--- name: "Serge Merlin" canonical: "https://film.one/person/serge-merlin" fi1m_id: "serge-merlin" imdb_id: "nm0581014" tmdb_id: 2410 wikidata_id: "Q3479446" roles: ["Actor"] born: "29 December 1932" died: "16 February 2019" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 80 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-17T18:06:16.896105+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." --- # Serge Merlin ## Identity Serge Merlin - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/serge-merlin - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** serge-merlin - **IMDb ID:** nm0581014 - **TMDB ID:** 2410 - **Wikidata ID:** Q3479446 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Merlin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3479446, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0581014/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2410 Actor. Born 29 December 1932 in Sainte-Barbe-du-Tlélat, French Algeria [now Oued Tlelat, Algeria]. Died 16 February 2019. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 29 December 1932, Sainte-Barbe-du-Tlélat, French Algeria [now Oued Tlelat, Algeria] - **Died:** 16 February 2019 - **Active:** 1995–2001 - **Also known as:** Serge Merle - **Frequently works with:** [Jean-Pierre Jeunet](https://film.one/person/jean-pierre-jeunet.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 78 (1), 2000s 82 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Merlin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3479446, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0581014/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2410 ## Streaming the US now - **The Roku Channel:** [*The City of Lost Children*](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children.md) (78) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Serge Merlin > Serge Merlin gives strange supporting figures a seriousness that stops them becoming mere decoration. His deep voice and theatrical intensity suit Jeunet’s busy films, though those appearances offer only a small part of what he could do. Serge Merlin’s deep voice gives the reclusive painter in *Amélie* (2001) a gravity that suits the character’s withdrawal. As Raymond Dufayel, he is an eccentric neighbour in a film already plentifully supplied with eccentricity, but we take him seriously. Jean-Pierre Jeunet sometimes works too hard to charm us; Merlin’s intensity is useful company in such surroundings. We were moved by the heroine’s loneliness because Audrey Tautou makes it matter beneath all the visual business. His film work had been in supporting parts since the 1960s, including Pierre Philippeaux in Andrzej Wajda’s *Danton* (1983). Wider recognition came with *The City of Lost Children* (1995) and then *Amélie*, both made with Jeunet. In the earlier film, co-directed by Marc Caro, he plays Gabriel Marie, the Cyclops leader. Its black humour suits an actor capable of making strangeness feel imposing, although the crowded storytelling sometimes leaves the people struggling to compete with their surroundings. The larger part of his career was on stage, with directors including Matthias Langhoff and Alain Françon and writing by Beckett, Bernhard and Shakespeare. The important quality was the clarity he brought to demanding language, particularly the long monologues of Thomas Bernhard’s *Extinction* (2010). The intensity could be feverish, but the words remained intelligible. That is worth remembering when watching the screen roles: the unusual voice belonged to an actor accustomed to carrying long stretches of difficult writing by himself. We would still start with *Amélie*, the more rewarding of the two Jeunet films we have reviewed. Its warmth survives the excessive visual fuss, and Merlin’s grave presence helps keep the eccentricity from becoming merely cute. Neither film asks him to carry the story, so neither is enough to explain the reputation he built on stage. Watch the painter, even when Jeunet supplies several other things to look at. ## Biography Serge Merlin (born Serge Merle) was a French actor. He was born on 29 December 1932 in Sainte-Barbe-du-Tlélat, French Algeria (now Oued Tlelat, Algeria), and died on 16 February 2019 in Paris. Merlin had a long career in theatre from 1952 to 2018, with occasional film roles. He became widely known for playing Raymond Dufayel, the reclusive painter known as the 'glass man', in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's *Amélie* (2001). Other film credits include *The City of Lost Children* (1995) and *Danton* (1983). In 2014 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters. *Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, fr.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Amélie* (2001), Fi1m 82, as Raymond Dufayel — [page](https://film.one/film/amelie.md) - *The City of Lost Children* (1995), Fi1m 78, as Gabriel Marie — [page](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children.md) ## Complete filmography (31) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *One Nation, One King* (2018), as Louis XI - *Two Snails Set Off* (2017), as (voice) - *Me and Kaminski* (2015), as Portier - *Witnesses* (2015), series, as Atticus Lorcat - *Pitchipoï* (2015), as Albert - *The Man Who Laughs* (2012), as Barkilphedro - *A Bad Encounter* (2011), as Medium - *L'Énergumène* (2011), as Jacques Brossier - *Under a False Name* (2004), as Père de Daniel - *Le intermittenze del cuore* (2003), as Agostini - *Une preuve d'amour* (2003), as Granchot - *Amélie* (2001), as Raymond Dufayel — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/amelie.md) - *Simon, the Magician* (1999), as Doctor - *The Count of Monte Cristo* (1998), series, as Noirtier de Villefort - *Diary of a Seducer* (1996), as Robert - *The City of Lost Children* (1995), as Gabriel Marie — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children.md) - *Coma* (1993), Actor - *The Two of Us* (1992), as Napoléon - *Blaze* (1991), as Betaix - *Le Testament d'un poète juif assassiné* (1988), as Grossman - *A Love in Germany* (1983), as Alker - *Danton* (1983), as Pierre Philippeaux - *Cinématon n°158 : Serge Merlin* (1982), Actor - *Cinématon XVI* (1982), as N°158 - *Tusk* (1980), as Greyson - *The Last Judgement But One* (1979), as A nyomozó - *Cinématon* (1978), as N°158 - *The Song of Roland* (1978), as Pair Marsile / Ganelon / Thierry - *The Golden Claws of the Cat Girl* (1968), as Silvio - *The Golem* (1967), as Loisa - *Samson* (1961), as Jakub Gold ## Awards ### Other awards — 3 won - Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres 2014: Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (won) - Prize for the best actor of the Union of criticism 2010: Prize for the best actor of the Union of criticism (won) - Prize for the best actor of the Union of criticism 1991: Prize for the best actor of the Union of criticism (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © 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/serge-merlin