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René Dary

René Dary

Actor · 1905 – 1974 · Paris, France

René Dary (19 July 1905 – 6 October 1974) was a French film actor. Dary began his career as a child actor. Young Clément Mary, as was his original name, was born 18 July 1905 in Paris 6th arrondissement. He got his chance in the Spring of 1910 when he was only five. His father Abélard Mary had put in his head to go and promote himself and his two young kids as extras at the Gaumont studio. Mary, who had been an actor, had become a rundown clown in bars because of his gambling and kept things going with some furniture trade. He had set his hopes for his kids, and gambled well this time, as they were all hired for a peplum, Les Derniers Jours de Babylone. Young Clément's native playfulness, his histrionic acting making him older than he was, his borrowed street talk, and his ease on the set to charm everyone, from actors to technicians, soon began to attract the attention of producer-director Louis Feuillade. Feuillade tested him and designed a whole series around him, the Bébé series. All in all Mary would play in 74 Bébé comedies between 1910 and 1912, according to Braquet (76 between December 1910 and February 1913, according to Lacassin, while IMDb lists 73 titles), such as Bébé apache, Napoléon, Bébé et les cosaques, Bébé en Maroc etc. Feuillade permitted little Mary to do anything forbidden at home. Often his character would be a spoiled brat, have impossible tantrums and pester all adults around him, but he could also help children and old people in distress, showing his good heart after all. Often his mother would be played by Renée Carl, a leading Gaumont actress in her own. And often the child was placed in adult situations, as millionaire, marriage candidate or underworld 'apache'. For over two years Bébé was the best known child actor worldwide. The extremely good box office made papa Mary wealthy too, but his money hunger caused also the downfall of his son. Abélard bought a small cinema in Ménilmontant and called it Bébé-Cinéma, counting on a franchise by Gaumont to show his son's films. This was the limit for Feuillade, who was already fed up with the pretense of the father's self-promotion as his son's manager and his continuous demands for raises for his son. Besides, Clément was reaching an age where his cuteness as child actor was passing. Already mid-1912 another young kid had been picked up in Belleville, near the studios, and had started as supporting actor to Clément in the film Bébé adopte un petit frère, but replaced him completely in March 1913 (February 1913, according to Francis Lacassin) under the character name of Bout-de-Zan (a name he already wore as Bébé's co-actor). Abélard went to court against Gaumont. The court ruled that the breach of contract was just, but also that Mary was allowed to continue acting as Bébé at Pathé's subsidiary Eclectic Films, and he did so until 1916. Yet, it was no competition for Gaumont's Bout-de-Zan. As Abel mentions, Bout-de-Zan was more plebeian while Bébé was 'au fond' bourgeois as type. Still, in the end Poyen did some 50 films for Gaumont, less than Mary.

Movies24

  • Movie8.0

    Bébé apache

    1910 · 1 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Bébé pêcheur

    Baby Fisherman

    1910 · 1 votes

  • Movie7.2

    Touchez pas au grisbi

    1954 · 285 votes

  • Movie5.5

    Bébé tire à la cible

    Jimmy Pulls The Trigger

    1912 · 4 votes

  • Movie8.0

    Bébé corrige son père

    Bébé Corrects His Father

    1911 · 1 votes

  • Movie10.0
  • Movie10.0

    Napoléon, Bébé et les Cosaques

    Napoléon, Bébé, and the Cossacks

    1912 · 1 votes

  • Movie3.5

    Gli amori di Ercole

    The Loves of Hercules

    1960 · 42 votes

  • Movie5.6

    Le Carrefour des enfants perdus

    Children of Chaos

    1944 · 5 votes

  • Movie8.5

    L'Exécution

    1961 · 2 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Nostalgie

    The Postmaster's Daughter

    1938 · 1 votes

  • Movie4.0

    Y'en a marre

    Tonight We Kill

    1959 · 2 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Après l'orage

    After the Storm

    1941 · 2 votes

  • Movie7.4

    Les Risques du métier

    Risky Business

    1967 · 38 votes

  • Movie10.0

    Nord-Atlantique

    1939 · 1 votes

  • Movie6.4

    Goto, l'île d'amour

    Goto, Island of Love

    1969 · 31 votes

  • Movie8.0

    Bébé court apres sa montre

    Bébé Runs After His Watch

    1911 · 1 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Les Mordus

    The Delinquents

    1960 · 1 votes

  • Movie
  • Movie7.0

    La Peau et les os

    Skin and Bones

    1961 · 1 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Suzanne et ses brigands

    Suzanne and Her Brigands

    1949 · 1 votes

  • Movie7.8

    Napoléon II, l'aiglon

    Napoléon II, the Eagle

    1961 · 2 votes

  • Movie5.9

    Piège pour Cendrillon

    A Trap for Cinderella

    1965 · 20 votes

  • Movie8.0

    Huit hommes dans un château

    Eight Men in a Castle

    1942 · 1 votes

Series5

  • TV8.0

    Discorama

    1959 · 1 votes

  • TV8.0

    La Route

    1963 · 1 votes

  • TV9.0
  • TV7.0

    Belphégor ou Le Fantôme du Louvre

    Belphegor, or The Phantom of the Louvre

    1965 · 18 votes

  • TV7.0

    Les Compagnons de Baal

    Baal's Companions

    1968 · 1 votes