Louis de Funès is a true institution of French humor. Whether or not we like the character, his inimitable style and his cult films, he is part of our heritage. Even today, in 2024, we broadcast The Big Mop as if it was the first time. But, behind the laughter, the reality is a little darker.
The actor's entourage has always been at odds, whether over the actor's adultery, his 'second family' or a squandered inheritance. Laurent de Funès, grandson of, looks back on a difficult childhood.
Louis de Funès: indestructible comic genius
What if, more than forty years after his death, Louis de Funès remained this indestructible genius of comedy? This is evidenced by his filmography with its late but deserved success, punctuated by films and roles emblematic of daddy humor. Elastic face, body electric battery, degeneration of a comic
slapstick… From Funès, it’s a signature.
We all have in mind a scene, a grimace, a moment carried away by the contagious energy of De Funès. His humor, drawing on Gallic bad faith and the annoyance of a post-war leader, hits the mark every time. Whether it is in Le Corniaud or The Big Mop in which his on-screen chemistry with Bourvil
detonates.
The very private and very complicated life of the actor
Once the cameras are turned off, the laughter stops. Louis de Funès is the opposite of his character on film sets.
We know he is discreet, economical, not necessarily inclined to laugh. He has a green thumb and prefers to cultivate his garden. However, he is a heartbreaker as demonstrated by his adulterous relationship with journalist Macha Béranger.
In addition, his private and family life is very complicated. And it has nothing to do with his extramarital affair. There is who-does-not-know-whatLove, glory and beauty. There is talk of remarriage, arguments, low blows and humiliations too. The actor was married for the first time, in 1936, to Germaine Carryer. He remarried, in 1943, to Jeanne Barthélémy.
Laurent, grandson of De Funès, talks about his childhood
Problem: Jeanne Barthélémy turns out to be an embittered and difficult woman to live with. Laurent de Funès is the son of
Danielhimself son of Louis and his first wife, Germaine Carroyer. This one is the guest of Jordan de Luxe. He confides a childhood traumatized by Jeanne Barthélémy: “[…] his second wife who absolutely wanted to isolate the first family […]”
Laurent de Funès adds: “[Jeanne Barthélémy] absolutely wanted to erase us and my father had difficulty accepting the orders she wanted to give him. She was a very authoritarian woman.” He then shares an anecdote from his childhood: “When I was little, I have memories of Jeanne, a very authoritarian woman who impressed me.”
“When I was with my grandfather [Louis de
Funès]she always came to disturb us, to disturb me.
[…] He was playing with me, we were laughing […] She came and said: ‘Louis, can't you see that you're bothering this child?'I froze suddenly.”
Jeanne Barthélemy is also suspected of having squandered her husband's inheritance.
