Jean Sorel

RelativesFrançois de Menthon (uncle)

Jean Bernard Antoine de Chieusses de Combaud de Roquebrune CAL^[1] (born 25 September 1934), known professionally as Jean Sorel (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ sɔʁɛl]), is a French actor. He was a leading man of European cinema during the 1960's and '70s, with a screen persona that often drew comparisons with Alain Delon.^[2][3]

Sorel was born Jean Bernard Antoine de Chieusses de Combaud de Roquebrune in Marseille.^[4] His family was descended from the House of Capet. His father, Guy (Guillaume) de Combaud de Roquebrune, was a newspaper publisher and a member of the French Resistance, who was killed in combat during World War II.^[5][6] Via his father, Sorel was the nephew of François de Menthon.

Initially planning to be a diplomat, Sorel studied international relations at the École normale supérieure, and worked as an embassy clerk in French Algeria from 1956 to 1957.

Sorel made his debut in I Spit on Your Graves (1957), an adaptation of the notorious Boris Vian novel of the same name. After several film appearances in his native country, Sorel made his breakthrough in Italian cinema in 1960, starring in Alberto Lattuada's Sweet Deceptions and Mauro Bolognini's From a Roman Balcony.^[2] During the following two decades, Sorel starred in films like A View from the Bridge, The Four Days of Naples (both 1962), Highway Pickup (1963), Sandra (1965),The Man Who Laughs (1966), Belle de jour (1967), and Model Shop (1969). He worked with such notable directors as Luis Buñuel, Luchino Visconti, Roger Vadim, Jacques Demy, Dino Risi, Julien Duvivier, and Sidney Lumet.^[2] Early on, Sorel drew comparisons to Alain Delon in his appearance and screen persona, often playing romantic leads.^[3]

Beginning in the late 1960's, Sorel appeared in several giallo films, which brought him into recognition with international horror film fans.^[7] He starred in Lucio Fulci's first two gialli One on Top of the Other and A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, The Sweet Body of Deborah and A Quiet Place to Kill with Carroll Baker, and Aldo Lado's Short Night of Glass Dolls.^[8]

In 1973, Sorel played OAS leader Jean Bastien-Thiry in the thriller film The Day of the Jackal.

Since 1980, he has worked mostly in television. In 1984, he starred in the play Alice par des chemins obscurs, directed by Roger Planchon at the Théâtre National Populaire.

In 2016, he starred in the Élie Chouraqui film The Origin of Violence (2016).

In 2011, Sorel was ascended a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.^[1]

Sorel was married to Italian actress Anna Maria Ferrero from 1962 until her death in 2018.^[9] In 2018, he married Patricia Balme.^[10]

