Christian Alers(1922-2019)

For four decades and a half (from 1945 to 1991), this very active actor worked continuously in all the departments of his art, theater (including stage direction), cinema, TV and dubbing. Among all these activities Christian Alers always privileged the stage, appearing in countless plays, most of which light comedies. He particularly shone in plays by Alexandre Breffort ("Impasse de la fidélité"), Michel André ("Virginie", "Deux imbéciles heureux") or Marc Camoletti ("Boeing-boeing", "La bonne adresse"). In a more poetic register, he was also excellent in André Roussin's "Un amour qui ne finit pas". Which does not mean that Alers, even if he did it only occasionally, shied away from hardcore dramas. He proved he could be convincing in "serious" works such as "Comme avant mieux qu'avant" by Luigi Pirandello or "Les étendards du roi" and "Le cinquième cavalier", both by Bolivian playwright Adolfo Costa du Rels. His most impressive performance remains Joseph Staline in Vladimir Volkoff's "Yalta ou le partage du monde" Like many other stage actors, Christian Alers, made films in parallel with his theatrical career, but, as was the case for a lot of them, this second career proved globally disappointing. Sure Alers made movies as of 1945 (he was 23 then and as skinny as a rake) but his first roles were as thin as his post-war years figure. Things seemed to change in 1950 when he was given the opportunity to top the bill in André Cerf's adaptation of the famous Belgian play Le mariage de Mademoiselle Beulemans (1950). His interpretation of Suzanne Beulemens' French crush was fine but, for some mysterious reason, it was an experience with no tomorrow. Indeed, from then on the actor would get only small or tiny parts, sometimes in major films (Philippe in Éric Rohmer's Le signe du lion (1962); the stranger in 'Michel Deville''s Adorable menteuse (1962); young Isabelle Huppert's father in Bertrand Blier's Les valseuses (1974)...) but never with sufficient screen time to be able to prove himself. There were two exceptions to this rule which could have changed things, two leading roles in French-style noir movies (Force 8 (1974) and La cassure (1981)). Unfortunately, both films flopped and that was that with a prestigious film career. But Christian Alers never lacked work on the boards. Moreover, television enabled him to acquire a wide popularity thanks to series like _"Les saintes chéries" (1965-1970)_ or _Marie Pervenche (1984-1991)_. On the other hand, he was particularly colorful as the plump, gray-haired (this was not 1945 any more!) father-figure sidekick to the heroine in two sentimental historical series by Marion Sarraut, Marianne, une étoile pour Napoléon (1983) and Catherine, il suffit d'un amour (1986) Christian Alers was therefore a happy and fulfilled actor when he retired in the 1990s. This faithful companion of the performing arts for 45 years could then take his bow with with the consciousness of work well done as well as the recognition from the spectators.