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Charles Vanel

Craggy-featured French character player and an occasional lead, in more than 200 films in a career spanning over 75 years. A slightly stocky man of medium height, with a rumbling voice and a strong, focused gaze, Vanel began in films in 1912 and would eventually be directed by the likes of Jacques Feyder, Luis Bunuel, Maurice Tourneur, Pierre Chenal, Claude Chabrol and Jean-Pierre Mocky. Early on in his screen career he played the leading role in a film he also wrote and directed, "In the Night" (1930), and he also did well as the nasty, relentless Inspector Javert opposite Harry Bauer in Raymond Bernard's screen version of "Les Miserables" (1934). As late as 1976 Vanel played the leading role of the grandfather in Peter Lilienthal's docudrama, "Es Herrscht Ruhe im Land."