In the immediate vicinity of Saint-Tropez, where he played the famous policeman Cruchot, a museum dedicated to Louis de Funès will open its doors on July 31 in Saint-Raphael, in the Var, announced Wednesday in Paris the family of the actor and mayor of the municipality.
A museum "in his image"
Over 400 m2, the museum will bring together the collection of the family of Louis de Funès and memories brought together by Charles and Roselyne Duringer, who created and animated a first museum between 2014 and 2016 in the former castle of the actor in Cellier, near Nantes. This first associative museum was forced to close its doors two years after its opening, for lack of the means to buy the walls. The castle is no longer in the family of Funès since 1986.
"When the Cellier Museum closed, our family received many messages from people who were disappointed that no place in France was dedicated to my grandfather, and in his image, this new museum would be elegant, intelligent and entertaining. The wish of thousands of French and the family will materialize, "said Julia de Funès, granddaughter of the actor.
The scenography of the new museum was entrusted to the film designer Christian Marti, who co-signed the retrospective Barbara at the Philharmonie de Paris, under the direction of curator Clémentine Deroudille. Granddaughter of photographer Robert Doisneau, Clémentine Deroudille, who also mounted an exhibition on Georges Brassens at the Cité de la Musique, will be the general curator of the Musée Louis de Funès in Saint-Raphaël with the aim of making it "one of the emblematic places of popular culture ".
Objects, photographs, film clips and interviews
Some 350 objects and documents will be gathered: personal photographs, filming memories, film clips and interviews. The museum will also evoke the debut of the actor as a cabaret pianist before joining the troupe of Branquignols in 1957.
In 2016, a museum of the Gendarmerie and cinema opened its doors in the former gendarmerie of Saint-Tropez, emblematic decoration of the series of Gendarmes with Louis de Funès headlining. A space is dedicated to the actor. A group ticket could be proposed for both museums.
Next year, La Cinémathèque française, in charge of the protection and presentation of film heritage, will for the first time dedicate a retrospective and an exhibition to Louis de Funès, by programming his most famous films. With more than 140 films to its credit, the popular actor has attracted some 270 million spectators in cinemas and more than 400 million viewers in France alone.