Grégoire Aslan

Grégoire Aslan
Grégoire Aslan
	in Cet homme est dangereux (1953)
Born	Krikor Kaloust Aslanian; 28 March 1908; Switzerland or Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died	8 January 1982 (aged 73); Cornwall, England
Resting place	Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery
Other names	Coco Aslan
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1935–1982
Spouses	; Jacqueline Dumonceau (m. 1940, divorced) ; Denise Noël (m. 1948; div. 1955)

Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Kaloust Aslanian; 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was a Swiss-Armenian actor and musician.^[1]

Early life

Krikor Kaloust Aslanian (Armenian: Գրիգոր Գալուստ Ասլանեան) was born in Switzerland or in Constantinople,^[2] according to different sources. He made his professional début at 18 as a vocalist, trumpeter and drummer^[3] with the Paris dance band of Ray Ventura et ses Collegiens, then launched an acting career under the name of Coco Aslan. He also performed with guitarist Django Reinhardt.^[4]

Career

Aslan's first film appearance was uncredited in Marc Didier's 1935 Le Billet de mille.^[5] His first credited appearance was in Feux de joie (1939), along with conductor Ventura.^[6] During World War II he toured South America with actor Louis Jouvet and eventually started his own theatre troupe.^[7] He became an indispensable feature in many British and American films, usually playing foreigners – Russians, Frenchmen, Italians, Germans, Albanians and Middle Easterners – with equal finesse.

Aslan's screen appearances include gangster boss Duca in Joe MacBeth (1955), King of Kings (1961) as Herod, and Cleopatra (1963) as Pothinus. In 1961, in The Devil at 4 O'Clock, alongside Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy, he portrayed Marcel, a criminal who finds repentance by giving his life to save children from being killed by a volcanic eruption on a South Sea island. He played a police chief in Paris When It Sizzles (1964) and The Return of the Pink Panther (1975). He appeared in over 110 film and TV roles.^[8] He also appeared on the French stage in productions from 1946 to 1981.^[9]

Personal life

From 1948 to 1955, Aslan was married to French theatre actress Denise Noël.^[10]^{[better source needed]}

Death

Aslan died of a heart attack in Breage, whilst visiting Cornwall, England.^[11]

Selected filmography

Le Billet de mille [fr] (1935)
Adventure in Paris (1936) as Un membre de l'orchestre de Ray Ventura (uncredited)
Feux de joie (1939) as Coco
Whirlwind of Paris (1939) as Coco
Radio Surprises (1940) as Robert
La fruta mordida (1945)
Are You Sure? (1947) as Coco
Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948) as Poirier, the chef
Keep an Eye on Amelia (1949) as Le prince
Wicked City (aka Hans le marin, 1949) as Le Brésilien
A Man Walks in the City (1950) as Ambilarès
Last Holiday (1950) as Gambini
Cairo Road (1950) as Lombardi (as Coco)
Cage of Gold (1950) as Duport
The Adventurers (1951) as Dominic
Les Joyeux Pèlerins [fr] (1951) as Ernest Duranval
The Red Inn (1951) as Barboeuf
No Vacation for Mr. Mayor (1951) as M Beaudubec
Jouons le jeu (1952) as l'acteur (segment 'La jalousie')
Une enfant dans la tourmente [fr] (1952) as Coudert
A Mother's Secret (1952) as Georges Lavier
Innocents in Paris (1953) as Carpet Seller
Good Lord Without Confession (1953) as Varesco
Le Chevalier de la nuit (1953) as Le préfet de police
This Man Is Dangerous (1953) as Siegella
Act of Love (1953) as Commissaire (uncredited)
La rafle est pour ce soir [fr] (1954) as Mortimer Schoom
La soupe à la grimace (1954) as Karl Worden
Oasis (1955) as Pérez
Mr. Arkadin (1955) as Bracco
Joe MacBeth (1955) as Duncan
Une fille épatante (1955) as Atcheminocc
L'Homme aux clés d'or [fr] (1956) as Bodoni
L'Homme et l'Enfant [fr] (1956) as Zajir
He Who Must Die (1957) as Agha
The Suspects (1957) as Inspecteur Ben Hamman
Quelle sacrée soirée [fr] (1957) as Le prince Yucca
Casino de Paris (1957) as Mario
A Bomb for a Dictator (1957) as Général Ribera
Windom's Way (1957) as Mayor Lollivar
The Tricyclist (1957) as Mouillefarine
The Snorkel (1958) as The Inspector
Sea Fury (1958) as Fernando
The Roots of Heaven (1958) as Habib
Les Tripes au soleil [fr] (1959) as Stanley père
Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) as Ben Ahmed
Our Man in Havana (1959) as Cifuentes
Under Ten Flags (1960) as Master of Abdullah
The Criminal (1960) as Frank Saffron
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) as King Brob
Bernadette de Lourdes (1961)
The Rebel (1961) as Aristotle Carreras
The Invasion Quartet (1961) as Debrie
King of Kings (1961) as Herod the Great
The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) as Marcel
The Happy Thieves (1961) as Dr. Victor Muñoz
Village of Daughters (1962) as Gastoni (A Father)
(Marco Polo, unfinished French film, 1962)
Cleopatra (1963) as Pothinus
The Main Chance (1964) as Potter
Une ravissante idiote (1964) as Bagda
Paris When It Sizzles (1964) as Police Insp. Gilet
Aimez-vous les femmes ? [fr] (1964) as Inspecteur Rossi
Crooks in Cloisters (1964) as Lorenzo
Amori pericolosi (1964) as Il generale (segment "Il generale")
The Gorillas (1964) as Maître Lebavard
The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964) as the Albanian Ambassador
The High Bright Sun (1965) as Gen. Stavros Skyros
Marco the Magnificent (1965) as Achmed Abdullah
Moment to Moment (1965) as Insp. DeFargo
A Man Could Get Killed (1966) as Florian
Our Man in Marrakesh (1966) as Achmed
Lost Command (1966) as Dr. Ali Ben Saad
The 25th Hour (1967) as Dobresco
Tiffany Memorandum (1967) as The Shadow
Marry Me! Marry Me! (1968) as Mr. Schmoll
A Flea in Her Ear (1968) as Max, Hotel Coq Dor Owner
The Thirteen Chairs (1969) as Psychiarist
You Can't Win 'Em All (1970) as Osman Bey
Le Cinéma de papa (1971) as Le producteur
The Pebbles of Etratat (1972) as Timakoff
Die rote Kapelle (1972, TV miniseries) as Baron Maximowitsch
Sex-shop (1972) as Le père d'Isabelle / Father-in-law
The Girl from Hong Kong (1973) as Harris
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) as Hakim
QB VII (1974, TV miniseries) as Sheik Hassan
The Girl from Petrovka (1974) as Minister
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) as Lugash Police Chief
Bloedverwanten (1977) as Rudolphe De Guys
Gloria (1977) as Le patron du cabaret
Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979) as Armenian Priest / Le prêtre arménien