Jean Pascal Biography
Jean-Claude Roger Henri Villeminot was born in 1927 on the outskirts of the Champs-de-Mars. He grew up under the supervision of two very different families, the Villeminots, textile industrialists living on the banks of the Seine opposite Bougival, and the Lemoines, French tailors from the Worth branch of the family. He attended the Annel school near Compiègne, where he had Pierre Vujovic and Michel Piccoli as classmates. He was also enrolled at the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Attracted to all forms of art, he acted, sang and even sewed. He enrolled in the Simon course and made his film debut, appearing in Raymond Bernard's The Judgment of God (1949). However, it was Alexander Astruc's The Crimson Curtain (1951) that launched him into the big bath. This handsome young man with regular features, a princely gaze and seductive eyes could not escape his destiny as a hero in love. Yves Campi and especially Jean Devaivre in A caprice of Caroline cherry (1952) with Martine Carol bought him to make him the darling of young women. He later appeared in The Chatelaine of Lebanon (1956). He was shown cards and had to choose a partner for a short stage. He suggested a candidate whose intense eyes he had noticed, a young actor of Egyptian origin, a certain Omar Sharif. In 1957, he began filming a naive and good-natured blue, Les Lavandières du Portugal (1957) alongside Anne Vernon. He immediately "forced" himself for the role of Yan, the Fisherman of Iceland (1959) by Pierre Loti. He immerses himself in the maritime atmosphere of the world of Concarneau fishermen, going so far as to wear his clothes on the rocks to embody the severe sailor described by the writer. He received the Féma award for the quality of his performance. A year later, La Belle et l'Empereur (1959) allows him to meet Romy Schneider, the young and charming actress already in love with Alain Delon, with whom he will share a real friendship. Slowly but surely, the New Wave moved forward, without touching him: his style was too elegant to allow him to face the new swimmers who were emerging: Gérard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy and others. In 1961, for Jean Delannoy's film Le Rendez-vous (1961), he shared the poster with Annie Girardot, whom he affectionately called “Géraldine”. He admitted that he fell in love with the sharp young actress. He could be seen in some feature films, including the last part of "L'Angelico...", where he embodied the sultan's eunuch... Jean-Claude Pascal had a superb crooner's voice, which accentuated his seductive. He used it and became an acclaimed interpreter of Brel, Barbara, Jean Ferrat and Gainsbourg, among others. In 1961 he won the Grand Prix Eurovision Song with the famous "We, the lovers". The Acadie Charles-Cros crowned him the following year with a first prize of merit. He died in 1992 in sad anonymity, at the age of 64.
