Biography

Much active on stage in the 1930's, touring Europe, Canada and South America. Member of the Comedie Francaise until forced to flee Paris in 1940 as a result of the German invasion.

Suave, bushy-browed, placid-faced Belgian-born character actor from the stage and a lead in French films who left Europe and settled in America during the war years, typically a Nazi or other foreign-accented villain in Hollywood.

He retired to a property in Saint-Cannat which he called "La Pastorale" in homage to Ludwig van Beethoven whom he revered.

He worked in trade in Belgium before settling in Paris, where he trained in dramatic art under Paul Mounet. His stage career in the 1920s included appearances in plays by Henri Bernstein, Georges Bataille and Edmond Rostand, which took him all over the world.

According to Russian sources, he attended opera classes in Odessa before 1914.