Daniel Emilfork

Born in Chile from a family native of Odessa (Ukraine) avoiding pogroms, Daniel Emilfork (1924-2006), born Zapognikof, reaches France in the 50s. Formed in the comedy by Roger Blin and Tania Balachova, the actor imposes at once his worrying physical appearance and an east accent. To the theater, he makes sensation in the classic directory, notably playing Shakespeare, Lorca or Tchekov. Noticed by Marc Allégret, he begins in the cinema in Futures Vedettes (1955 ), with Jean Marais and Brigitte Bardot. From then on, the actor is going to stand out as one of the inescapable supporting roles of the French cinema. Historic drama (Notre Dame de Paris, Le Triomphe de Michel Strogoff), espionage (OSS 117 se déchaîne), film noir (Les Espions) or horror movies (Midi Minuit), Emilfork investigates all the genres and all the supports (Chéri Bibi on tv), composing delicious characters. "Gueule" of the french cinema, he is also on the international scene, supervised by Clive Donner (What's new, Pussycat?), Peter Ustinov (Lady L.), George Cukor and especially Federico Fellini (Casanova). Daniel Emilfork knows a return in grace thanks to Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, who entrust him in 1994 for the play of the scientist thief of children's dreams in La Cité des Enfants Perdus.