Dead French in L.A.: Entertainer Maurice Chevalier 1972 "Fanny"

Maurice Auguste Chevalier (September 12, 1888 – January 1, 1972) was a French actor, singer and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films, including The Love Parade and The Big Pond. His trademark attire was a boater hat, which he always wore on stage with a tuxedo.

Chevalier was born in Paris. He made his name as a star of musical comedy, appearing in public as a singer and dancer at an early age before working in four menial jobs as a teenager. In 1909, he became the partner of the biggest female star in France at the time, Fréhel. Although their relationship was brief, she secured him his first major engagement, as a mimic and a singer in l'Alcazar in Marseille, for which he received critical acclaim by French theatre critics. In 1917, he discovered jazz and ragtime and went to London, where he found new success at the Palace Theatre.

After this, he toured the United States, where he met the American composers George Gershwin and Irving Berlin and brought Dédé to Broadway in 1922. He also developed an interest in acting, and had success in the operetta Dédé. When talkies arrived, he went to Hollywood in 1928, where he played his first American role in Innocents of Paris. In 1930, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his roles in The Love Parade (1929) and The Big Pond (1930), which secured his first big American hit, Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight.

In 1957, he appeared in Love in the Afternoon, which was his first Hollywood film in more than 20 years. In the early 1960s, he made eight films, including Can-Can in 1960 and Fanny the following year. In 1970 he made his final contribution to the film industry where he sang the title song of the Disney film The Aristocats. He died in Paris, on January 1, 1972, aged 83.

Hollywood

After World War I, Chevalier went back to Paris and created several songs still known today, such as "Valentine" (1924). He played in a few pictures, including Chaplin's A Woman of Paris (a rare drama for Chaplin, in which his character of The Tramp does not appear) and made a huge impression in the operetta Dédé. He met the American composers George Gershwin and Irving Berlin and brought Dédé to Broadway in 1922. The same year he met Yvonne Vallée, a young dancer, who became his wife in 1927.

When Douglas Fairbanks was on honeymoon in Paris in 1920, he offered him star billing with his new wife Mary Pickford, but Chevalier doubted his own talent for silent movies (his previous ones had largely failed).[2] When sound arrived, he made his Hollywood debut in 1928. He signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and played his first American role in Innocents of Paris. In 1930, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his roles in The Love Parade (1929) and The Big Pond (1930). The Big Pond gave Chevalier his first big American hit songs: "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" with words and music by Al Lewis and Al Sherman, plus "A New Kind of Love" (or "The Nightingales").[3] He collaborated with film director Ernst Lubitsch. He appeared in Paramount's all-star revue film Paramount on Parade (1930).

While Chevalier was under contract with Paramount, his name was so recognized that his passport featured in the Marx Brothers film Monkey Business (1931). In this sequence, a little more than halfway through the film, each brother uses Chevalier's passport, and tries to sneak off the ocean liner where they were stowaways by claiming to be the singer—with unique renditions of "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" with its line "If the nightingales could sing like you." In 1931, Chevalier starred in a musical called The Smiling Lieutenant with Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins. Despite the disdain audiences held for musicals in 1931,[4] it proved a successful film.[5]

In 1932, he starred with Jeanette MacDonald in Paramount's film musical, One Hour With You which became a success and one of the films instrumental in making musicals popular again. Due to its popularity, Paramount starred Maurice Chevalier in another musical called Love Me Tonight (also 1932), and again co-starring Jeanette MacDonald. It is about a tailor who falls in love with a princess when he goes to a castle to collect a debt and is mistaken for a baron. Featuring songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, it was directed by Rouben Mamoulian, who, with the help of the songwriters, was able to put into the score his ideas of the integrated musical (a musical which blends songs and dialogue so the songs advance the plot). It is considered one of the greatest film musicals of all time.[4]

In 1934, he starred in the first sound film of the Franz Lehár operetta The Merry Widow, one of his best-known films. In 1935, he signed with MGM and returned to France later that year.

During his years in Hollywood, Chevalier had a reputation as a penny-pincher. When filming at Paramount, he balked at parking his car in the Paramount lot at ten cents a day. After bargaining, he managed to get five cents per day. Another story is told of Chevalier (a smoker) having a conversation with someone who offered him a cigarette. He took it, said "Thank you," put it in his pocket, and continued with the conversation. But in Hollywood he seemed to be a divided character. When not playing around with young chorus-girls, he actually felt quite lonely, and sought the company of Adolphe Menjou and Charles Boyer, also French, but both much better educated than Chevalier. Boyer in particular introduced him to art galleries and good literature, and Chevalier would try to copy him as the man of taste. But at other times, he would 'revert to type' as the bitter and impoverished street-kid he basically was. When performing in English, he always put on a heavy French accent, although his normal spoken English was quite fluent and sounded more American.

In 1937, Chevalier married the dancer Nita Raya. He had several successes, such as his revue Paris en Joie in the Casino de Paris. A year later, he performed in Amours de Paris. His songs remained big hits, such as Prosper (1935), Ma Pomme (1936) and Ça fait d'excellents français (1939).

Maurice Chevalier returned to France during World War II.

Later years

In 1954, after the McCarthy era abated Chevalier was welcomed back in the United States. His first full American tour was in 1955, with Vic Schoen as arranger and musical director. The Billy Wilder film Love in the Afternoon (1957) with Audrey Hepburn and Gary Cooper was his first Hollywood film in more than 20 years.[9]

In 1957, Chevalier was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.

Chevalier appeared in the movie musical Gigi (1958) with Leslie Caron and Hermione Gingold, with whom he shared the song "I Remember It Well," and several Walt Disney films. The success of Gigi prompted Hollywood to give him an Academy Honorary Award that year for achievements in entertainment. He also appeared as himself in the 1958 Lucy Goes to Mexico television episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.

In the early 1960s, he toured the United States and between 1960 and 1963 made eight films, including Can-Can (1960) with Frank Sinatra.

In 1961, he starred in the drama Fanny (1961) with Leslie Caron and Charles Boyer, an updated version of Marcel Pagnol's "Marseilles Trilogy."

In 1962, he filmed Panic Button; (not released until 1964); playing opposite blonde bombshell/sex symbol, Jayne Mansfield. In 1965, at 77, he made another world tour. In 1967 he toured in Latin America, again the US, Europe and Canada. The following year, on October 1, 1968, he announced his farewell tour.

Historical newsreel footage of Chevalier appeared in the Marcel Ophüls documentary The Sorrow and the Pity. In a wartime short film near the end of the film's second part, he explained his disappearance during World War II (see the "World War II" section in this entry) as rumors of his death lingered at that time, and emphatically denies any collaboration with the Nazis. His theme song "Sweepin' the Clouds Away" from the film Paramount on Parade (1930) was one of its theme songs and was played in the end credits of the film's second part.

In 1970, several years after his retirement, songwriters Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman got him to sing the title song of the Disney film The Aristocats, which ended up being his final contribution to the film industry.

He died in Paris, on January 1, 1972, aged 83, and was interred in the cemetery of Marnes-la-Coquette in Hauts-de-Seine, outside Paris, France.

Chevalier has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1651 Vine Street.

Dead French in L.A.: Lachenais Lynched By Vigilante & Barber Felix Signoret 1863

"In a previous chapter I have spoken of a Frenchman named Lachenais who killed a fellow-countryman at a wake, the murder being one of a succession of crimes for which he finally paid the penalty at the hands of a Vigilance Committee in the last lynching witnessed here.

Lachenais lived near where the Westminster Hotel now stands, on the northeast corner of Main and Fourth streets, but he also had a farm south of the city, adjoining that of Jacob Bell who was once a partner in sheep-raising with John Schumacher. The old man was respectable and quiet, but Lachenais quarreled with him over water taken from the zanja. Without warning, he rode up to Bell as he was working in his field and shot him dead ; but there being no witnesses to the act, this murder remained, temporarily, a mystery. One evening, as Lachenais (to whom suspicion had been gradually directed) , was lounging about in a drunken condition, he let slip a remark as to the folly of anyone looking for Bell's murderer; and this indiscretion led to his arrest and incarceration.

No sooner had the news of Lachenais's apprehension been passed along than the whole town was in a turmoil. A meeting at Stearns's Hall was largely attended; a Vigilance Committee was formed; Lachenais's record was reviewed and his death at the hands of an outraged community was decided upon. Everything being arranged, three hundred or more armed men, under the leadership of Felix Signoret, the barber Councilman in 1863 and proprietor of the Signoret Building opposite the Pico House assembled on the morning of December 17th, marched to the jail, overcame Sheriff Burns and his assistants, took Lachenais out, dragged him along to the corral of Tomlinson and Griffith (at the corner of Temple and New High streets) and there summarily hanged him. Then the mob, without further demonstration, broke up; the participants going their several ways. The reader may have already observed that this was not the first time that the old Tomlinson and Griffith gate had served this same gruesome purpose.

The following January, County Judge Y. Sepulveda charged the Grand Jury to do its duty toward ferreting out the leaders of the mob, and so wipe out this reproach to the city; but the Grand Jury expressed the conviction that if the law had hitherto been faithfully executed in Los Angeles, such scenes in broad daylight would never have taken place. The editor of the News, however, ventured to assert that this report was but another disgrace."

-- SIXTY YEARS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (1870)
   CONTAINING THE REMINISCENCES OF HARRIS NEWMARK
   EDITED BY MAURICE H. NEWMARK and MARCO R. NEWMARK

Felix Signoret (1825–1878) was a member of the Common Council, the governing body of the city of Los Angeles, and also of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in the 19th Century. He was the leader of a vigilante gang that carried out a lynching of a reputed murderer in 1863.

Personal  

Signoret was born in France on June 9, 1825, living in Marseilles before he came to the United States. He was married to Catherine Pagen, also of France. Their children were P. Josephine, Rose, Anna and Caroline, and possibly Louise and Felix P.[1][2] By trade he was a barber, later an apartment owner.[3][4][5]

The Signorets bought a parcel of land at 125 Aliso Street[6] in 1871 and built a "substantial brick house" about thirty feet wide with an area of nearly 1,800 square feet; the roof was "hipped on all four sides in mimicry of the fashionable Mansard shape. . . . By 1888 the Signorets . . . were long gone, and their genteel house was used as a brothel."[7]

In 1874, Signoret was building a new hotel at Main and Turner streets, north of Arcadia Street and "opposite the Pico House," also with a Mansard pitch, which the Los Angeles Star said would be the first such roof in the city.[3][8][9]

Signoret died on July 28, 1878, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.[2]

Public service  

Signoret was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of the city, serving from May 9, 1863, to May 5, 1864.[10] He was also a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1866.[11]

Lynching 

Signoret was the leader[12] of the last lynching to take place in Los Angeles, in 1863 — that of "a Frenchman named Lachenais" — who was suspected of killing a neighbor, Jacob Bell.[3][13]

Contemporary writer Harris Newmark recounted that:

A meeting at Stearn's Hall[14] was largely attended; a Vigilance Committee was formed; Lachenais's record was reviewed and his death at the hands of an outraged committee was decided upon. Everything being arranged, three hundred or more armed men, under the leadership of Felix Signoret, . . . assembled on the morning of December 17th, marched to the jail, overcame Sheriff Burns and his assistants, took Lachenais out, dragged him to the . . . corner of Temple and New High streets . . . and summarily hanged him. . . . The following January, County Judge Y. Sepulveda charged the Grand Jury to do its duty toward ferreting out the leaders of the mob, and so wipe out this reproach to the city; but the Grand Jury expressed the conviction that if the law had hitherto been faithfully executed in Los Angeles, such scenes in broad daylight would never have taken place.[3]

Other news of Felix Signoret

An article by Steve Harvey in the San Diego edition of the Los Angeles Times on September 5, 1984, stated that Signoret "led a lynch mob that hanged five people in Los Angeles in 1869–70 in the aftermath of a murder resulting from 'offensive remarks (made) about the newly organized French Benevolent Society.' "[15]

