Jean Gabin, a legend of French cinema, who played in 95 films alongside the greatest actors, actresses and directors. More than 45 years after his disappearance, he remains an icon. An exhibition John Gabin traces until July 10 his journey at the museum of the 30s in Boulogne-Billancourt.
A tribute completed by the book John Gabin, which has just been published by Éditions de la Martinière, co-written by his son Mathias Moncorgé. From his property in Normandy where he raises horses, he tells of a simple and humble man, far from his authoritarian and grumpy character that he has often embodied.
“Dad was very sensitive, shy. He was afraid of everything and was always worried”. Behind the armor of the sacred monster hid a man with a tender heart, close to his lands and his family.
If Mathias Moncorgé, based in Calvados, breeds horses, it is no coincidence. He perpetuates a desire of his father, had created for him in Orne the Domaine de la Pichonniere, when he dreamed of being a farmer at the end of the Second World War, convinced that his acting career was on the decline. Much to the surprise of his fellow actors. “To Fernandel who had told him that he would do better to invest in stone, my father replied that the stone crumbles while the earth remains. In addition, dad was very stubborn!” Mathias says.
Jean Gabin dreamed of having children. A dream he realized at the age of 45, with his third wife Dominique Fournier, with whom he will have three children. But for this great anguish, fatherhood was not easy, especially on the road to the holidays, that the family spent in Brittany or in the Orne.
“We always left before the holidaymakers and returned after so that there was no one on the road and there was no danger” Mathias remembers. “Mom was in front with the station wagon and we followed a few kilometers behind in case she broke down or had an accident”.
A straight, honest man, a true role model for his family. Far from the spotlight, the legend of the 7th art was a protective and loving father.