, a group of left-wing political parties in France. Some of his films, like The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1935) and La Marseillaise (1938), showed ideas from this movement.

In 1937, he made La Grande Illusion, one of his most famous films. It starred Erich von Stroheim and Jean Gabin. The movie was about friendship among French POWs (prisoners of war) trying to escape during World War I. It was a huge success! Germany and Italy banned it, but it won an award at the Venice Film Festival. It was also the first foreign language film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

He then made The Human Beast (1938), a dark and dramatic film based on a novel. This film was also very popular.

In 1939, Renoir was able to help pay for his own films. He made The Rules of the Game (La Règle du Jeu). This film made fun of French society at the time, with many different characters from various social classes. Renoir himself played the character Octave, who connects everyone. At first, the film was a big failure and was laughed at by audiences in Paris. He tried to re-edit it many times, but it didn't help then.

A few weeks after World War II began, the French government banned The Rules of the Game. Renoir was known for being a pacifist (someone against war) and supported the French Communist Party. This made him suspicious during the tense time before the war. The ban was lifted briefly in 1940, but after France was taken over in June, it was banned again. Sadly, the original film negative was destroyed in a bombing raid. It wasn't until the 1950s that film fans, with Renoir's help, put together a nearly complete version of the film. Since then, The Rules of the Game has been seen as one of the best films ever made.

In July 1939, Renoir went to Rome to work on a film version of Tosca. He was 45 and became a lieutenant in the French Army Film Service. He was sent back to Italy to teach film. The French government hoped this would help keep good relations with Italy, which hadn't joined the war yet. However, he left the project to return to France for military service in August 1939.

Working in Hollywood

After Germany invaded France in May 1940, Renoir moved to the United States with Dido Freire, who later became his second wife. In Hollywood, Renoir found it hard to find film projects that he liked. His first American film was Swamp Water (1941). He also directed This Land Is Mine (1943), an anti-Nazi film set in France.

The Southerner (1945) is a film about Texas sharecroppers (farmers who give part of their crops as rent). Many people think this is his best American film. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Directing for it.

Diary of a Chambermaid (1946) was based on a novel. His film The Woman on the Beach (1947) was changed a lot after test audiences didn't like it. Both films were not well-received, and they were the last films Renoir made in America. Around this time, Renoir became a citizen of the United States.

After Hollywood

In 1949, Renoir traveled to India to film The River (1951). This was his first color film. It was based on a novel and explored how people connect with nature. It was also a coming of age story about three young girls in colonial India. The film won an award at the Venice Film Festival in 1951.

After returning to Europe, Renoir made three color musical comedies about theater, politics, and business. These included Le Carrosse d'or (The Golden Coach, 1953), French Cancan (1954), and Eléna et les hommes (Elena and Her Men, 1956). During this time, Renoir also directed a play in Paris and wrote his own play, Orvet.

Renoir made his next films using techniques similar to live television. Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (Picnic on the Grass, 1959) was filmed at his father's home in France. Le Testament du docteur Cordelier (The Testament of Doctor Cordelier, also 1959) was filmed on the streets of Paris.

Renoir's second-to-last film, Le Caporal épinglé (The Elusive Corporal, 1962), was about French prisoners of war during World War II. The film looked at how people need both freedom and safety.

Renoir also wrote a loving book about his father, Renoir, My Father (1962). It showed how much his father influenced him and his work. As it became harder to get money for films, Renoir kept writing screenplays to earn money. He published a novel, The Notebooks of Captain Georges, in 1966. This book was a nostalgic story about a rich young man's journey and his love for a peasant girl.

Later Years

Renoir's last film was Le Petit théâtre de Jean Renoir (The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir), released in 1970. It was a series of three short films made in different styles. It was one of his most experimental and unusual works.

Because he couldn't get money for films and his health was getting worse, Renoir spent his last years at his home in Beverly Hills. He welcomed friends and continued to write novels and his memoirs.

In 1973, Renoir was getting ready to direct his play Carola but fell ill. His friend, producer Norman Lloyd, took over directing the play. It was shown on television in 1973.

Renoir's memoir, My Life and My Films, was published in 1974. In it, he wrote about the big influence of his nanny, Gabrielle Renard. He ended his memoirs with words he often said as a child: "Wait for me, Gabrielle."

In 1975, Renoir received a special Academy Award for his lifetime work in movies. That same year, his films were shown at the National Film Theatre in London. Also in 1975, the French government honored him with a high rank in the Légion d'honneur.

Personal Life and Death

Renoir was married to Catherine Hessling, an actress and model. They later divorced. His second wife was Dido Freire.

Renoir's son, Alain Renoir (1921–2008), became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He studied English and medieval literature.

Jean Renoir died in Beverly Hills, California, on February 12, 1979, from a heart attack. His body was returned to France and buried next to his family in the cemetery at Essoyes, Aube, France.

His Impact on Film

When Jean Renoir died, his fellow director and friend Orson Welles wrote an article titled "Jean Renoir: The Greatest of All Directors." Renoir's films have inspired many other directors, including Satyajit Ray, Éric Rohmer, Luchino Visconti, Peter Bogdanovich, François Truffaut, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, and Mike Leigh. He also influenced the French New Wave movement in filmmaking. His memoir is dedicated to these "New Wave" filmmakers, showing he felt a connection with their ideas.

Jean Renoir has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6212 Hollywood Blvd. Some of his ceramic artworks were collected by Albert C. Barnes, who also collected his father's paintings. You can see these at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

Film critic David Thomson wrote that Renoir "asks us to see the variety and muddle of life without settling for one interpretation. He is the greatest of directors, he justifies cinema..."

Awards and Honors

• Chevalier de Légion d'honneur, 1936
• Selznick Golden Laurel Award for lifetime work, 1958
• Prix Charles Blanc, Académie française, for Renoir, My Father, 1963
• Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts, University of California, Berkeley, 1963
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1964
• Osella d'Oro as a master of the cinema, Venice Festival, 1968
• Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Royal College of Art, London, 1971
• Honorary Academy Award for Career Accomplishment, 1974
• Special Award, National Society of Film Critics, 1975
• Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur, 1975
• Prix Goncourt de la Biographie, 2013

Notable Films Directed by Jean Renoir

See also

In Spanish: Jean Renoir para niños