Paul Bonifas
Date of birth: 1902-06-03
Place of birth: Paris, France
Known for: Acting
Also known as: The Molière Players, Henri Paul Bonifas, Paul Boniface, Victor Boniface, Bonifas, Bonifas de la Comédie Française
Biography
Paul Bonifas (3 June 1902 – 9 November 1975) was a French actor, born in Paris. In the 1920s, while working for the French customs service, Bonifas took classes in acting at the Conservatoire de Paris in his spare time. He left with the first prize for comedy, which allowed him to join the Odéon Theatre in 1933, then the Comédie-Française in 1938. He made his first film appearance in 1935 in a version of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, directed by Pierre Chenal. During World War II he served as a lieutenant in the artillery, was badly wounded, and evacuated from Dunkirk with his unit. In London he joined the Free French, and worked for Radio Londres broadcasting to occupied France. In 1942 he appeared in the film The Foreman Went to France. In 1943 he formed "The Molière Players", who staged a repertoire of mainly Molière works in London theatres, as well as in regional towns and at French army barracks. He came to the Comedy Theatre, London with Théâtre Molierè in 1943 and 1944, performing in L'Anglais Tel Qu'on Le Parle, Le Malade Imaginaire, Gringoire, Le Misanthrope et L'Auvergnat, Les Femmes Savantes, Le Paquebot Tenacity, La Testament Du Pere Leleu and L'Extra. His Company included Andre Frere, Georges Rex, Suzette Marquis, Elma Soiron and Paul Clarus. In 1944 "The Molière Players" appeared in the short film Aventure malgache directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This was written by, and based on the experiences of, Jules Francois Clermont, an actor in Bonifas' troupe working under the name of Paul Clarus, who had operated an illegal radio station Madagascar Libre in Madagascar while the island was under Vichy control. Bonifas then appeared in a number of other British films, including Two Fathers with Bernard Miles, directed by Anthony Asquith, and had minor roles in the musicals Heaven Is Round the Corner and Champagne Charlie, the action adventure film The Man from Morocco, the comedy-drama Johnny Frenchman and the horror film Dead of Night. Bonifas returned to France in 1946 and resumed his career in theatre, specializing in comedy, but also taking dramatic roles. His later film career included appearances in Trapeze (1956), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956), Fanny (1961), Charade (1963), Greed in the Sun (1964), The Train (1964), Is Paris Burning? (1966), Triple Cross (1966), and The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1974). Bonifas died on 9 November 1975 at Vernouillet, Yvelines, France. Source: Article "Paul Bonifas" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Movie Credits
The Train
1964-09-24
As the Allied forces approach Paris in August 1944, German Colonel Von Waldheim is desperate to take
Charade
1963-12-01
After Regina Lampert falls for the dashing Peter Joshua on a skiing holiday in the French Alps, she
The Last Train
1973-10-31
Two people, a Frenchman and a Jewish German woman, meet on a train while escaping the German army en
Greed in the Sun
1964-04-17
A truck driver ventures into the Moroccan desert to retrieve a stolen truck, facing danger, bad luck
Cold Sweat
1970-12-18
During the Korean War, Joe Moran, is convicted for striking a colonel. Imprisoned in Germany he enco
The Truth
1960-11-02
As Dominique Marceau is being tried for the murder of Gilbert Tellier, accounts by different witness
The Green Glove
1952-02-28
In World War II France, American soldier Michael Blake captures, then loses Nazi-collaborator art th
Aventure Malgache
1944-01-01
Backstage before a performance, a French actor recalls his time in Madagascar during World War II, w
Love in the Afternoon
1957-05-29
A middle-aged playboy becomes fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired t
Maxim's Porter
1939-11-10
The hunter at Maxim's, whose family is unaware of the profession, turns around and plans to marry hi
La parole est au témoin
1963-11-17
Mustapha, a cab driver in Paris, charges a customer in a hurry, without realizing that he is in a hu
Their Last Night
1953-10-23
Arriving in Paris, Madeleine Marsan rents a room in a guesthouse where she makes the acquaintance of
The Common Man
1975-02-26
Georges Lajoie is a Parisian café owner. As every summer, Georges, his wife Ginette and grown-up son
An Artistic Couple
1970-09-20
A young student meets an elderly antiques-loving couple looking for a help. They like her very much,
The Five Cents of Lavarede
1939-03-07
Some try to travel around the world with a time constraint, but Lavarède has to perform an even hard
Duel à Dakar
1951-12-06
Robert Vernier is assigned by the Secret Service to unmask a band of gangsters determined to get the
The Truth About Bebe Donge
1952-02-13
François Donge, a rich industrialist and womaniser, meets a girl nicknamed Bébé who he marries. Ten
Piédalu fait des miracles
1952-10-10
The inhabitants of Marboue-Chambourcy want a swimming pool, and the difficulties in realizing this e
Clara de Montargis
1951-06-20
Renaud, a young student who is camping alone at the moment, has a dream one night, in which the woma
Ils sont dans les vignes...
