French actor
Michel Serrault, whose hit performance as a transvestite in
the film and stage versions of La Cage aux Folles
(The Birdcage) catapulted him to
international stardom, has died, his priest said
Monday. He was 79.
Serrault died
Sunday of cancer in his home in the northwestern city of
Honfleur, France, Reverend Alain Maillard de La Morandais
said.
Serrault appeared
in more than 130 films during a career that spanned
half a century. After debuting as a comic actor, Serrault
became one of France's most versatile stars, playing a
serial killer, a grizzled farmer, a crooked banker,
and an accused rapist.
''I'm against
those who only want to entertain,'' Serrault said in 2002.
''I am very happy with all the roles I've played, and I take
responsibility for them all.''
French president
Nicolas Sarkozy paid homage to Serrault's ''impressive
filmography,'' calling the actor a ''monument of the world
of the theater, the cinema and the television.''
In a statement
Monday, Sarkozy said Serrault touched ''each French person
with his talents as an actor--both comic and tragic.''
French culture
minister Christine Albanel called Serrault ''a greatly
popular actor, capable of affecting all sorts of
audiences.''
He was a man ''of
true generosity,'' Albanel said in a statement Monday.
Born on January
24, 1928, in Brunoy, south of Paris, Serrault initially
set his sights on the priesthood, briefly entering a
seminary. He dropped out, he later explained, because
of the vow of chastity.
After studying
acting in Paris, Serrault began as his stage career
playing in cabarets.
He made his
silver screen debut in 1954 in Jean Loubignac's Ah! Les
Belles Bacchantes (Oh, the Lovely
Bacchantes), which was released as
Peek-a-boo in the United States. His first big break
came in 1972, with a leading role in Pierre Tchernia's Le
Viager (The Life Annuity.)
Speaking Monday
on LCI television, Tchernia called Serrault ''perhaps the
greatest French actor,'' saying he gave to his profession
''all his talent, all his strength, all his humor, all
his affection.''
It was his role
as flamboyant gay nightclub owner Albin Mougeotte, also
known as Zaza Napoli, in the theater and film versions of
the megahit La Cage aux Folles (The
Birdcage) that catapulted Serrault to
international fame. His performance in director Edouard
Molinaro's 1978 movie won him the first of three Cesar
awards--the French version of the Oscar.
In 1995 he
starred opposite Emmanuelle Beart in Nelly et M.
Arnaud (Nelly and Mr. Arnaud), winning
another Cesar.
Serrault remained
active, featuring in films through his late 70s. Among
his final films was Pierre Javaux's 2006 Les Enfants du
Pays (Hometown Boys), about the role of
African soldiers in World War II.
Serrault is
survived by his wife, Juanita, and daughter, Nathalie.
He was to be
buried Thursday in Honfleur, said Reverend de La Morandais.
The priest, who
performed the actor's last rites, said he told Serrault
on his deathbed to '''go make God laugh--he really
needs it because his job isn't easy.' That made him
crack a smile. It was very much in the spirit of
Michel Serrault.'' (Thibault Leroux, AP)