RIP Gerard Barray

 

French film and theatre actor Gerard Barray died in Marbella, Andalusia, Spain on February 15, 2024. He was 92. He was born Gérard Marcel Louis Baraillé on November 12, 1931, in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrénées, France. Barray began studying medicine, but soon dropped out with the intention of becoming an actor. In 1952 he was working as a pianist in a Parisian jazz club. He composed songs, performed in the cabaret La Rive Gauche and attended René Simon's acting classes. In 1955 he made his debut on stage and in front of a film camera. In 1957-1958 he did his military service in Algeria. Upon his return to Paris, he returned to acting. Among his most famous film roles is the character of D'Artagnan in the adventure film “The Three Musketeers” (1961). He played skilled swordsmen and other adventurous heroes in films such as “Scaramouche” and “Knight Pardaillan”. During the filming of the Mayan film “The Treasure of the Aztecs”, he met the Spanish actress and dancer Teresa Lorca, whom he soon married. As film offers gradually dwindled, they moved with their children to Marbella, Spain. They opened a bar at the Puente Romano Hotel, where they sang and played the piano in the evenings. Barray organized exhibitions, invested in buildings, and occasionally took on supporting role in TV series. Barry appeared in two Euro-westerns, the previously mentioned “Treasure of the Aztecs” and “The Pyramid of the Sun god” as Count Alfonso di Rodriganda y Sevilla in both films which were released in 1965.