Biografía

Distinguished French playwright, novelist, screenwriter and director. He began as a teacher at the Lycee Condorcet in Paris in 1922. The success of his first two plays helped him to set up his own film production and distribution company near Marseilles. Pagnol founded the influential cinema magazine 'Les Cahier du Film' in 1931. He became best known for his comedic depiction of provincial life in the South of France, marked by witty dialogue and well observed local custom. Many of his actors were well-established stars of the theatre. Pagnol's most significant achievement is considered to be the Marius trilogy (Marius, Fanny and Cesar), filmed between 1931 and 1936.

First filmmaker to be elected to the French academy (1946-1974).

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 865-870. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Fathered three children out of wedlock: Jacques, b. 1932, to Kitty Murphy; Jean-Pierre, b. 1933, to Orane Demazis; and, Francine, b. 1935, to Yvonne Pouperon. Frédéric (1946) and Estelle (1951) were born to Jacqueline Bouvier Pagnol.

Pictured on a EUR2.00 Monaco commemorative postage stamp issued 28 February 2020.