Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Henri Baudin

[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

French actor Henri Pierre Baudin was born in Lyon, Rhône, France on March 11, 1882. He was nicknamed “'L'homme aux cent visages” (The man with a hundred faces) for his remarkable range of roles, including Vitalis in “Sans famille,” M. Lepic in “Poil de carotte”, Spendius in “Salammbô”, Henri IV in “La Bouquetière des innocents”, Sarati in “Sarati le terrible” and Antoine Macquart in “L'Assommoir”. After studying at the School of Fine Arts in his hometown, he worked as a sculptor-decorator in various workshops. He also attended the Conservatory and performed utilities in various theaters before joining a traveling acting troupe. In the early 1910s, he moved to Paris, where he joined Gabrielle Réjane's company at the Théâtre rue Blanche.

Baudin made his film debut in André Hugon's film Under the Headlights in 1916. He also appeared in films abroad, making German productions with Lotte Neumann, Olga Engl and Olga Tschechowa as partners.

After his career in silent films, he became a character actor in later years including his only euro western as Tom Spielman in 1932’s “La terreur de la pampa” (The Terror of the Pampas) directed by Maurice Cammage and starring Fernandel, Joe Alex and Monette Dinay.

Baudin was married to actress Céline James (Célina Malvina Potel) [1888-1971]. In 1929, Henri bought a twenty-eight-room mill in a place called Les Millonets in Vienne-en-Arthies, where he retired for good in 1926. The actor fell in love with this place in the heart of Vexin while filming Georges Monca and Maurice “Kéroul's Le Chemineau in 2”. It was there that he died on October 2, 1953

BAUDIN, Henri (aka Baudin) (Henri Pierre Baudin) [3/11/1882, Lyon, Rhône, France – 10/2/1953, Vienne-en-Arthriet, Val-d'Oise, France] – theater, film actor married to Céline James

The Terror of the Pampas – 1932 (Tom Spielman)