XD
Photo of Xavier Depraz

Xavier Depraz

Actor
Born April 22, 1926Died October 18, 1994 (68 years)
Xavier Depraz, né Xavier Marcel Delaruelle (22 April 1926 – 18 October 1994) was a French opera singer and actor.

Born in Albert (Somme), Depraz was a bass at the Paris Opéra until 1971. He took part in the premieres of operas by Marcel Landowski and Sergei Prokofiev. He also appeared as an actor, first on television, where he played the role of Ursus in The Man who laughs by Jean Kerchbron, then on the big screen.

Depraz entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1947 where he attended the classes of Fernand Francell for singing, Louis Musy for the stage and René Simon for theatre. He participated in the premieres of several operas: Marcel Landowski's Le Rire de Nils Halerius (1951) and Le Fou, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites and, in concert version, Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel (1954). In the 1953 Paris premiere of The Rake's Progress at the Opéra-Comique Depraz was "a splendid Nick Shadow". He also sang in Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, Verdi's Rigoletto, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Massenet's Don Quichotte and Thaïs among others. For his appearance as Méphistophélès in Monte Carlo in 1959 one reviewer commented "Xavier Depraz, immensely tall, and surprisingly thin and angular for an operatic bass, produced a suitably resonant and cavernous voice, and histrionically was satisfyingly demonic".

He also appeared at the French provincial opera houses, Glyndebourne and Venice, and was appointed a professor of opera at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1973.

In 1971, he began a career as an actor in film and television.

His recordings include Une éducation manquée (Pausanias), Les Pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad), Romeo et Juliette (Frère Laurence), Carmen (Zuniga for Beecham and Haitink), Renard, Dialogues des Carmélites (Le Marquis de la Force) and the Duruflé Requiem.

Depraz died in Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs (Isère) on 18 October 1994.

Source: Article "Xavier Depraz" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For
  • A Pain in the Ass
  • Lucky Luke: Ballad of the Daltons
  • To Kill a Cop
  • Le gang
  • The Brontë Sisters
  • Un papillon sur l'épaule
  • The Man Who Laughs
  • Le droit d'aimer
  • Cher Victor
  • Carmen

Filmography

1991
Marie Curie, une femme honorable (TV Series) · as Anatole France
1985
Carmen · as Zuniga
1982
Le voyageur imprudent · as Méphisto
1981
To Kill a Cop · as Kasper
1979
The Brontë Sisters · as Monsieur Hager
1978
1978
Un papillon sur l'épaule · as Michel Carrabo
1977
Please God (TV Series) · as Constantin Sergueievitch
1977
1977
Désiré Lafarge (TV Series) · as L'émir
1977
Le gang · as Jo
1976
Dracula and Son · as Le Majordome
1975
1974
Black Thursday · as Cast
1974
Les faucheurs de marguerites (TV Series) · as Fontaine
1973
1973
A Pain in the Ass · as Louis Randoni
1972
The Accursed Kings (TV Series) · as Jacques De Molay, Grand Maître Du Temple
1972
1972
L'Atlantide · as Bielowsky
1971
The Man Who Laughs (TV Series) · as Ursus
1968
Le bourgeois gentilhomme · as Le Grand Turc
1968
L'orgue fantastique · as Takelbarth
1967
Maigret (1967) (TV Series) · as Le Commissaire Lecoeur
1961
Don Quichotte · as Don Quichotte
1960
La vie de bohème · as Colline

Take Plex everywhere

Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices