Tourneur began directing in the days of silent film, in the generation that invented the grammar of cinema as it went along, and he survived the coming of sound, which few of his colleagues managed. His son Jacques made his career in Hollywood and signed Cat People. A third brother, Robert, was an actor: three men of the stage and screen under the same surname. Of the two film-makers, only one is here.
The story
Father and son both directors: the case is rare. Maurice Tourneur began directing in the days of the silent film, in the first generation of film-makers — the one that invented the language of cinema by practising it. His son Jacques would make his career in Hollywood and sign Cat People, one of the summits of American fantasy.
Born in 1876, Maurice Tourneur crossed from the silent film to the talkies, which few directors of his generation managed: the trade was changing its nature entirely. His brother Robert acted, their sister signed herself Yvonne Mirval — three children of one family on the stage or behind the camera.
He died in 1961, at eighty-five. His stone in Division 71 carries the two names side by side — “Famille THOMAS TOURNEUR” —, the civil name and the cinema one. Father and son worked on either side of the Atlantic; only one of the two lies here.
On site, do not miss
Division 71 brings together an organist of Saint-Sulpice, a Belgian composer of comic operas and this director of the silent screen.
Visitors' questions
Where is Maurice Tourneur's grave?
In Division 71 of Père-Lachaise, the Division of the organist Jean-Jacques Grunenwald and of the Belgian composer Albert Grisar. He died in 1961, at eighty-five.
Albert GrisarWhat was his link with Jacques Tourneur?
He was his son — a director in Hollywood, who made Cat People, one of the summits of American horror. Father and son form one of the rare dynasties of film directors France has produced; Maurice's brother Robert was an actor, and their sister performed under the name Yvonne Mirval.
Michel DrachDid he work in silent film?
He did: he began directing in the days of the silents, in the first generation of film-makers — the one that invented the language of cinema by practising it — and his career then carried on through the coming of sound.
Georges MélièsWere there other artists in the family?
There were: his brother Robert Tourneur was an actor. With his son Jacques, that makes three men of stage and screen in one family — not a common thing in the trade at the time.
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