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One of the rare actors to live beyond a century and continue performing past 90, Roger Karl (1882-1984) was an exceptionally talented individual. He might have pursued a career as an artist—he counted Pablo Picasso among his friends—or as a writer, being close to Guillaume Apollinaire and Paul Léautaud and eventually authoring a memoir, "Journal d'un homme de nulle part." However, Roger Karl chose acting, studying drama first at the Conservatoire de Paris and then at the Odéon. Over his lengthy career, he appeared in prestigious plays such as Molière's "L'Amour médecin," Jules Romains's "Le Roi masqué," Albert Camus's "Le Malentendu," and Shakespeare's "Henry IV," performing alongside notable figures like the legendary Sarah Bernhardt and working under renowned directors including Jacques Copeau, Louis Jouvet, and Jean Vilar.
Though theater was his passion and preferred medium, Roger Karl also built a film career, debuting on screen in 1909—an uncommon move for serious stage actors of his era—and concluding his on-screen work 65 years later with a 1974 TV movie. His film career was less consistent than his stage work, marked by sporadic appearances after 1946, yet it featured notable highlights. Among these were five films directed by avant-garde pioneer Marcel L'Herbier: "Phantasmes" (1917), "Man of the Sea" (1920), "The Living Image" or "The Lady of Petrograd" (1926), "The Devil in the Heart" (1927), and "L'Argent" (1928), with two—"L'Homme du large" and "L'Argent"—considered timeless masterpieces. Karl’s portrayal of a rugged Breton fisherman, a desperate but steadfast father of a ne'er-do-well, was especially compelling, leading him to be cast frequently as authoritative figures such as bankers, police commissioners, bishops, nobles, and ministers.
Despite his dignified and handsome portrayals, many of the bourgeois dramas he appeared in during the 1930s have not aged well. Still, some films remain engaging today, including Jean Grémillon’s "Misdeal" (1928) alongside Charles Dullin and his wife, Julien Duvivier’s "The Golem: The Legend of Prague" (1936), and "Under Western Eyes" (1936). Interestingly, while the quality of his films improved in the early 1940s, the military roles he took on were often aligned with the wrong side of history. He played a German officer in Christian-Jaque's acclaimed adaptation of Maupassant’s "Angel and Sinner" (1945) and in Maurice de Canonge’s less notable resistance drama "Mission spéciale" (1946). Following this period, Roger Karl largely disappeared from film but continued to enjoy a distinguished theater career.
In sum, although cinema was not Roger Karl’s primary artistic focus, his contributions to film remain significant and should not be overlooked.