Location of Temple and New High Street Today:

References and notes  

1.^ Retrospect-GDS
2.^ Find-a-Grave
3.^ Harris Newmark, Sixty Years in California
4.^ "Mother of Felix McGinnis Dies Unaware of His Death," Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1945, page 9
5.^ "Los Angeles, 'Far Ouest' français?" Geneablog.org, March 20, 2008
6.^ [1] Location of Aliso Street on Mapping L.A.
7.^ Mary Praetzellis, "Mangling Symbols of Gentility in the Wild West," American Anthropologist,103(3):645-654 (2001), with sources cited there
8.^ Quoted in E.A. Brainstool, "Los Angeles in 1874," Los Angeles Times, April 8, 1924, page A-4
9.^ "Preferred Locals," Los Angeles Times, August 3, 1882, page 4
10.^ Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938, compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration."
11.^ Los Angeles County information sheet
12.^ E.A. Brininstool, "Historic Building Is Razed," Los Angeles Times, May 15, 1927, page H-1 This later account by a witness, J.J. Mellus, related that the leader was a Bill Harper. The story is also quoted at [2] "The Lynching of Lashenais," February 1, 2010.
13.^ Photograph of the lynching
 14.^ More information about this venue is at [3] "Historic Downtown Theatres."
15.^ [4]

Dead French in L.A.: Artist Paul De Longpre 1911 "Le Roi des Fleurs"

Paul de Longpré (1855–1911), a French flower painter, worked mainly in the United States. He was born in Lyon, France, and was entirely self-taught. From his twelfth year he practiced successfully in Paris as a painter of fans. At 21 he first exhibited at the Salon. Having lost his money by the failure of a Paris bank, he moved in 1890 to New York and in 1896 held an exhibition of flower pieces which secured him instant recognition.

In 1899 he moved to California and two years later built a beautiful house at Prospect Avenue (Hollywood Boulevard) and Cahuenga Boulevard, which became celebrated for its magnificent flower gardens.

"The mansion and gardens Paul de Longpre built not only drew Hollywood society but served as a lure for new property buyers and tourists. So many visitors came to see 'Le Roi des Fleurs' that the P.E. Railway added a trolley spur on Ivar Avenue to deposit them closer to the estate. Tours of the house and gardens, along with prints of his floral paintings, supported the de Longpre family until the artist’s death in 1911. After his family returned to France, the house and gardens were demolished for their valuable real estate, and de Longpre’s paintings–romantic still-lifes of roses, orchids and the like–fell permanently out of fashion. If not for De Longpre Avenue, most Hollywooders today would not recognize his name, let alone his art."

-- From "Under the Hollywood Sign"

De Longpré painted only perfect specimens of flowers; with delicacy of touch and with feeling for color he united scientific knowledge, and he also knew how to give expression to the subtle essence of the flowers. The finest of his paintings include "Double Peach Blossoms" and "White Fringed Poppies" (1902) - both widely known through popular reproductions.

There is also a street and a park named for him in Hollywood, California.

Dead French in L.A.: Marius Taix Jr. OPENS Taix French Restaurant 1927 French Town

The Taix Family are the third and fourth generations of a family of sheepherders and bakers from the “Hautes-Alpes” in southeastern France who immigrated to Los Angeles around 1870.

In 1912 Marius Taix Sr. built a hotel called the Champ d’Or in downtown Los Angeles’ French Town and leased space to a restaurant. When federal agents accused the restaurateur of selling alcohol in the late 1920s, he tossed the keys to Taix's pharmacist father, Marius Jr., and challenged him to "do it yourself." In 1927, Marius Taix Jr. opened Taix French restaurant within the hotel serving chicken dinners for 50 cents at long “family-style” tables. Diners could choose private booth service for an extra quarter. Taix’s novel food, unique service and affordable prices make it a Los Angeles institution.

Marius Jr.'s son Raymond and his younger brother Pierre grew up at the restaurant in the old brick building at 321 Commercial St. As the restaurant thrived, the boys started washing dishes at Taix — pronounced "Tex" — when they were 12, their mother Claudia once said.

