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French actor
Michel Serrault of La Cage aux Folles dies at 79

French actor
Michel Serrault of La Cage aux Folles dies at 79

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)

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