by Hal Erickson
biography
With all the hue and cry over Raimu's brilliant performances in Marcel Pagnol's Marseilles Trilogy of 1930-1935 (Marius, Fanny, Cesar), it has sometimes been forgotten that Fernand Charpin was equally superb in those three films. The well-fed Charpin was cast as Honore Panisse, the affable middle-aged sailmaker who marries the pregnant Fanny (Orane Demazis) when she's deserted by the irresponsible Marius (Pierre Fresnay). In much the same vein, Charpin went on to appear in Pagnol's The Baker's Wife and The Well-Digger's Daughter. A consummate actor who could switch from comedy to pathos and back again with seamless grace, Fernand Charpin died all too soon at the age of 57.
