French Actor Louis Jourdan (1921-2015)

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2015-02-15

FSWL are saddened to report the passing of French actor Louis Jourdan, member of the James Bond family since 1983 after portraying the villain (Kamal Khan) in Octopussy (1983) which celebrated it's 30th anniversary in 2013. Our thoughts and prayers go to his family.

"Very sad. There's nobody I'd rather go back with to Sotheby's than Louis. A wonderful and pleasant man with great sense of humour. A real gentleman. R.I.P." – Kristina Wayborn (Magda in Octopussy)

"Sad to hear that he died Louis Jourdan. I was left with many memories of when we filmed Octopussy." – Roger Moore (James Bond in Octopussy)

"Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Louis Jourdan." – Kabir Bedi (Gobinda in Octopussy)

"It is sad about Louis Jordan. Passing away. He was such a lovely person. Very friendly and charming. The acting world has lost a great actor." – Albert Moses (Sadruddin in Octopussy)

"Louis Jourdan was a charming and talented actor. On set he was a true gentleman. I’ve always regarded him as a sad-eyed, lover, and romantic hero, how fitting that he should have passed away on St Valentine’s Day. In my opinion he was the greatest Bond villain as it wasn’t easy to see how such a sophisticated, debonair, handsome, elegant man could be so evil!! RIP Afghan prince and smuggler, Kamal Khan." – Safira Afzel (one of the Octopussy girls)

Louis Jordan obituary:
Louis Jordan (born 1921 in Marseille, France) died peacefully at the age of 93 at his home in Beverly Hills on 14th February 2015 (Valentine's Day). Jordan had a long and impressive resume as an actor and Bond fans will always remember him for the contribution to the 1983 film Octopussy starring Roger Moore. Our favourite conversation in the film:

[Kamal Khan:] "Spend the money quickly, Mr Bond.
[James Bond] "l intend to, Kamal Khan."

Other notable films he worked on include Alfred Hitchcock’s The Paradine Case (1947), Charles Vidor's The Swan (1956) with Grace Kelly, Gigi (1958) for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, Anthony Asquith's The V.I.P.s (1963) with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Richard Greene's The Count of Monte-Cristo (1975) with Donald Pleasence, and Wes Craven's Swamp Thing (1982).

Louis Jourdan also starred in BBC's 1977 film Count Dracula (with Bond girl Sue Vanner as one of Dracula's brides) directed by Philip Saville with his characteristic electronic video effects flourishes. Jourdan gave an understated yet elegant performance as Dracula - one of the classiest interpretations of Bram Stoker's vampire king.

In total, Mr. Jourdan worked on over 20 television series and over 60 movies between 1939 and 1992. His last film was Year of the Comet in 1992 (with Bond almuni Art Malik and Shane Rimmer in other roles).

In 2010, Louis Jordan was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in Los Angeles with several of his friends, including Sidney Poitier and Kirk Douglas, in attendance.

Louis had one son, Louis Henry Jourdan, but he sadly died in 1981. Louis' wife for more than 60 years, Berthe Frederique “Quique” Jourdan, passed away in 2014.

Other obituaries of Louis Jourdan:
>BBC News Europe (16-2-2015)
>Daily Mail (15-2-2015)
>The Guardian (15-2-2015)
>LA Times (15-2-2015)
>Variety (15-2-2015)

Photo above:
Signed photo from Louis Jourdan to FSWL founder Anders Frejdh. © From Sweden with Love.

For more information about Louis Jourdan's career, check out his IMDB profile:

www.imdb.com/name/nm0431139/

Tags:

#bond_villains

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French Actor Louis Jourdan (1921-2015)

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