- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEdward Constantinowsky
- Nickname
- Sinatra of the Seine
- Height5′ 9½″ (1.77 m)
- Iconic American-born singer and actor in international films since the 1950s. Born in L.A. to Russian immigrant parents, Constantine studied voice in Vienna. He returned to the US, where his singing career wavered and he found work as a film extra. Constantine first achieved fame in Paris, where he launched a successful career as a popular singer under the tutelage of Édith Piaf. On screen from 1953, his tough guy manner was put to good use in French imitations of Humphrey Bogart films, several of which featured Peter Cheyney's no-nonsense, hard-hitting private detective, Lemmy Caution. In 1965 Jean-Luc Godard appropriated both Constantine and the Caution character for Alphaville (1965), a futuristic, parodic homage to the detective genre. The tough guys that craggy-faced Constantine played were ideals derived from the already stylized and ritualized world of G-men and private eyes found in American movies. Filmmakers of the New German Cinema resurrected Constantine and his persona; notably, Rainer Werner Fassbinder cast him as the laconic star of the film-within-the-film in Beware of a Holy Whore (1971). Constantine also appeared in a number of German TV dramas in the 70s and 80s and, late in life, reprised his most famous role in Godard's Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (1991).
- IMDb mini biography by: Daniel Yates <kamerad76@hotmail.com>
- SpousesMaya Faber-Jansen(March 23, 1979 - February 25, 1993) (his death, 1 child)Dorothea Gibson(August 6, 1977 - December 1977) (divorced)Hélène Constantine(1942 - 1976) (divorced, 3 children)
- ChildrenConstantine, Mia
- RelativesFergus Constantine(Grandchild)
- His most famous character, Lemmy Caution, appeared in twelve films between 1953 and 1991 and in one TV miniseries.
- Had a son by his first wife Hélène, musician Lemmy Constantine, who was named after Lemmy Caution, the tough private eye character that Constantine had played in several films.
- In 1955, he was the #1 box office movie star in France.
- Constatine was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France.
- Having failed to make a career in the United States, Constantine returned to Europe in the early 1950s and started singing and performing in Paris cabarets. He was noticed by Edith Piaf, who cast him in the musical La p'tite Lili.
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