• 1959: I Spit on Your Graves as Elmer
• 1960: Les Lionceaux as Patrice
• 1960: I Dolci inganni as Renato
• 1960: Ça s'est passé à Rome (La Giornata balorda) as David
• 1961: Vive Henri IV... vive l'amour! as Le prince de Condé
• 1961: Amélie ou le temps d'aimer as Alain
• 1961: Gold of Rome (L'Oro di Roma) as Massimo
• 1962: Vu du pont as Rodolpho
• 1962: Disorder (Il Disordine) as Andrea
• 1962: Adorable Julia (Julia, Du bist zauberhaft) as Tom Fennel
• 1962: Le Quattro giornate di Napoli (The Four Days of Naples) as Livornese (uncredited)
• 1963: Nur tote Zeugen schweigen [de] as Erik Stein
• 1963: Germinal as Étienne Lantier
• 1963: Chair de poule as Paul Genest
• 1963: Un Marito in condominio as Renato Carcaterra
• 1964: Amori pericolosi as Il legionario (segment "La ronda")
• 1964: La Ronde as Le comte
• 1964: De l'amour as Antoine
• 1965: Le bambole (The Dolls) as Vincenzo (segment "Monsignor Cupido")
• 1965: Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa (Sandra) as Gianni Wald-Luzzati
• 1965: Made in Italy (À l'Italienne) as Orlando (segment 3 'La Donna', episode 3)
• 1965: Weekend, Italian Style (L'Ombrellone) as Sergio
• 1966: The Man Who Laughs (L'Uomo che ride) as Angelo / Astorre Manfredi
• 1966: Sex Quartet (Le Fate) as Luigi (segment "Fata Elena")
• 1967: Belle de jour as Pierre Serizy
• 1967: Kill Me Quick, I'm Cold (Fai in fretta ad uccidermi... ho freddo!) as Franco
• 1968: The Sweet Body of Deborah (Il Dolce corpo di Deborah) as Marcel
• 1968: Adélaïde as Frédéric Cornault
• 1968: Love Problems as Giorgio
• 1968: I Protagonisti as Roberto
• 1969: Una ragazza piuttosto complicata as Alberto
• 1969: Una sull'altra as Dr. George Dumurrier
• 1969: L'Amica as Franco Raimondi
• 1969: Model Shop as Secretary
• 1970: Uccidete il vitello grasso e arrostitelo as Cesare Merlo
• 1970: Paranoia as Maurice Sauvage
• 1970: No desearás al vecino del quinto as Pedro Andreu
• 1971: A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (Una lucertola con la pelle di donna) as Frank Hammond
• 1971: Short Night of Glass Dolls (La Corta notte delle bambole di vetro) as Gregory Moore
• 1971: El Ojo del huracán as Paul
• 1971: La Controfigura as Giovanni
• 1971: Je suis vivant! (Malastrana) as Gregory Moore
• 1972: Mil millones para una rubia as Teniente Barney Holmes
• 1973: The Day of the Jackal as Bastien-Thiry
• 1973: Trader Horn as Emil DuMond
• 1973: Murder in a Blue World (Una gota de sangre para morir amando) as Dr. Victor Sender
• 1973: The Great Kidnapping (La polizia sta a guardare) as Aloisi
• 1974: La Profanazione
• 1975: Une vieille maîtresse (TV) as Ryno de Marigny
• 1976: La Muerte ronda a Mónica as Federico
• 1977: Les Enfants du placard as Berlu
• 1978: L'Affaire Suisse as Paul Suter
• 1978: The Man in the Rushes as Robert
• 1979: Les Sœurs Brontë as Leyland
• 1980: La Naissance du jour (TV) as Vial
• 1981: Quatre femmes, quatre vies: La belle alliance (TV) as Michel
• 1981: Les Ailes de la colombe as Lukirsh
• 1981: Aimée as Pierre Ménard
• 1981: Une mère russe (TV) as Le fils de 20 à 55 ans
• 1982: Aspern as Jean Decaux
• 1982: Le Cercle fermé (TV) as Jérôme Baron / Fabien Moreau
• 1982: La Démobilisation générale (TV) as Serge Boncourt
• 1982: Les Aventures de Miss Catastrophe (Bonnie e Clyde all'italiana) as The Captain
• 1983: Par ordre du Roy (TV) as Le marquis de Ganges (segment "La marquise des Anges")
• 1985: L'Herbe rouge (TV) as Wolf
• 1986: Affari di famiglia (TV) as Enrico
• 1986: Rosa la rose, fille publique as Gilbert
• 1987: Il Burbero as Giulio Machiavelli
• 1988: Le Crépuscule des loups (TV) as Werner
• 1988: Le Clan (feuilleton TV) as Giorgio Stivale
• 1989: Casablanca Express as Major Valmore
• 1990: Un piede in paradiso as Holy father
• 1990: Come una mamma (TV)
• 1990: Prigioniera di una vendetta (TV series) as Marc (1990)
• 1991: Millions as Leo Ferretti
• 1992: Les Cœurs brûlés (TV series)
• 1993: La Scalata (feuilleton TV) as Alain Morrà
• 1993: Una Madre come tu (feuilleton TV)
• 1995: Butterfly (TV series)
• 1995: Il Prezzo della vita (TV)
• 1995: Fils unique
• 1995: Laura (TV)
• 1997: Le désert de feu ("Deserto di fuoco") (feuilleton TV) as Miller
• 1997: Mamma per caso (TV series) as Giorgio
• 1997: Dove comincia il sole (TV series) as Antonio Amati
• 1998: À nous deux la vie (TV) as David
• 2004: Tout va bien c'est Noël! (TV) as Maxime
• 2005: I Colori della vita (TV)
• 2008: L'ultimo Pulcinella
• 2014: A Good Season (TV)
• 2016: Drôles d'oiseaux as Georges
• 2016: The Origin of Violence as Charles Wagner (2014) (final film role)

• Jean Sorel at IMDb
• Jean Sorel on Hollywood.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 12 October 2007)