Armand Dutertre

Armand Dutertre (17 July 1854 – 31 May 1932) was a French and Polish actor.

He was born Bolesław Kamil Plucinski in Lublin, Poland (then part of the Russian Empire) and died in Nice, France.

Boleslaw Kamil Plucinski professionally known as Armand Dutertre was a silent movie and theater actor. Born in Lublin on 17 July 1854, his father, Apolinary Plucinski, was a Polish insurgent, one of the organizers of the January Uprising in Lublin in January 1863. It was also the reason which forced Plucinski's family to move to Paris. After having arrived in Paris, Apolinary Plucinski started working as a professor in Polish school. Young Bolesław had a great opportunity to be educated in two languages and two cultures. He began his acting lessons very early; he was formed by the great actors from La comedy Française, what was his highest reference. During his career in Paris he appeared in many notable productions at the Théâtre de l'Odéon, Théâtre des Batignolles, Fantasies-Parisienne Theatre, as well as at theatres in Reims, Brussels, Nice.

Armand Dutertre – his pseudonym in France as an actor – appeared in thirty-five silent films. Among his numerous roles, his favourite was the one of the priest in Le Roman d'un Mousse (1914). It was one of Léonce Perret's movies with whom Dutertre made thirteen films. The most successful film in his career was The Garden of Allah (1927) directed by Rex Ingram, one of the most important movie director of this epoch. The film was shot on location in Cairo and Nice and had international success with very good reviews.

After many great performances and because of his talent, he was nominated as a director in the Theater in Cairo. The repertoire composed by Dutertre was only including the most valuable texts. He was also a director of Theatre in Brussels. In Nice, he worked for fifteen years as a professor as well as teaching acting at the Villa Thiole - the oldest fine arts school in the city.

For most of his life, Bolesław Kamil Plucinski was connected with the Association of Polish Students at the Polish School in Paris. He was invited to speak at many Polish cultural events. He was always satisfied to participate; he was born in a patriotic family and he always maintained his Polish identity.

Plucinski was married twice and had two children. Both children died before him. His first wife, Marie Plucinska (née Brzezicka) was a Polish pianist. Afterward, he married a factory worker from Saint-Quentin named Marie-Jeanne, who cared from him until his death. Despite his impressive career, Plucinski spent the last of his years in poverty and suffering from kidney disease. Before his death, he was motivated to perform some poetry recitals in the United States of America. On 31 May 1932, aged 78, Pluciński died after an episode of uremia while in hospital. He was interred at the Cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes on 2 June 1932 in a white marble tomb next to his mother and his first wife.

Selected filmography

Sources
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