Biography
With all the hue and cry over
Raimu's brilliant performances in
Marcel Pagnol's Marseilles Trilogy of 1930-1935 (
Marius,
Fanny,
Cesar), it has sometimes been forgotten that Fernand Charpin was equally superb in those three films. The well-fed Charpin was cast as Honore Panisse, the affable middle-aged sailmaker who marries the pregnant Fanny (
Orane Demazis) when she's deserted by the irresponsible Marius (
Pierre Fresnay). In much the same vein, Charpin went on to appear in Pagnol's
The Baker's Wife and The Well-Digger's Daughter. A consummate actor who could switch from comedy to pathos and back again with seamless grace, Fernand Charpin died all too soon at the age of 57. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide