He was one of those well-known faces that we don’t forget and that we immediately recognize, but whose extensive career is little known. A slender actor, with a distinguished bearing, with a sometimes mocking look, Pierre Vernier died on Wednesday October 9, in Vic-Fezensac, in Gers, at the age of 93, Agence-France Presse learned on Saturday from his relatives . He has played all kinds of roles in cinema and theater. As the historian Jean Tulard writes in his Dictionary of cinema. The actors (Robert Laffont, 2007), Pierre Vernier was the “type of reliable and quality actor. His compositions in “Rocambole”, “Offenbach”, “Stavisky”, “M. Klein” or “The intoxication of power”were excellent.” He appeared in 71 films or television films.
Pierre Rayer, known as Pierre Vernier, was born on May 25, 1931 in Saint-Jean-d’Angély (Charente-Maritime). After his schooling, he took courses at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art (class of 1954). He is part of the “conservatory gang”, also called “the Bébel gang”, a group of friends whose teacher included Louis Jouvet and who brought together future stars like Jean-Paul Belmondo, Annie Girardot, Jean Rochefort and even Philippe Noiret.
Movies, series
He made his cinema debut in 1951 with the film Juliette or the key to dreams, a feature film by Marcel Carné. Then, after the conservatory, he toured in The Awful (1958), feature film by Marc Allégret. But it was with Claude Chabrol that he began to make himself known with the film The Godelureaux, in 1961, then Ophelia in 1963. It was with this filmmaker that he shot the most (four films and a television series).
The films then follow one another with the greatest directors: Henri Verneuil, Jacques Deray, Joseph Losey and Claude Lelouch. He plays in six films with Jean-Paul Belmondo (including Weekend in Zuydcoote, by Henri Verneuil, 1964, The Guignolo, by Georges Lautner, 1980) and appears alongside Jean-Pierre Marielle, Yves Montand and Charlotte Rampling.
But it’s with the soap opera Swiss rolladapted from the novel by Ponson du Terrail (1829-1871), which he became famous for. Broadcast in 1964-1965, Rocambole tells the story of a repentant who became a vigilante in the heart of 19th century Parise century. The soap opera was a success, which allowed Pierre Vernier to often obtain leading roles on television, which would not be the case in the cinema.
Awarded for his television roles
Ten years later, he played in Michel Strogoffwhere he plays the reporter Alcide Jolivet, an international co-production in four episodes, based on the novel by Jules Verne, directed by Jean-Pierre Decourt. This series, filmed in Hungary with a large budget, enjoyed great popular success. Other serials and TV films will mark his career. In 2006, he appeared in the series Jihad.
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