Michel Subor

Michel Subor was born Mischa Subotzki in Paris, France in 1935, to anti-Bolshevik parents from the Soviet Union who had immigrated a few years earlier. His father was an engineer in Moscow, and his mother was born in Azerbaijan. Michel's sister moved to the United States as an adult. His career started with small roles in Frou-Frou (Augusto Genina, 1955) with Dany Robin, and the comedy Un drôle de dimanche/A Strange Sunday (Marc Allégret, 1958), followed by playing Jean Richard's son in the comedy Mon pote le gitan/My buddy the Gypsy (François Gir, Guy Lionel, 1959). He had his first leading role as the lover of Brigitte Bardot's character in the sexy comedy La Bride sur le Cou/Please, Not Now! (Roger Vadim, 1961). The year before Subor had completed his most important early role in Jean-Luc Godard's Le Petit Soldat/The Little Soldier (1960). The film was banned from release in France for three years because it refers to the use of torture on both the French and Algerian sides during the Algerian struggle for independence. Subor plays Bruno Forestier, a young, disillusioned man who becomes involved in politics, yet in spite of the fact that he stands up to torture and commits murder because of this involvement, he does not have deep political beliefs. Subor also provided the narrator's voice in another classic of the Nouvelle Vague, Jules and Jim (1962) (François Truffaut, 1962).