Jean-Pierre Granval

Jean-Pierre Granval, born Jean-Pierre Charles Gribouval on December 10, 1923, was a French stage and film actor and theatre director who worked across the twentieth century until his death on May 28, 1998. He is buried in Pennedepie, in the Calvados department of Normandy.

Granval came from a distinguished theatrical family. His father, Charles Granval, and his mother, Madeleine Renaud, were both sociétaires of the Comédie-Française, placing him at the center of French classical theatre from birth.

His stage career extended to Broadway, where he performed between 1952 and 1957. His credits during that period included Les Adieux, Intermezzo, The Misanthrope, Christophe Colomb, and Hamlet.

In addition to his work as a performer, Granval directed for the theatre. His directing credits include a 1974 production of Paul Claudel's Sous le vent des îles Baléares at the Théâtre Récamier, Marcel Jouhandeau's Lettres d'une mère à son fils at La Criée and the Théâtre Renaud-Barrault in 1983, a 1984 adaptation of Gordon Dryland's Think of Africa titled Pense à l'Afrique at the Théâtre Renaud-Barrault, and Les Salons by Bernard Minoret and Claude Arnaud at the same venue in 1986.

Granval appeared in four feature films. His cinema work included Jean Renoir's Picnic on the Grass in 1959, in which he played the character Ritou, and the 1969 production Life Love Death. He also appeared in Jean Delannoy's Maigret and the Saint-Fiacre Case in 1959, playing a journalist. His television work included two films directed by Jean Renoir: The Doctor's Horrible Experiment in 1959, in which he played the hotel proprietor, and the 1972 television film Les Fossés de Vincennes, directed by Pierre Cardinal, in which he portrayed the counselor Réal.