--- name: "Fernand Charpin" canonical: "https://film.one/person/fernand-charpin" fi1m_id: "fernand-charpin" imdb_id: "nm0153457" tmdb_id: 94939 wikidata_id: "Q1406487" roles: ["Actor"] born: "1 June 1887" died: "6 November 1944" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 82 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-25T02:39:01.609241+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Fernand Charpin ## Identity Fernand Charpin - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/fernand-charpin - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** fernand-charpin - **IMDb ID:** nm0153457 - **TMDB ID:** 94939 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1406487 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_Charpin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1406487, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0153457/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/94939 Actor. Born 1 June 1887 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. Died 6 November 1944. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 1 June 1887, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France - **Died:** 6 November 1944 - **Active:** 1937–1938 - **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as actor, over 2 titles - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_Charpin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1406487, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0153457/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/94939 ## Fi1m on Fernand Charpin > Fernand Charpin gives merchants and notables an easy conversational authority, with room for comedy. We value his work in Pagnol's ensembles, though *Pépé le Moko* is a welcome departure from the reassuring parts. Fernand Charpin brings a stocky build, an expressive face and a southern French accent to men who expect to be taken seriously. Merchants, officials and fathers suit an actor whose authority can accommodate a joke. We value the ease with which he fits into Pagnol's long conversations. He is effective when the scene needs several people talking naturally, without each speech being treated as a little solo. His Panisse runs through *Marius* (1931), directed by Alexandre Korda, *Fanny* (1932), directed by Marc Allégret, and Pagnol's *César* (1936). The role began on stage and made him central to Pagnol's Marseille ensemble. For a fuller acquaintance than a single supporting appearance allows, these are the films to seek out. In Marcel Pagnol's *The Baker's Wife* (1938), Charpin plays the Marquis Castan de Venelles, a comic authority figure among the villagers. He suits this company, but Raimu's baker is the reason the film's unhappiness matters. We were moved by the baker's hurt because Raimu lets it persist beneath the jokes. Charpin's contribution belongs to the surrounding comedy, and there is no need to pretend he is the film's centre. Some of that village humour wears thin, while the conservative filmmaking does little to help it along. Julien Duvivier finds a less comfortable place for him as Régis, an informer, in *Pépé le Moko* (1937). The departure matters: an actor so associated with Pagnol's company need not offer reassurance. Jean Gabin's close-ups and the Casbah's shadows supply much of the film's emotional force, although the leisurely passages ask for patience. Charpin is worth noticing here because the casting complicates an easy account of him as a genial southern comic. Later casting too often returned him to mayors, judges and other notables. That repetition limits what the films ask of him, even when he is well suited to the job. Start with Panisse for the sustained acquaintance; try *Pépé le Moko* before deciding that warmth was all he had. ## Biography Fernand Charpin was a French actor. Born in Marseille in 1887, he trained at the Conservatoire and began his career on stage, performing classical repertoire and becoming a regular at the Théâtre de l'Odéon. He met Marcel Pagnol and Raimu in 1928 and originated the role of Honoré Panisse in Pagnol's play *Marius* (1929). He reprised the part in the film adaptations *Marius* (1931), *Fanny* (1932) and *César* (1936). Charpin appeared in numerous other French films of the 1930s and 1940s, including *Pépé le Moko* (1937) as Régis, *La Belle Équipe* (1936), *La Femme du boulanger* (1938) and *La Fille du puisatier* (1940). He died in Paris in 1944. