Biography
Victor Francen, also credited as Victor Franssens, was a Belgian-born actor who worked in French cinema and Hollywood. Born in Tienen, Belgium, he trained in dramatic art in Paris under Paul Mounet after working in trade. He began his stage career in the 1920s, appearing in plays by Henri Bernstein, Georges Bataille and Edmond Rostand, and toured internationally.
He made his mark in French sound films of the 1930s, including roles in J'accuse (1938) and La Fin du jour (1939). During the Second World War he moved to the United States, where his Hollywood debut came as Van Den Luecken in Hold Back the Dawn (1941). Subsequent films included Passage to Marseille (1944), The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), Madame Curie (1943), The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) and Hell and High Water (1954). He was married to the actress Mary Marquet.
