Photo: Trailer screenshot / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Louis Jourdan is one of those names that, for me, carries the whole texture of mid-century Hollywood glamour. Born in Marseille, he became cinema's idea of the suave Frenchman, gliding through Gigi, Letter from an Unknown Woman, and even turning up as a Bond villain in Octopussy. But the detail I keep returning to is that before the screen polish, he was a French Resistance fighter, which adds a gravity the matinee-idol image never quite suggests. France honored him with the Legion of Honour in 2009, late but fitting. A long, elegant life, and I find that wartime chapter the most quietly heroic part.
Overview
Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (1947), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), Gigi (1958), The Best of Everything (1959), The V.I.P.s (1963) and Octopussy (1983).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Louis Jourdan
- Name (Japanese)
- ルイ・ジュールダン
- Reading
- るい・じゅーるだん
- Born
- June 19, 1921 – February 14, 2015
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Rooster
- Origin
- Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- stage actor / film actor / French resistance fighter / television actor / actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2009 Knight of the Legion of Honour
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Donaldson Awards
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Stage actor — see all → · Film actor — see all → · More people from France →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.