Pierre Tornade

Pierre Tornade, born Pierre Tournadre on 21 January 1930 in Bort-les-Orgues in the Corrèze department of France, was a French actor whose career spanned film, television, theatre, and voice work. He died on 7 March 2012 in Rambouillet hospital following a coma brought on by an accidental fall in the stairway of his Yvelines residence the previous week. Over the course of his career, he appeared in more than 120 films and television productions between 1956 and 1998.

Tornade began his theatrical career at the age of 25 in Elle est folle, Carole at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. In 1956 he performed in the musical comedy Irma la douce, with music by Marguerite Monnot and book by Alexandre Breffort, and that same year made his film debut in Les Truands, the production in which he adopted the stage name Tornade. The following year he took on a role in Pericles, Prince of Tyre before joining Robert Dhéry's Branquignols troupe, whose members also included Jean Lefebvre, Michel Serrault, and Micheline Dax. It was through his association with that company that he came to Broadway, appearing in 1958 in the revue La Plume de Ma Tante.

His tall and imposing physical presence led to frequent casting as policemen and soldiers on French television. He became a recognizable figure in several sitcoms, including Thierry la Fronde in 1963, Le Chevalier d'Harmental in 1966, Les Sept de l'escalier quinze B in 1967, and Les Dossiers de l'agence O in 1968. Among his most prominent screen roles were Captain Dumont in the 1973 film Now Where Did the 7th Company Get to? and its sequels, the victim's father known as The Common Man in 1975, and Commissioner Florimond Faroux in the television series Nestor Burma.

Tornade was also a prolific voice actor. He provided the voice of village chief Vitalstatistix in the animated films Asterix the Gaul in 1967, Asterix and Cleopatra in 1968, and The Twelve Tasks of Asterix in 1976. He later voiced Averell Dalton in the Lucky Luke animated features Daisy Town in 1971, La Ballade des Dalton in 1978, and Lucky Luke the Lucky Cowboy in 1983. He subsequently took on the role of Obelix in four Asterix animated films: Asterix Versus Caesar in 1985, Asterix in Britain in 1986, Asterix and the Big Fight in 1989, and Asterix Conquers America in 1994. In 1996, Tornade was named Chevalier of the National Order of Merit.