1952-10-31
In 1935, in the Burgundian village of Valromey, Commissioner Desbordes was the very unpopular leader
Amazing Monsieur Fabre
1951-09-26
It centres on the life of the entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre and his total devotion to studying insec
Holiday for Henrietta
1952-12-17
Two scriptwriters argue about the fate of Henrietta, a charming and gamine shopgirl. One favors a co
Lettre ouverte
1953-03-11
Martial, Colette 's husband, is madly jealous. One day, he catches his wife writing a letter and he
Le naïf amoureux
1965-06-26
Paul is an accomplished teacher at Janson-de-Sailly. A "good guy" who, having returned for the holid
Le Père Amable
1975-11-22
Celeste has failed with Victor and has a little boy. Césaire would still like to marry Céleste, a be
Les Célibataires
1962-10-23
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1956-12-19
Paris, 1482. Today is the festival of the fools, taking place like each year in the square outside C
Secret World
1969-07-09
Wendy is the British guest of a French couple and the daughter of the man who saved the host's life
The Man from Morocco
1945-04-17
With the ending of the Spanish Civil War, a dispirited band of volunteers from the International Bri
Fanny
1961-06-28
Almost 19-year-old Marius feels himself in a rut in Marseille, his life planned for him by his cafe'
Lucky Jo
1964-11-12
Lucky Jo and his three friends are little criminals, who try to live from small burglaries. But they
Two Fathers
1944-01-19
An Englishman and Frenchman sharing a hotel room discover their children are fighting on the same si
The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
1974-11-12
With "little captain" Cambrai raising serious doubts about the reality of the so-called "super spy,"
A Woman Like Satan
1958-12-19
Handsome and rich Spanish gentleman abandons his wife and riches for his love of a young girl of poo
Love and the Frenchwoman
1960-09-16
The seven stages in the life of the modern Frenchwomen are disclosed by seven directors in a witty w
Mademoiselle and Her Gang
1957-07-11
Author of the best-selling crime novel Le Poulet se mange froid (Chicken Eats Cold) under the pseudo
Les Misérables
1958-03-12
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless po
The Gigolo
1960-10-18
Agathe Perrin, a wealthy widow in her forties, lives with her ailing father in an estate on the shor
Dans la vie tout s'arrange
1952-08-01
A Boston school teacher fights with a group of impoverished Frenchmen for possession of an inherited
Love Me Strangely
1971-02-10
Alain Revent, a seductive and refined man, derives a peculiar satisfaction from debasing his wives.
Sinners of Paris
1958-01-15
Michel Piccoli plays a police inspector whose best friend is murdered on the orders of gang boss Cha
Keep Talking, Baby
1961-10-06
Ex-boxer Eddie is framed for murder. While serving time, he tries to clear his name and uncover the
The Sleeping Sentinel
1966-01-21
In 1812, Napoleon I set off for the Russian Campaign and planned to spend a night in Châlons-sur-Mar
The Trip to Biarritz
1963-03-15
Guillaume Dodut is a stationmaster in rural France at a station where trains no longer stop. His dre
La séparation
1968-09-17
A Legitimate Defense
1958-06-11
Two friends from the last war, Pierrot, a bar owner, and Gustave, a police inspector, are in contact
Pardon My French
1951-08-10
A Boston school teacher fights with a group of impoverished Frenchmen for possession of an inherited
The Enemy General
1960-10-18
OSS agent, working with the French underground, ambushes Nazi convoy with high-ranking general, who
The Depths
1963-06-05
A bourgeois family, who is harassed and humiliated, ruins their young maids without pay for several
Sundays and Cybele
1962-11-12
The tragic story of a young orphan girl who is befriended by an innocent but emotionally disabled ve
Lisbon Story
1946-05-20
A musical cabaret singer meets a British agent and goes with him to Nazi occupied France to save an
Goodbye Again
1961-05-23
Middle-aged businesswoman Paula Tessier rejects the advances of her client's amusing 25-year-old son
Blood on His Sword
1961-09-06
Charles le Temeraire asks in marriage Jeanne de Beauvais, daughter of King Louis XI, wishing to get
Champagne Charlie
1944-08-25
A man from the countryside becomes London’s newest music hall sensation, and competes with a rival m
The Foreman Went to France
1942-06-22
Based on the true story of Melbourne Johns, an aircraft factory foreman sent to France to prevent th
The Horse
1970-02-22
Auguste Maroilleur, an elderly farmer, exploits 400 hectares of crop land with the help of his famil
Bedelia
1946-07-08
Bedelia Carrington is living happily, it appears, in Monte Carlo with her husband Charlie Carrington
The Christmas Tree
1969-09-25
A French-American millionaire, his girlfriend and his war buddy try to grant his dying son's every w
Johnny Frenchman
1945-10-29
The fisherman from a Cornish village have a friendly rivalry with the fishermen (and one formidable
English Without Tears
1944-07-28
While Lady Christabel Beauclark, a bird fancier, is scurrying about demanding certain territorial ri
Juliette, or Key of Dreams
1951-05-18
Michel has stolen from his employer, Mr Bellanger, for the love of Juliette. He is now in jail. One
The Terror with Women
1956-11-23
Aimé Morin, a good-natured bookseller, is also one of the candidates in the local elections of his s
Dead of Night
1945-09-09
An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his rec
Jeff Gordon, Secret Agent
1964-03-11
Jeff Gordon, FBI agent, infiltrates a gang and finds himself in the midst of a gang war.
Frou-Frou
1955-06-19
A story of the love of Frou-Frou - an actress and singer in the in the beginning of her career.
Antigone
1974-12-21
With fierce originality, this powerful adaptation of the Sophocles tragedy presents a world of honor
Triple Cross
1966-12-09
Safecracker Eddie Chapman is languishing in prison on the island of Jersey when the Nazis arrive. An
Candlelight in Algeria
1944-03-19
Candlelight in Algeria is a 1944 British war film directed by George King and starring James Mason,
The Case of Dr. Laurent
1957-04-03
A Paris-based doctor tries to spread the gospel of Natural Childbirth. Working in a cloistered rural
Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
1966-10-21
In this excoriating satire of the fashion industry, Polly Maggoo is a 20-year-old Brooklyn-born fash
Rosebud
1975-03-24
In a bold coup a Palestinian terrorist group captures the yacht Rosebud and kidnaps the millionaires
Crime and Punishment
1935-05-17
Former student Raskolnikov is pushed to murder when struggling to pay the rent on his apartment. Whe