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Born Clément Mary on July 18, 1905, in Paris's 6th arrondissement, he got his big break in the spring of 1910 at just five years old. His father, Abélard Mary, encouraged him and his two siblings to audition as extras at the Gaumont studio. Abélard, once an actor, had fallen into hardship due to gambling and worked as a clown in bars while dabbling in furniture sales. Betting on his children's potential, he succeeded when all three were cast in the peplum film Les Derniers Jours de Babylone. Clément's natural playfulness, mature acting skills, streetwise manner, and charm on set quickly caught the eye of producer-director Louis Feuillade. Feuillade tested him and created the Bébé series around him. Between 1910 and 1912, Mary appeared in 74 Bébé comedies (Braquet), with other sources citing 73 to 76 films including titles like Bébé apache, Napoléon, Bébé et les cosaques, and Bébé en Maroc. Feuillade allowed young Mary freedoms denied at home. His character often played a spoiled brat throwing tantrums and annoying adults but also helped children and elderly in need, revealing a kind heart. Renée Carl frequently portrayed his mother, and the child was placed in adult roles such as millionaire, suitor, or underworld 'apache.' For over two years, Bébé was the world's most famous child actor.
The films' huge success brought wealth to Abélard Mary as well, but his greed led to his son's downfall. He purchased a small cinema in Ménilmontant, naming it Bébé-Cinéma, hoping for a Gaumont franchise to screen his son's films. This strained relations with Feuillade, who was tired of Abélard's self-promotion and constant demands for higher pay. By mid-1912, Clément was aging out of his child star appeal. Another child actor from Belleville joined as his supporting co-star in Bébé adopte un petit frère, then fully replaced him by early 1913 under the name Bout-de-Zan, a role he had shared previously. Abélard sued Gaumont; the court sided with the studio but allowed Clément to continue playing Bébé at Pathé's Eclectic Films until 1916. However, Bout-de-Zan's popularity at Gaumont far surpassed Bébé's. As Abel noted, Bout-de-Zan embodied a more working-class image, whereas Bébé was fundamentally bourgeois. Ultimately, Poyen made around 50 films for Gaumont, fewer than Mary.
As a young adult, Clément tried professional boxing but remained drawn to acting. He studied under Lucien Guitry and toured stage productions using the name René Duclos. Upon Harry Baur's advice, he focused on Parisian theater, performing in operettas like Pour ton Bonheur and Les trois valses alongside Pierre Fresnay and Yvonne Printemps. He entered French sound cinema in 1934 with minor roles, including Le Train de 8:47 featuring Fernandel. Director Jean-Benoit Lévy encouraged him to adopt the name René Dary. His breakthrough came as the anarchist sailor in Léon Mathot's Le Révolte. Dary then specialized in portraying tough, reserved sailors who concealed a generous nature amid external roughness, in films such as Nord-Atlantique, Forte Tête, Le Café du port, and À la belle frégate. In 1944, he reached a peak playing a repentant bad boy in Léo Joannon's Carrefour des enfants perdus (Crossroads of the Lost Children). During World War II, in 1943, while filming 120, Quai de la Gare with Sophie Desmarets and Jean Paredes, Dary became the first actor to portray the detective Nestor Burma on screen, a character created by novelist Léo Malet. Afterward, his film popularity waned, except for his role as Riton, Max's (Jean Gabin) friend, in Touchez pas au grisbi! He remained active on stage, finding considerable success in the 1960s, and appeared in television dramas. Clément Mary, known also as Bébé and René Dary, passed away on October 9, 1974, in Plan-de-Cuques (Bouches-du-Rhône). He also authored a novel titled Express 407.
