Patrick Dewaere

Patrick Dewaere (26 January 1947 – 16 July 1982) was a French film actor. Born in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, he was the son of French actress Mado Maurin. An actor from a young age, his career lasted more than 21 years until his suicide in Paris, in 1982.

Patrick Dewaere
Patrick Dewaere in 1975.
Born	Patrick Jean Marie Henri Bourdeaux (1947-01-26)26 January 1947 Saint-Brieuc, France
Died	16 July 1982(1982-07-16) (aged 35) Paris, France
Other names	Patrick Maurin Patrick de Waëre
Occupations	Actor Singer-songwriter
Years active	1951–1982
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Spouses	Sotha ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1979)​ Elizabeth Malvina Chalier ​ ​ (m. 1980)​
Partner	Miou-Miou
Children	2, including Lola Dewaere
Signature

Career

Early life

Patrick Dewaere was the third child of an actor's family. His biological father, Michel Têtard, was a lyricist who had an affair with Dewaere's mother, Mado Maurin, who was married to Pierre-Marie Bourdeaux. Dewaere grew up believing Bourdeaux was his biological father. After Dewaere's parents divorced, his mother remarried Georges Collignon, who sexually abused Dewaere as a child. Under the direction of his mother, Dewaere, his four brothers and his sister performed in movies and television series. The family lived in Paris. Dewaere attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school.

One of his first TV appearances was in 1961, when he was 14 years old. He appeared in a video for the song "Nuits d'Espagne" by Dalida. Later, he was a promising and popular French actor in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Debuts as "Patrick Dewaere"

At the age of 17, Dewaere learned that he was not the biological child of his mother’s ex-husband, Pierre-Marie Bourdeaux, but that of conductor and singer Michel Têtard. In 1968, he took the name of "Dewaere" which his maternal great-grandmother inspired him. A year earlier, he had met his first wife, Sotha, an actress who co-founded the Café de la Gare, an experimental theatre. They separated in 1970 but remained married for eleven years.

From 1968, he collaborated with the Café de la Gare, where he met Miou-Miou and Gérard Depardieu, with whom he made a breakthrough after many secondary roles in various films, in the scandalous comedy Going Places. Miou-Miou became Dewaere’s companion and the mother of his daughter Angèle (1974). She left Dewaere for singer Julien Clerc, shortly before the shooting of F...like Fairbanks, in which both play a couple in separation.

Success and depression

Patrick Dewaere became one of the most popular actors in French cinema in the 1970s. Between 1977 and 1982, he was nominated five times to the Césars in the "Best Actor" category, the most important award in France. In his work, Dewaere was restless and very conscientious, which may have caused his depressed mood. He also had serious drug problems, and it is known that he had been sexually abused as a child. He consolidated his status as a savage and ruthless actor in Alain Corneau’s cult film Série noire (1979). In his roles, Dewaere was long attached to the kind of young rebel. Only in his later films did his comic and dramatic diversity manifest itself. He often worked with director Bertrand Blier.

In 1980, Dewaere hit a journalist who had announced against his will his union with Elsa Chalier. Subsequently, the actor was ignored by the French press, his name was even abbreviated with his initials (P.D).

Personal life

For eleven years Dewaere was married to French actress Sotha. In the early 1970s, he became the companion of French actress Miou-Miou, until they separated in 1976. They had one daughter. Shortly before the release of Paradis Pour Tous (1982), a black comedy where his character tries to commit suicide, the actor shot himself in his house in Paris. He was 35 years old.

He is the father of French actress Lola Dewaere with Elsa Chalier.

Death

Elsa Chalier left him in 1982 for his best friend Coluche. Shortly afterwards, on July 16, 1982, Dewaere shot himself in his house in Paris. He also had financial and addiction problems. At the time, he was preparing for the film Édith et Marcel by Claude Lelouch, where he was to play the boxer Marcel Cerdan.

He was buried in the cemetery of Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay, in the grave of his in-laws.

Distinctions

Italian actors Michele Placido, Franco Nero, with Patrick Dewaere (far right) and Miou-Miou, during the filming of the Italian film Marcia trionfale (1975).

In 1975, Dewaere received the Crystal Star of the Best Actor for The Best Way to Walk, shared with Patrick Bouchitey. This "half trophy" was the only award the profession gave him.

Between 1976 and 1982, the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma français nominated the actor six times for the César, but never gave him the award:

• 1976: César nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Adieu Poulet.
• 1977: César nomination for Best Actor, The Best Way to Walk.
• 1978: César nomination for Best Actor, Le Juge Fayard dit Le Shériff.
• 1980: César nomination for Best Actor, Série noire.
• 1981: César nomination for Best Actor, Un mauvais fils.
• 1982: César nomination for Best Actor, Stepfather.

The 1978 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film was awarded to Bertrand Blier's Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, due in part to the performance of its stars, Dewaere and Depardieu.

Legacy

In cinema

• The actor was the subject of the French documentary Patrick Dewaere, which was shown at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.

• In Michel Gondry’s film La Science des rêves (2006), the hero played by Gael García Bernal metamorphoses into Patrick Dewaere during a scene and replays several major scenes from the film Série noire. The title of the original soundtrack accompanying this sequence is Rêve Patrick Dewaere.