In 1964, a 39-year-old Raymond Taix appeared in a photograph in The Times with his father raising a toast to their restaurant, which was forced to close that October to make way for a parking structure for the new federal building nearby.

In Echo Park, the family had laid the groundwork for Taix to continue by opening another restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in 1962. Started by Raymond, Pierre and two other relatives, it was originally called Les Freres Taix — the brothers Taix. The present location opened in 1962 and continues to be a family affair. Family style service has given way to private booths, but Taix French restaurant remains faithful to the famed tureen of soup, fresh french bread, and abundant portions of French country cuisine at affordable prices.

Raymond Taix made sure that the character of the restaurant remained unchanged until his death in 2010. The restaurant dynasty is carried on by Raymond's son Michael, whose passion for wines has resulted in an extensive, award winning wine list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead French in L.A.: Maurice & Kevin Jarre 2009/2011 Westwood Village Cemetery

Maurice-Alexis Jarre (13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009)[1][2][3] was a French composer and conductor. His son is the electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre.

Although he composed several concert works, Jarre is best known for his film scores, particularly for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films from Lawrence of Arabia (1962) on. Notable scores include The Train (1964), Mohammad, Messenger of God (1976), Witness (1985) and Ghost (1990).

Jarre was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[4] Three of his compositions spent a total of 42 weeks on the UK singles chart; the biggest hit was "Somewhere My Love" (to his tune "Lara's Theme," with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster) by the Michael Sammes Singers, which reached Number 14 in 1966 and spent 38 weeks on the chart.

Jarre was a three-time Academy Award winner, for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984), all of which were directed by David Lean. He was Oscar nominated a total of eight times.
 

Early life

Jarre was born in Lyon, France, in 1924, the son of Gabrielle Renée (née Boullu) and André Jarre, a radio technical director.[5] He first enrolled in the engineering school at the Sorbonne, but decided to pursue music courses instead. He left the Sorbonne against his father's will and enrolled at the Conservatoire de Paris to study composition and harmony and chose percussion as his major instrument.[3] He became director of the Théâtre National Populaire and recorded his first film score in France in 1951.[6]

Maurice Jarre with Omar Sharif

Film scoring

In 1961 Jarre's music career experienced a major change when British film producer Sam Spiegel asked him to write the score for the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia, directed by David Lean.[7] The acclaimed score won Jarre his first Academy Award and he would go on to compose the scores to all of Lean's subsequent films. He followed with The Train (1964) and Grand Prix (1966), the iconic racing film for director John Frankenheimer, and in between had another great success in Doctor Zhivago, which included the lyricless tune "Lara's Theme" (later the tune for the song "Somewhere My Love"), and which earned him his second Oscar. He worked with Alfred Hitchcock on Topaz (1969); though Hitchcock's experiences on the film were unhappy, he was satisfied with Jarre's score, telling him "I have not given you a great film, but you have given me a great score." His score for David Lean's Ryan's Daughter (1970), set in Ireland, completely eschews traditional Irish music styles, owing to Lean's preferences. The song "It was a Good Time," from Ryan's Daughter went on to be recorded by musical stars such as Liza Minnelli who used it in her critically acclaimed television special Liza with a Z as well as by others during the 1970s. He contributed the music for Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969), and John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King (1975).

He was again nominated for an Academy Award for scoring The Message in 1976 for the director and producer Moustapha Akkad. He followed with Witness (1985) and Dead Poets Society (1989), for which he won a British Academy Award.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Jarre turned his hand to science fiction, with scores for The Island at the Top of the World (1974), Dreamscape (1984), Enemy Mine (1985), and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). The latter is written for full orchestra, augmented by a chorus, four grand pianos, a pipe organ, digeridoo, fujara, a battery of exotic percussion, and three ondes Martenot, which feature in several of Jarre's other scores, including Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, The Bride and Prancer.

