Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, Minister of Culture, expresses her emotion at the announcement of the death of actor Fernand Guiot.
Born in Belgium in 1932, Fernand Guiot trained at the Conservatoires dramatiques de Namur and then in Brussels as an actor under the direction of André Bernier and confirmed his love of declamation. In particular, he received the First Prize for Dramatic Art from the Brussels Conservatory, which opened the doors of the largest Belgian theatres, such as the National Theatre and the Park Theatre.
Arriving in France in the late 1950s in search of new adventures, he pursued a career in theatre – as in Jacques Deval’s Romancero – and a career in cinema where he was regularly given secondary roles. His talent was quickly spotted: Georges Wilson invited him to perform at the Théâtre national populaire, a quintessence of theatrical modernity. He played alongside extraordinary actors such as Michel Serrault, Michel Piccoli and Edwige Feuillère, who, like him, alternated between theatre and cinema.
In 1966 he embarked on the great adventure of the show Au théâtre ce soir, on the ORTF, and performed in most of the plays broadcast. This program of «teletheater» has popularized many plays, often comedies of manners in which Fernand Guiot excels.
His mastery of all nuances allows him to play naïve characters, which have become legendary, like most of the inspectors he played – like Mazurel in Le cerveau by Gérard Oury or Dubreuil, Duchemin’s collaborator played by Louis de Funès, in Claude Zidi’s wing or thigh. On multiple occasions, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bourvil and Louis de Funès, Fernand Guiot takes on the opposite side of the main characters more extroverted and dressed in all qualities. He then reveals, through his mimics, all the burlesque of scenes that are today classics of French comedy.
A prolific actor and actor, Fernand Guiot has shot nearly 200 films and plays. Playing in television series such as Fantômas, Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret or Julie Lescaut Fernand Guiot has been present in all French households for more than thirty years.
The face and voice of Fernand Guiot will remain anchored in the collective imagination of the French as the incarnation of a popular comedy character.
Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin extends her condolences to all of Fernand Guiot’s loved ones.