(1947-1982)
Actor. Patrick Dewaere was born Jean-Marie Patrick Bourdeau in Saint-Brieuc. He made his first screen appearance at the age of four in Henri Diamant-Berger's Monsieur Fabre (1951) and later appeared in Jean Boyer's La Madelon (1955) and Victor Vicas's Je reviendrai à Kandara (1956) under the name Patrick Maurin. He used the name Maurin for several years in films such as Henri-Georges Clouzot's Les Espions (1957) and Robert Darène's Mimi Pinson (1958). He also appeared in the television series Jean de la tour miracle (1967). In the late 1960s, Dewaere established himself as an actor at the Café de la Gare, where he worked with figures like Gérard Depardieu and his future costar and wife, Miou-Miou. His adult screen-acting career included small roles in Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Les mariés de l'an II (1971) and Claude Faraldo's Themroc (1973).
Dewaere's breakthrough role came in 1974 in Bertrand Blier's Les Valseuses (1974). It costarred Depardieu, with whom he would also pair in Blier's Oscar-winning Préparez vos mouchoirs (1978). After Les Valseuses, Dewaere landed significant roles in two Maurice Dugowson films: Lily, aime-moi (1975) and F. comme Fairbanks (1976), both featuring Miou-Miou. He later starred in Claude Miller's La Meilleure façon de marcher (1976), Yves Boisset's Juge Fayard dit Le Sheriff (1977) and La Clé sur la porte (1978), Jean-Jacques Annaud's Coup de tête (1979), Didier Haudepin's Paco l'infaillible (1979), and Alain Corneau's Série noire (1979).He also acted in films by Italian directors: Marco Bellocchio's Marcia trionfale (1976), Dino Risi's La Stanza del vescovo (1977), and Luigi Comencini's international production, L'Ingorgo, Una storia impossible (1979). His ability to portray gentle and emotional, yet decidedly masculine characters earned him a vast array of roles in comedies, dramas, and crime films. Dewaere, with his colleague Depardieu, was one of the most popular French actors in the 1970s.
In the 1980s, Dewaere remained active. He starred in Claude Sautet's Un mauvais fils in 1980 and led the cast of Philippe de Broca's Psy in 1981. He collaborated again with Blier in Beau-père (1981) and shortly thereafter starred in Luc Béraud's Plein sud (1981), André Téchiné's Hôtel des Amériques (1981), and Henri Verneuil's Mille milliards de dollars (1982). His last completed role was in Alain Jessua's Paradis pour tous (1982). It is perhaps ironic that Dewaere's character in Paradis pour tous commits suicide, because shortly after the film's release, Deware took his own life. He was, at the time, working in Claude Lelouch's Edith and Marcel.
No doubt because of his standing in French cinema, Dewaere has continued to be something of an icon long after his death. In 1992, director Marc Esposito made a documentary about Dewaere's life, Patrick Dewaere. The film aptly features Blier and Miou-Miou. A second documentary, this time for television, was made in 2003 by director Alexandre Moix. This documentary was titled Patrick Dewaere, l'enfant du siècle and featured Blier, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Yves Boisset, Dewaere's daughter Lola Dewaere, and Vincent Cassel, among others.
Historical Dictionary of French Cinema by Dayna Oscherwitz & Mary Ellen Higgins