Georges Aminel

Born Jacques Maline (Aminel being an anagram of his second name), Geroges Aminel was born to a Parisian mother and a father from Martinique. Being biracial would prove a never-ending problem for someone who aspired to become a great name of the theatre. Georges Aminel started his career very early, at the tender age of 19, as a dumb Polynesian in a 1941 play titled 'Faux Jour'. But all he got for years were minor ethnic roles such an old Negro, an Arab, a Jew, a fanatic native ..., which left him dissatisfied. In 1954 at last he was given the more rewarding part of Bistouri, a Black doctor, in Yves Jamiaque's 'Bistouri'. Acclaimed by the critic, he was later chosen by Jean-Louis Barrault who cast him in classics like 'Le soulier de satin', 'Madame Sans Gêne' and in Shakespeare's 'Henry IV', where he was an impressive Duke of York. And, to crown it all, he was the first Creole actor to enter the famous 'Comédie Française' company. But he resigned in 1972 and as a result, his career declined. Aminel then decided to concentrate on dubbing, in which he had excelled since the early fifties. His deep, powerful, noble voice indeed made him an ideal French substitute for for such giants of the screen as Orson Welles, Yul Brynner, Vittorio Gassman and many many others. He was also a natural choice for African American actors like Yaphet Kotto, Harry Belafonte and mainly James Earl Jones in three 'Star Wars' installments. As Darth Vader, he matched up with Jones. His voice is as unforgettable as his model's. As for his film career, it does not do justice to his talents. His roles are too few and he deserved better. Nevertheless, Aminel's voice will always remain inseparable from a great deal of American and Italian classics for the viewers who have seen them in French version. Georges Aminel died in 2007. He is buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.