In 1990 Jarre was again nominated for an Academy Award scoring the supernatural love story/thriller Ghost. His music for the final scene of the film is based on "Unchained Melody" composed by fellow film composer Alex North.[3] Other films for which he provided the music include his passionate love theme from Fatal Attraction (1987), and the moody electronic soundscapes of After Dark, My Sweet (1990). He was well respected by other composers including John Williams, who stated on Jarre's death, "(He) is to be well remembered for his lasting contribution to film music...we all have been enriched by his legacy."[8]

Jarre's television work includes the score for the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Shōgun (1980), and the theme for PBS's Great Performances.[3]

Jarre scored his last film in 2001, a television film about the Holocaust entitled Uprising.[3]

Music style 

Jarre wrote mainly for orchestras, but began to favour synthesized music in the 1980s. Jarre pointed out that his electronic score for Witness was actually more laborious, time-consuming and expensive to produce than an orchestral score. Jarre's electronic scores from the 80s also include Fatal Attraction, The Year of Living Dangerously, Firefox and No Way Out. A number of his scores from that era also feature electronic/acoustic blends, such as Gorillas in the Mist, Dead Poets Society, The Mosquito Coast and Jacob's Ladder.

Awards

Jarre received three Academy Awards and was nominated a total of eight times, all in the category of Best Original Score. He also won three Golden Globes and was nominated for ten.

The American Film Institute ranked Jarre's score for Lawrence of Arabia #3 on their list of the greatest film scores. His scores for the following films were also nominated for the list:

Doctor Zhivago (1965)
A Passage to India (1984)
Ryan's Daughter (1970)

Numerous additional awards include ASCAP's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.[9]

Family 

Jarre was married four times, the first three marriages ending in divorce. His marriage to Francette Pejot (in the 1940s, after World War II), produced a son, Jean Michel Jarre, a French composer who is one of the pioneers in electronic music. In 1965, he married French actress Dany Saval. Together they had a daughter, Stephanie Jarre. Jarre next married American actress Laura Devon (1967–1984), resulting in him adopting her son, Kevin Jarre, a screenwriter (see below), with credits on such films as Tombstone and Glory. From 1984 to his death[10] he was married to Fong F. Khong (1984–2009).

Death

Maurice Jarre died on 28 March 2009 after a battle with cancer.[11] Maurice, Laura and Kevin are all interred at Westwood Village Cemetery, but the precise location is unknown.

References 

1.^ McLellan, Dennis (March 31, 2009). "Maurice Jarre dies at 84; composer for 'Lawrence of Arabia'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
2.^ Weber, Bruce (March 31, 2009). "Maurice Jarre, Hollywood Composer, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2009. 3.^ a b c d e allmusic Biography
4.^ Maurice Jarre (I) - Biography
5.^ "Maurice Jarre at". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
6.^ "Maurice Jarre: Information and Much More from". Answers.com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
7.^ Leydon, Joe (2009-03-30). "MovingPictureBlog.blogspot.com, March 30, 2009". Movingpictureblog.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
8.^ Award Winning Musical Film Composer Maurice Jarre Dies From Cancer At 84
9.^ "Maurice Jarre - Awards". IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
10.^ "Oscar-winning movie legend Maurice Jarre dies". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
11.^ Corliss, Richard (2009-03-30). "Obituary at". Time.com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.

Kevin Jarre (August 6, 1954 – April 3, 2011) was an American screenwriter, actor, and film producer.

Background 

Jarre was born in Detroit, Michigan, to actress Laura Devon, who subsequently married film composer Maurice Jarre in the mid-1960s, and hence was the adoptive half-brother to French composer Jean-Michel Jarre.

Career

Of his more well-known film scripts include Rambo: First Blood Part II, Glory, and Tombstone. Jarre wrote the screenplays for The Mummy and The Devil's Own as well, while also producing The Jackal. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay and a WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing Glory.

Jarre died in Santa Monica, California of heart failure, age 56.[1]

References

1.^ Nelson, Valerie J. (April 22, 2011). "Kevin Jarre dies at 56; screenwriter of 'Glory' and 'Tombstone'". Los Angeles Times.