Eddie Constantine

Eddie Constantine
File:KarinaConstantine.jpg Anna Karina with Constantine in Godard's Alphaville
Born	Edward Constantinowsky (1917-10-29)October 29, 1917 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	Wiesbaden, Germany
Occupation	Film actor, singer

Eddie Constantine (born Edward Constantinowsky; October 29, 1917 – February 25, 1993) was an American French actor and singer who spent his career working in Europe.

He became well known for a series of French B movies in which he played secret agent Lemmy Caution and is now best remembered for his role in Jean-Luc Godard's philosophical science fiction film Alphaville (1965).

Constantine also appeared in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (as himself in Beware of a Holy Whore 1971), Lars von Trier, and Mika Kaurismäki. He continued reprising the role of Lemmy Caution well into his 70s; his final appearance as the character was in Jean-Luc Godard's Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (1991).

Biography

Edward Constantinowsky was born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents, a Russian father and Polish mother. In pursuit of a singing career, he went to Vienna for voice training, but when he returned to America his career didn't take off and he started taking work as a film extra. Having failed to make a career in America, Constantine returned to Europe in the 1950s and started singing and performing in Parisian cabarets. He was noticed by Edith Piaf, who cast him in the musical La p'tite Lili. Constantine also helped Piaf with translations for her 1956 album La Vie En Rose/Édith Piaf Sings In English, so that he has songwriting credits on the English versions of some of her most famous songs (especially "Hymne à l'amour"/"Hymn to Love").

In the 1950s Constantine was a star in France due to his role as the hard-boiled detective/secret agent Lemmy Caution (from Peter Cheyney's novels) in a series of French B-pictures, including La môme vert-de-gris (1953), Cet homme est dangereux (1953), Ça va barder (1953), Je suis un sentimental (1955), Lemmy pour les dames (1961) and Your Turn, Darling (1963).

Constantine eventually became a French citizen and enjoyed great popularity in several European countries, including France and Germany. When not playing Lemmy Caution, Constantine's character would still typically be a suave-talking, seductive, smooth guy, although he often played this for laughs. He turned his accent and perceived American cockiness to advantage in such roles, and later described his film persona as having been "James Bond before James Bond".

One of his most notable roles was in Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965), in which he reprised (to a more radical end) the role of Lemmy Caution, in a departure from the style of his other films. His box-office appeal in France waned in the mid-1960s. Having remarried to a German television producer, he eventually relocated to Germany, where he worked as a character actor, appearing in German TV dramas as well as film. Constantine later claimed he had never taken his acting career seriously, as he considered himself to be a singer by trade, and had been an actor strictly for the money. He nevertheless worked with directors such as Godard and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and his last notable film appearance was in Lars Von Trier's Europa in 1991. He had taken up the part of Lemmy for the last time in the same year, in Godard's experimental film Germany Year 90 Nine Zero.

Personal life

Constantine was married three times, to Helinka Musilova (divorced), with whom he had three children, Dorothea Gibson (1977–78, divorced), and the film producer Maya Faber-Jansen (1979–93, Constantine's death), with whom he had one child. His son, born in 1957 and named after Constantine's famous role, is Lemmy Constantine (entry on French Wikipedia), who is also a singer and actor.

Death

Eddie Constantine died of a heart attack on February 25, 1993, aged 75.

