Jess Hahn

Jess Hahn — Biography

Born Jesse Beryle Hahn, he came into the world on 29 October 1921 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He studied English and physical education at Murray State University in Kentucky, where he also began learning French. During the Second World War he served in the U.S. Army as a physical instructor and took part in the Normandy landings. In 1949 he settled in Paris, working first as a jazz musician before moving into acting, shortening his name to "Jess" because it was easier to pronounce in French. He made his film debut in La Môme Vert-de-Gris (1953), opposite Eddie Constantine's Lemmy Caution, and his imposing build and American-accented French led him to be cast repeatedly as gangsters or tough military men. He also worked in theatre, debuting at the Théâtre Fontaine in 1954 and touring France in The Odd Couple in 1968. Later in his career he was regularly employed by director Jean-Marie Pallardy, retiring from acting in 1989 with Le retour de Lemmy Caution. He lived on a farm in Dinard with his wife Marcelline, a radiologist, and died in Saint-Malo on 29 June 1998 at age 76; a street there was later named in his honor.