Raymond Rouleau

A native of Belgium, Raymond Rouleau has acted in and directed countless films in a career that spans 60 years. As a teenager, he trained at the Brussels Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. He moved to Paris in the late-1920s and started working in French cinema. Rouleau's first appearance was as a minor role in the classic 1928 French drama "L'Argent." The success of this film helped win him small roles throughout the 1930s. Yet his passion for theater never wavered, and he ran the Theatre de l'Oeuvre in Paris for seven years. He began directing comedies and dramas sporadically in the 1930s and 1940s. His first major success was directing an adaptation of Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" in 1957. The film won a BAFTA Award and was honored by the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Rouleau continued to act and received many important roles. He played the lead in 1945's "Paris Frills," a romantic drama about a love triangle set against the era's fashion scene. He also played the popular character Georges Masse, an investigative reporter, in "Mission in Tangier," which was followed by two sequels. As he got older, he began acting less and instead focused on directing television movies. He helmed numerous crime films and comedies throughout the 1970s and 1980s.