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Role	Notes
1953	Egypt by Three	Victor Stoloff	Nick (third episode)
	La môme vert-de-gris	Bernard Borderie	Lemmy Caution
	Cet homme est dangereux	fr	Lemmy Caution
1954	Les femmes s'en balancent	Bernard Borderie	Lemmy Caution
	it	Vittorio Cottafavi	Franco Cesari
	fr	fr	Larry Blake
1955	fr	John Berry	Johnny Jordan
	Je suis un sentimental	John Berry	Barney Morgan
	fr	Pierre Chevalier	Lemmy Caution
1956	Les Truands	fr	Jim Esposito
	fr	Dimitri Kirsanoff	Monsieur Howard
	fr	Henri Decoin	Bob Wellington
	fr	Raoul André	Fred Barker
	fr	Ralph Baum	cameo appearance
1957	fr	fr	Eddie F. Morgan
	Ces dames préfèrent le mambo	Bernard Borderie	Burt Brickford
1958	fr	fr	Bob Stanley
	de	Werner Klingler	Eddie Petersen
	Passport to Shame	Alvin Rakoff	Johnny McVey
1959	Du rififi chez les femmes	Alex Joffé	Williams
	The Treasure of San Teresa (Hot Money Girl)	Alvin Rakoff	Larry Brennan
	SOS Pacific	Guy Green	Mark
1960	Bombs on Monte Carlo	Georg Jacoby	Captain Eddie Cronen
	fr	Bernard Borderie	Lemmy Caution
	fr	Robert Lamoureux	cameo appearance
	fr	Yves Allégret	Patrick
	fr	Pierre Montazel	John Lewis / John Jarvis
1961	Destination Fury	Giorgio Bianchi	Felice Esposito
	fr	fr	Eddie MacAvoy
	fr	fr	Jackson
1962	fr	Claude de Givray	Napoléon "Naps" Dubois
	The Seven Deadly Sins	Jean-Luc Godard (6th segment)	cameo appearance
	Lemmy pour les dames	Bernard Borderie	Lemmy Caution
	Cléo from 5 to 7	Agnès Varda	cameo appearance
	Lykke og krone	no and Stein Saelen	cameo appearance
	Bonne chance, Charlie	Jean-Louis Richard	Charlie
	fr	fr	Eddie
	Nous irons à Deauville	fr	cameo appearance
1963	Jeff Gordon, Secret Agent	Raoul André	Jeff Gordon
	fr	Raoul André	Bobby Carao
	Tela de araña	José Luis Monter	Eddie Ross
	Your Turn, Darling	Bernard Borderie	Lemmy Caution
1964	de	Franz Antel	as himself
	Comment trouvez-vous ma sœur ?	Michel Boisrond	as himself
	fr	fr	Jeff Gordon
	Nick Carter va tout casser	Henri Decoin	Nick Carter
	fr	Michel Deville	Lucky Jo
1965	Ces dames s'en mêlent	Raoul André	Jeff Gordon
	Faites vos jeux, mesdames aka Feu à volonté	Marcel Ophuls	Mike Warner
	Cent briques et des tuiles	fr	cameo appearance
	Alphaville	Jean-Luc Godard	Lemmy Caution
	Je vous salue, mafia!	Raoul Lévy	Rudy
	Nick Carter and Red Club	fr	Nick Carter
1966	it (Residence for Spies)	Jesus Franco	Dan Leyton
	Cartas boca arriba (Attack Of The Robots)	Jesus Franco	Al Pereira (Al Peterson)
1968	fr	Raoul André	Cousin Lemmy
	fr	John Berry	Ric
1969	fr	fr	Eddie
	fr	Agnès Varda	as himself
1970	Malatesta	Peter Lilienthal	Malatesta
	Eine Rose für Jane	Hans W. Geißendörfer	Boss	TV film
1971	Supergirl – Das Mädchen von den Sternen	Rudolf Thome	cameo appearance	TV film
	Beware of a Holy Whore (Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte)	Rainer Werner Fassbinder	as himself
	Haytabo (Eddie geht weiter)	Ulli Lommel	the professor
1973	Geen paniek	Ko Koedijk	Bill Silkstocking
1975	fr	fr	Eddie
	Souvenir of Gibraltar	Henri Xhonneux	Father Jo
	de	Ulli Lommel	Frank Cabot
1977	Raid on Entebbe	Irvin Kershner	Capt. Michel Bacos	TV film
	Bloedverwanten	Wim Lindner	Priest
	fr	William Klein	Dr. Goldberg
1978	It Lives Again	Larry Cohen	Dr. Forrest
1979	The Third Generation (Die Dritte Generation)	Rainer Werner Fassbinder	Peter Lurz
	de	Ulrike Ottinger	cameo appearance
1980	de	Udo Lindenberg	cameo appearance
	de	Wigbert Wicker	police officer Laroux
	Exit... nur keine Panik	Franz Novotny	cameo appearance
	The Long Good Friday	John Mackenzie	Charlie
1981	Tango durch Deutschland	Lutz Mommartz	Eddie
	Neige	Juliet Berto et Jean-Henri Roger	Pierrot
	Freak Orlando	Ulrike Ottinger	cameo appearance
1982	Rote Liebe	Rosa von Praunheim	Pawel Pawlowitsch
	Boxoffice	Josef Bogdanovitch	Hugh Barren
1983	Das Mikado-Projekt	Torsten Emrich	Lemmy Caution
	de	Ottokar Runze	Gregori Ustinov
	fr	Patrick Chaput	the bar proprietor
1984	Fluchtpunkt Berlin	Christopher Petit	as himself
	Rambo Zambo	Reinhard Donga	Harry	TV film
	it	Mariano Laurenti	Sammy
	Tiger - Frühling in Wien	Peter Patzak	Lemmy Caution
1985	Seifenblasen	de	cameo appearance
	nl	Pim de la Parra	Boy Pappa
1986	no	Bela Csepesanyi	Lemmy Caution
	Roncalli	Michael Mackenroth	Pablo	TV miniseries
1987	Frankenstein's Aunt	Juraj Jakubisko	Alois - Water Spirit	TV miniseries
	Freckled Max and the Spooks	Juraj Jakubisko	Alois - Water Spirit	Film
	Helsinki Napoli All Night Long	Mika Kaurismäki	Old Gangster
1989	Le retour de Lemmy Caution	fr	Lemmy Caution	TV film
	Europa, abends	Claudia Schröder	Mr. Hardayle
1991	Europa	Lars von Trier	Colonel Harris
	Germany Year 90 Nine Zero	Jean-Luc Godard	Lemmy Caution
	ja	Naoki Nagao	William Wright
1993	lb	Andy Bausch	Don Fabrizzi

External links

• Eddie Constantine at Uni France (English)
• Eddie Constantine at the Internet Movie Database
• Eddie Constantine at AllMovie