Biography of George

Melies
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Name : George Melies ( MarieGeorges-Jean-Melies
Born : 8 December 1861
In Paris, France
Died
: 21 January 1938 ( aged 76 )
Nationality
: Frence
Occupation
: Filmmaker, film maker, set designer, illusionist,
toymaker, costume designer
Years active
: 1888-1923
Spauses
: 1. Eugenie Genin ( 188-1913; her death) ( two
children)
2. Jeanne dAlcy (1925-1938)

Early life and education

Marie-George-Jean-Melies was born 8 December 1861 in Paris to Jean-Louis-Stanislas
Melies and his wife, Johannah-Catherine Schuering. His father had moved to Paris in
1843 as a journeyman shoemaker and began working at a boot factory, where he
met Meliess mother. Johannah-Catherines father had been the official boot maker of
the Dutch court before a fire ruined his business. She helped to educate Jean-LouisStanislas. Eventually the two married, founded a high-quality boot factory on the
Boulevard Saint-Martin, and had sons Henri and Gaston; by the time of thirt son
Georgesbirth, the family had become wealthy.
George Melies attended the Lycee Michelet from age seven until it was bombed
during the Franco-Prussian War; he was then sent to the prestigious Lycee Louis-leGrand. In his memories, Melies emphasises his formal, classical education, as
opposed to accusations early in his career that most filmmakers had been illiterates
incapable of producing anything artistic. However, he acknowledged that his
creative instincts usually outweighed intellectual ones. The artistic passion was too
strong for him, and while he would ponder a French composition, his pen
mechanically sketched potraits of his professor. The young Georges began building
cardboard puppet theatres at age ten and moved to craft even more sophisticated
marionettes as a teenager.

Stage Career
After completing his education, Melies joined his brothers in the family shoe
business, where he learned how to sew. After three years of mandatory military
service, his father sent him to London to work as a clerk for a family friend.
While in London, he began to visit the Egyptian Hall, run by the famous Landon
illusionist John Nevil Maskelyne, and he developed a lifelong passion for stage
magic. Then he marry with Eugenie Genin and they had two children:
Georgette, born in 1888 and Andre, born in 1901. While working at the family
company, Melies attending performances at the Theatre Robert-Houdin, and he
also began taking magic lesson from Emile Voisin, who gave him the
opportunity to perform his first public shows, at the Cabinet Fantastique of the
Grevin Wax Museum,and later, atthe Galerie Vivienne.
In 1888, Meliess father retired, he purchased the Theatre Robert Houdin. Over
the nine years, he personally created over 30 new illusions that brought more
comedy and melodramic to performances, it attedance greatly improved. As
owner of the Theatre Robert Houdin, he acted as director, producer, writer, set
and costume designer, as well as inventing many of the magical tricks.