Born in Poland in 1926, Charles Denner came to France at the age of four. He studied acting with Charles Dullin, then joined Jean Vilar's prestigious Théâtre National Populaire (TNP), where his colleagues included Gérard Philippe and Philippe Noiret. Louis Malle gave him one of his first screen roles as a cop in Elevator to the Gallows (1958) [re-released by Rialto in 2005] and later cast him in The Thief (1967). His breakthrough came in Claude Chabrol's 1963 Landru, in which he delivered an astonishing impersonation of the infamous serial lady- iller.
The following year he was the schizophrenic protagonist of Alain Jessua's Life Upside Down. François Truffaut was especially fond of Denner (and perhaps his trademark croaking voice), casting him in The Bride Wore Black (1968), Such A Gorgeous Kid Like Me (1972) and giving him the title role in The Man Who Loved Women (1977). Claude Lelouch used him in The Crook (1970), Money, Money, Money (1972), And Now My Love (1974), Si c'était à refaire (1976) and Robert & Robert (1978). For director Claude Berri, he appeared in the autobiographical The Two of Us (re-released by Rialto Pictures in 2005) and The First Time (1976). He died in 1995 at age 69.
Rialto Pictures