Still of actor Patrick Dewaere.

In music

• 1982: Friend of Dewaere, Murray Head sings the song Shades of the Prison House in the album Shade, which will be taken as soundtrack of the film Patrick Dewaere, directed by Marc Esposito in 1992.
• 1983: Louis Chedid evokes the memory of the actor in his song Les absents sont toujours tort.
• 1983: Catherine Lara also paid tribute to him, with the title T'es pas drôle.
• 1994: Christian Décamps on the album Nu with the song Impasse du Moulin Vert.
• 1996: In the song Nirvana of the album Premières Consultations, Doc Gynéco writes: «J'vais me foutre en l'air comme Patrick Dewaere» ("I'm gonna kill myself like Patrick Dewaere").
• 2002: Renaud evokes Dewaere in his song Mon bistrot préféré on the album Boucan d'enfer.
• 2005: Raphael pays tribute to him with his Chanson pour Patrick Dewaere on the album Caravane.
• The Schneider-Dewaere Double Prize rewards the male and female hopes of French cinema.

Others

• In 1995, a care unit for suicidal young adults took his name at Lierneux (Belgium).
• In 2008, the Patrick-Dewaere Prize, intended to reward the promising actors of French cinema, was created to replace the Jean-Gabin Prize that had existed since 1980.
• On December 22, 2009, the Théâtre de Verdure esplanade located in the Parc des promenades of Saint-Brieuc, his hometown, was named Patrick-Dewaere esplanade, in the presence of Mado Maurin, Jean-François Vlérick, Luc Béraud and Gilles Durieux.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1955	Monsieur Fabre		Henri Diamant-Berger
	La Madelon	Un enfant du village	Jean Boyer	Uncredited
1956	Plucking the Daisy	Toto's brother	Marc Allégret	Uncredited
	I'll Get Back to Kandara	the little boy	Victor Vicas	credited as Patrick Maurin
1957	The Happy Road	Child	Gene Kelly
	Les Espions	Le petit Moynet	Henri-Georges Clouzot
1958	Mimi Pinson	Le jeune frère de Mimi	Robert Darène
1966	Paris brûle-t-il?	young resistance fighter who gets executed	René Clément	Uncredited
1971	Les Mariés de l'an II	a volunteer	Jean-Paul Rappeneau	the film was entered into the 1971 Cannes Film Festival
	The Deadly Trap	L'homme à l'écharpe jaune	René Clément	Uncredited
1973	Themroc	Le maçon, and uncredited role as policeman	Claude Faraldo	the film received a prize at the 1973 International Film Festival of Avoriaz
1974	Les Valseuses	Pierrot	Bertrand Blier	the 3rd highest-grossing film of the year 1974 in France
1975	Au long de rivière Fango	Sébastien	Sotha
	Lily aime-moi	Gaston	Maurice Dugowson	nominated for best film at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival
	Pas de problème!	Le barman	Georges Lautner
	Catherine et Compagnie	François	Michel Boisrond	English title: "Catherine & Co."
	Adieu poulet	Lefevre	Pierre Granier-Deferre	the film was nominated for two Césars (editing and best supporting actor)
1976	La Meilleure façon de marcher	Marc	Claude Miller	winner of the César Award for Best Cinematography in 1975
	Marcia trionfale	Lt. Baio	Marco Bellocchio	English title: "Victory March"
	F... comme Fairbanks	André	Maurice Dugowson	also credited as co-composer of the music
1977	Le Juge Fayard dit Le Shériff	Jean-Marie Fayard	Yves Boisset
	La stanza del vescovo	Marco Maffei	Dino Risi	adapted from the novel of the same name by Piero Chiara
1978	Préparez vos mouchoirs	Stéphane	Bertrand Blier	Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards
	La Clé sur la porte	Philippe	Yves Boisset	based on the novel of the same name
1979	Traffic Jam	the young man	Luigi Comencini	entered into the 1979 Cannes Film Festival
	Coup de tête	François Perrin	Jean-Jacques Annaud	César Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Jean Bouise
	Série noire	Franck Poupart	Alain Corneau	entered into the 1979 Cannes Film Festival
	Paco l'infaillible	Pocapena	Didier Haudepin
1980	Un mauvais fils	Bruno Calgagni	Claude Sautet	César Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jacques Dufilho
1981	Psy	Marc	Philippe de Broca	film score by Mort Shuman
	Plein sud	Serge Laine	Luc Béraud	released as "Heart Of Desire" in the USA
	Beau-Père	Rémi Bachelier	Bertrand Blier	entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival
	Les matous sont romantiques	Le voisin	Sotha
	Hotel America	Gilles Tisserand	André Téchiné	playing Catherine Deneuve's lover
1982	Mille milliards de dollars	Paul Kerjean	Henri Verneuil	International title: A Thousand Billion Dollars
	Paradis pour tous	Alain Durieux	Alain Jessua	Dewaere's final film role

External links

• Patrick Dewaere at IMDb
• Patrick Dewaere at Find a Grave
• Miou-Miou et les hommes de sa vie Miou-Miou : Coluche, Patrick Dewaere, Julien Clerc... les hommes de sa vie