Birth of Grégoire Aslan (March 28, 1908)

French-Armenian actor and musician Grégoire Aslan was a versatile presence in film and TV sets, as well as on the stage. 

He was born Krikor Aslanian to an Armenian family in Constantinople on March 28, 1908. They moved to Paris, and he made his professional debut at the age of eighteen as a vocalist, trumpeter and drummer with the dance band of Ray Ventura et ses Collegiens. He then launched an acting career under the name of Coco Aslan and also performed with guitarist Django Reinhardt.  

He appeared in more than 110 films and TV roles between 1935 and 1979. His first film appearance, uncredited, was in Marc Didier’s Le Billet de mille (1935). His first credited appearance happened in Feux de joie (1939). During World War II he toured South America with actor Louis Jouvet and eventually started his own theatre troupe. He became a ubiquitous presence in many British and American films, mostly in the role of foreigner – Russian, Frenchman, Italian, German, Albanian, and Middle Easterner – with equal expertise. He was married to French theater actress Denise Noël between 1948 and 1955. 

Aslan’s screen appearances include gangster boss Duca in Joe McBeth (1955), Herod in King of Kings (1961), and Pothinus in Cleopatra (1963). In 1961, he played in The Devil at 4 O’Clock along with Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy. His role was that of a criminal, Marcel, who finds repentance by giving his life to save children from being killed by a volcanic eruption on a South Sea island. He played a police chief in Paris When It Sizzles (1964) and The Return of the Pink Panther (1975). His final role was that of an Armenian priest in Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979), Peter’s Brook film based on the book by Greek Armenian mystic Georges Gurdjieff. He also appeared on the French stage in productions from 1946 to 1981.  

He died of a heart attack in Cornwall, England, on January 8, 1982.