Louis Velle, young star of the 1960s and 1970s, hero of numerous successful television films and series (La Demoiselle d'Avignon) co-written with his wife Frédérique Hébrard, died on Thursday, February 2 at the age of 96, his family announced the next day. The actor who played in the theater, on television and in the cinema was one of the deans of French cinema. "Writer and actor of many talents, he was the faithful traveling companion of several generations of French people," according to the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, who paid tribute to him.
Louis Velle, trained at the conservatory, made his film debut in the 1950s (J’avais 7 filles, with Maurice Chevalier, Le Coin tranquille with Dany Robin). During his career, he played in around thirty films, directed by André Hunebelle, Yves Allégret, Michel Deville, Philippe de Broca and Jean Girault.
In the 1960s, he embarked on writing for television alongside Frédérique Hébrard, novelist, his wife since 1949. Louis Velle notably became famous thanks to his role in La Demoiselle d'Avignon where he played alongside Marthe Keller. This six-episode soap opera, broadcast in 1972 on the second channel of the ORTF, told the love story of a mysterious princess from the North and a diplomat. Among their other successes are Docteur Caraïbes (1973, first ORTF channel), Le Lys dans la vallée (1982, Antenne 2), Le Mari de l'Ambassadeur (1990, Antenne 2, directed by their son François Velle) or Le Château des Oliviers with Brigitte Fossey (1993, France 2).
Widely present in the theatre, where he has created and performed more than 20 plays, Louis Velle has also taken part in the program Au théâtre ce soir on numerous occasions.