- Born
- Died
- Born in Paris in 1904, Tourneur went to Hollywood with his father, director Maurice Tourneur around 1913. He started out as a script clerk and editor for his father, then graduated to such jobs as directing shorts (often with the pseudonym Jack Turner), both in France and America. He was hired to run the second unit for David O. Selznick's Le marquis de Saint-Evremond (1935), where he first met Val Lewton. In 1942, when Lewton was named to head the new horror unit at RKO, he asked Tourneur to be his first director. The result was the highly artistic (and commercially successful) La Féline (1942). Tourneur went on to direct masterpieces in many different genres, all showing a great command of mood and atmosphere.- IMDb mini biography by: Ken Yousten <kyousten@bev.net>
- Jacques. the son of Michael Tourneur started as an editor on his father's French films after an unsuccessful attempt at acting in Hollywood. He made his directing debut with 'Tout ca ne Vaut pas L'amore' and after three more left France to return to Hollywood. There he did 2nd unit work on such films as 'A Tale of Two Cities', Marie Antoinette and some short subjects for MGM. One of the few who had an affinity for horror and western films. 'Stars in My Crown (1950) was allegedly the only project that he actually requested, which starred his former high school classmate, Joel McCrea. His career was damaged by bouts of alcoholism during a major production. Subsequently he was increasingly relocated to B films and poorer material so that his career began to taper off in the late 50's. His last worth while film, The Fear Makers (1958} was due to his friend Dana Andrews requesting him to direct it- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5
- SpouseChristiane Tourneur(April 22, 1935 - December 19, 1977) (his death)
- Parents
- He has directed two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: La Féline (1942) and La griffe du passé (1947).
- Tourneur loved the story for Stars in My Crown (1950) so much that he agreed to direct the film for scale. Although it's one of his finest and least known films and an American classic, it literally marked the end of his career: after accepting such a low salary, no studio took him seriously any more, and he was left to direct marginal films and television shows for the rest of his life.
- The staircase in Cat People was borrowed from The Magnificent Ambersons.
- Son of Maurice Tourneur
- Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 1098-1103. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
- Largely, I hate doing television; it's horrible. It's against everything I believe in; if you don't bring some of your individuality and some of your experience and sensitivity to bear on a subject, you don't get more than a mechanical result.
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