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, fr.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *The Baker's Wife* (1938), Fi1m 78, as The Marquis Castan de Venelles — [page](https://film.one/film/the-bakers-wife.md) - *Pépé le Moko* (1937), Fi1m 85, as Régis — [page](https://film.one/film/pepe-le-moko.md) ## Complete filmography (69) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Les Trésors de Marcel Pagnol* (2019), as Honoré Panisse / Baptiste Fabre / André Mazel (archive footage) - *The Last Penny* (1946), as Colon - *Majestic Hotel Cellars* (1945), as Le juge d'instruction - *The Bride of Darkness* (1945), as Fontvieille - *The Island of Love* (1944), as Mayor - *Love Around the Clock* (1943), as Monsieur Maurice - *Ceux du rivage* (1943), as Clovis - *The Secret of Madame Clapain* (1943), as Doctor Joude - *The Roquevillards* (1943), as Antonio Sicardi - *Le Mistral* (1943), as The priest - *The White Truck* (1943), as Courbassié - *Two Shy Ones* (1943), as Monsieur van Putzeboom - *The Blue Veil* (1942), as Émile Perrette - *L'Arlésienne* (1942), as Francet Mamaï - *Signé illisible* (1942), as Brigadier Ducreux - *Strange Suzy* (1941), Actor - *The Italian Straw Hat* (1941), as Beauperthuis - *L'An 40* (1941), Actor - *After the Storm* (1941), as Sabin - *La Prière aux étoiles* (1941), as Évariste - *La Prière aux étoiles (film inachevé)* (1941), as Evariste - *The Well-Digger's Daughter* (1940), as M. Mazel - *They Met on Skis* (1940), as Oncle Justin, l'aubergiste - *The Path of Honor* (1939), as Godfather - *Whirlwind of Paris* (1939), as Charbonnier - *Le Club des fadas* (1939), Actor - *Ma tante dictateur* (1939), as Monsieur Duclos - *Le Paradis des voleurs* (1939), as Jules Rabastin - *Berlingot and Company* (1939), as Victor Faivre - *The Mayor's Dilemma* (1939), as Beaumont, le maire - *The Rebel* (1938), as Pimaï's father - *Bargekeepers Daughter* (1938), as Honorat - *The Baker's Wife* (1938), as The Marquis Castan de Venelles — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-bakers-wife.md) - *L'Ange que j'ai vendu* (1938), as Baronski - *In the Sun of Marseille* (1938), as M. Cassis - *Troubled Heart* (1938), as Monsieur Arnal - *The Little Thing* (1938), as Pierrotte - *Heartbeat* (1938), as Uncle Baptiste Fabre - *Un soir à Marseille* (1938), as Commissioner Lampin - *Les Deux Combinards* (1938), as Captain Lambesc - *Êtes-vous jalouse ?* (1938), as Amédée Brunois - *Balthazar* (1937), Actor - *Le Chemin de lumière* (1937), Actor - *The Black Angels* (1937), as Symphorien Desbat - *Le Club des Aristocrates* (1937), as Bénard - *Ignace* (1937), as Le colonel Romuald Durosier - *La Dame de Vittel* (1937), as Victor Fidoux - *Pépé le Moko* (1937), as Régis — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/pepe-le-moko.md) - *César* (1936), as Honoré Panisse - *La Belle Équipe* (1936), as le gendarme Antomarchi - *Michel Strogoff* (1936), Actor - *Lune de miel* (1935), Actor - *Happy Days* (1935), as Owner of the hotel - *Arènes joyeuses* (1935), as Cabissol - *I Have an Idea* (1934), as L'agent de police dans la rue (uncredited) - *Tartarin of Tarascon* (1934), as Bravida - *3 of the navy* (1934), Actor - *The Eight-Forty-Seven Train* (1934), as Capitaine Hurluret - *Sapho* (1934), as Césaire - *Le Chemin du bonheur* (1934), Actor - *The Barber of Seville* (1933), as Bazile - *Court Waltzes* (1933), as Joseph Lanner - *Paprika* (1933), Actor - *Moune et son notaire* (1933), as l'aubergiste - *Chotard and Co.* (1933), as Chotard - *Les Bleus de l'amour* (1933), as Bigorne - *Mr Poirier's Son-in-Law* (1933), as Verdelet - *Fanny* (1932), as Honoré Panisse - *Marius* (1931), as Maître Honoré Panisse --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/fernand-charpin