Robert Liensol

Short Biography

Robert Liensol was born on September 9, 1922 in Saint-Barthélémy, French West Indies. He was an actor, known for Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998), Oh, Sun (1970) and Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005). He died on February 13, 2011 in Paris, France.Trivia (1) Robert Liensol founded in 1954 and managed to 1972 the "Compagnie des Griots", the first French company of black actors. In that troupe, were Darling Légitimus, Théo Légitimus, Jenny Alpha, Bachir Touré, Toto Bissainthe, Thimotée Bassari, Lydia Ewandéand Danièle Van Berkeycke. They created "Les Nègres" by Jean Genet, directed by Roger Blin, "La tragédie du Roi Christophe" and "Une saison au Congo" by Aimé Césaire both directed by Jean-Marie Serreau. He merged the Griots company with the "Shango" theatre troupe of Med Hondo called "Griots-Shango"in 1972.Robert Linksol is a French actor born on9 September 1922 In Saint-Barthélemy then in Guadeloupe, and died on11 February 2011 In Paris 1.Biography He is the son of a justice of the peace and a teacher. He had a twin sister (Régine), two other sisters and two brothers. From the beginning of the 1950s, while working in the theater and in a few films, he worked at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris , in the Department of Afrique Noire, as a CNRS Documentalist, when in 1954 he created and Directed the "Compagnie des Griots", the first troupe of black actors to exist in France , with the aim of promoting the artists of color by proposing to them, through interesting roles - and not of "faire-valoir" - to contribute To the popularization and dissemination of works of black theater, To make known to the black public works of the classical French and foreign repertoire, to develop a black dramatic literature (by provoking new authors) and finally to found a school of black actors. At his side, Darling Légitimus , Theo Légitimus , Jenny Alpha , Bachir Touré , toto bissainthe , Greg Germain , Thimotée Bassari , Lydia Ewandé , Danièle Van Berkeycke ... This company lasted until 1972 (in 1966 , his company merged with That of Med Hondo thus becoming the company Griotsshango) and is at the origin of creations that make date: The Negroes of Jean Genet on a staging of Roger Blin - which will be very close - and Tragedy of King Christophe and A Season in the Congo , two pieces of Aimé Césaire and The Feast in Harlem of Melvin Van Peebles , The Slave and the Phantom Metro by LeRoi Jones , and - notably under the direction of Jean-Louis Barrault - pieces by Alexander Pushkin , Eugene Ionesco or John Millington Synge . He subsequently plays in the show, Robert Linksol's career is vast and covers more than half a century. We remember his main roles in the television dramas The box of Uncle Tom , 1963 , shot as part of the cultural show Le Theater de la jeunesse or Les Verts Pâturages , another dramatic role tinged with comedy of the same Jean -Christophe Averty , as well as La Putain respectueuse , Lettres du Bagne or L'Aventure ambiguë . In 1967 , after a notable appearance in Playtime of Jacques Tati , the film debut in the admirable Sun O , Of his old accomplice the actor Mauritanian director Med Hondo , filmed with a meager budget, critically accosted by the critic, distributed several years later, this film draws the portrait of a black immigrant who ascends to Paris "in the country of his ancestors the Gaulois ", a powerful and admirable work that deserves to be rediscovered today. He later directed, among others, Coco Lafleur candidate and Vivre Libre or Mourir, from his "compatriot" Guadeloupe director Christian Lara , Neige from Juliet Berto, including Patrick Chesnais and Jean-François Stévenin, who won the Caméra d'Or At Cannes in 1981, Amok Moroccan director Souheil Ben Barka with Myriam Makeba or Yves Beneyton, Perigord Black of Nicolas Ribowski with Jean Carmet, Roland Giraud and Jacques Gamblin, The exile of King Behanzin of Guy Deslauriers, with the American actor Delroy Lindo. In this film, his role as guardian of King Behanzin in exile is crowned with an award at the Namur Film Festival . Without forgetting that it shares the poster in 1989, with Jenny Alpha , in the film of Julius Amédée Laou, Robert Liensol lent his voice for dubbing of many films, TV movies and series, and appeared in international co-productions: Target of Arthur Penn with Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon , Sleight of Nicolas Gessner with Ben Gazzara and Jean Yanne and The Shortcut By Giuliano Montaldo with Nicolas Cage . He is also the voice of the grandfather in Kirikou and the Sorceress and Kirikou and the Wild Beasts , cartoons of Michel Ocelot released in 1998 and 2005 .With the Alzheimer's Disease in the 2000s, Robert Linksol gradually deserted film sets, theater scenes and recording studios. After a fall in his apartment, he fractures the neck of the femur, and died shortly after the operation - of a probable septic pulmonary shock - in a Parisian hospital, at the age of 88 years. Shortly before his disappearance, he made a last appearance in Pani pwoblem of his friend Christian Lara.