Biography of Marcel Pagnol  

Marcel Pagnol, born in 1895 at Aubagne Provence, in the south of France, was one of the most famous French writers, playwrights and filmmakers of the 20th century.​

Being the son of a schoolteacher, he studied in Marseille, became a teacher in Aix-en-Provence, then taught in Paris.

It was at a very young age that he discovered his passion for dramatic writing. In the three volumes that make up his autobiography, La Gloire de mon père, Le Château de ma mère, Le Temps des secrets, Marcel Pagnol recounts his childhood and adolescence in Provence.

Il partagea également sa carrière entre le théâtre et le cinéma. Il devint le maître du « théâtre filmé », grâce en particulier à sa célèbre trilogie marseillaise Marius, Fanny et César.

Il donna au cinéma de nombreux films, parmi lesquels Merlusse, Cigalon, Le Schpountz, La Fille du puisatier, La Belle meunière, ou encore Manon des sources, ainsi que plusieurs films inspirés de l’œuvre d’un autre provençal, Jean Giono : Angèle, Regain, La Femme du boulanger. Il fut servi par les plus grands interprètes de l’époque : Louis Jouvet, Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, ou encore Fernandel.

On 4 April 1946, he was elected to the French Academy.

He died in Paris on the 18th April 1974.