Unknown Louis de Funes: favorite comedian - curmudgeon, despot and brawler?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When famous French actor Louis de Funes appeared on the screen, the audience always had smiles and improved mood. But in real life, he more often upset people than amused. Is it true that the great comedian was actually a real despot, stingy, and grouch?

Louis de Funes had a bad temper and a talent for amusing people in equal measure from an early age. At school, he studied poorly, but hilariously parodied teachers. He often disrupted lessons, for which he was constantly kicked out the door. The same thing happened to him at work - he was expelled from everywhere. From a sewing workshop - after being caught throwing pins at a canary, from a photo studio - after a fire due to a firecracker thrown into a desk drawer, from a hat salon - due to water splashed in the manager's face.

The directors considered the comedian a clown and for a long time did not offer worthwhile roles. Success came to him only in the late 1950s, when the actor was already over 40. Before becoming famous all over the world, Louis de Funes worked as a shoe shiner, shop window decorator, tinsmith, traveling salesman - and did not stay anywhere for a long time and did not leave about good memories for myself. Even at his own wedding, he pissed off the bride's parents by constantly making grimaces that did not correspond to the solemnity of the occasion.

Louis de Funes plagued his loved ones with constant grumbling and stinginess. Despite the absence of material problems and impressive fees, the actor scrupulously rechecked all the accounts and could bargain on the market until the seller was ready to give him money himself - only for him to leave. One day his son bought shoes that seemed too expensive to his father, and he forced him to change them for cheaper shoes. They say that Louis de Funes constantly carried with him a bunch of keys from cabinets, dressers, drawers, etc. - so that nothing was stolen.

However, the excessive frugality in the character of the actor was simply explained: Louis' father faked suicide and fled to another country, since he could not feed his family. The thought that his father left him because of poverty haunted him all his life and made him save. At the same time, the actor spent a significant part of his earnings on charity - for example, he bought toys for orphanages every Christmas.

Until the family moved out of town, Louis de Funes did not give life to his neighbors: if after 22:00 he heard a noise behind the wall, he immediately called the police, and then demanded compensation for moral damage. When asked how he himself prefers to spend his leisure time, the actor replied: “I do not like society, I have few friends. All my free time, taking a break from the fun, I spend with my family. " At the same time, the whole family had to "take a break from the fun". According to the testimony of friends, the actor was also vindictive. One day, he refused an offer from Grace Kelly to play in a charity performance, since she once drove in a car past the set where Louis de Funes was, and did not stop to say hello.

No one could believe the rumors about his unfriendly nature. The journalists were perplexed: "It is difficult to imagine that this small, very serious person makes the whole of France laugh." Returning from filming in another hilarious comedy, the actor sometimes turned into a real despot. He repeatedly made scandals for his sons because of their refusal to continue the acting dynasty: the younger quit cinema, playing in six films, and became a pilot, the elder worked as a doctor. The actor often scolded them, calling them donkeys.

In 1975 g.the actor suffered a heart attack and for some time could not play a movie. This period became a difficult test for him. “I know what my best joke will be … My funeral. I have to play it so that they keep laughing,”he said. But, despite the prohibitions of doctors, he soon returned to the screens. In 1982, the last comedy with his participation was released, and a year later the great comedian was gone.

Many comedians in real life have a difficult character and a peculiar sense of humor: for example, Bill Murray Stealing French Fries