Modot lived in
Montmartre and was a painter at the beginning of the 20th century, where he met fellow artists
Picasso and
Modigliani. In 1909 he started his career with
Gaumont and for the following 20 years he covered all
silent film genres. In 1917 he was the main actor in
Abel Gance's
Mater dolorosa. He played in
Germaine Dulac and
Louis Delluc's
avant-garde films
La fête espagnole (1919) and
Fièvre (1921). With
Max Linder, Modot played in Abel Gance's
Au secours! (1924). Towards the end of the 1920s he performed in German-French co-productions. He is still famous for his role of The Man in
Luis Buñuel's ''
L'Âge d'Or'' (1930). He had his first role in a sound film with
René Clair's
Sous les toits de Paris (1930). He and
Jean Gabin are main characters in
Julien Duvivier's
Pépé le Moko (1937). He acted in the
Jean Renoir classics
La grande illusion and
La règle du jeu as well as the three-hour poetic film
Les enfants du paradis (1945) for
Marcel Carné. In 1962 Modot ended his acting career. He had acted in more than 100 films. == Films ==