Volume III: Biographies

PIERAUD, Jean Pierre ("Le Colosse") *

Actor (date?)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Jean Pierre Pieraud (anglicized as Pierard) was a Thanhouser player at one time, according to 1916-1918 editions of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory.

Biographical Notes: Born in Charleroi, Belgium, Jean Pierre Pieraud studied to be a veterinarian. He traveled as a clown-baby and as an eccentric acrobat with circuses throughout Europe. He spent four seasons in Berlin, two in Petrograd, and one each in Budapest, Romania, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Beginning in 1901, he was a professional wrestler. His immense weight, given as 342 pounds in the 1918 edition of the Motion Picture Studio Directory, gained him the stage name of "Colosse." The actor's screen career included work with Pathé in Paris, with Marcou and Eclipse Films, and in America, in comedy roles for Universal, Gaumont, and Thanhouser. He appeared in the October 31, 1915 Casino Star Comedy for Gaumont release of Zablitzky's Waterloo. In the 1916-1918 period his address was given as 544 West 149th Street, New York City. Jean Pierre Pieraud's death occurred in Paris, France on August 28, 1937.

Note: His surname was spelled as "Pierard" in a biographical sketch in The Moving Picture World, November 6, 1915 and in the 1916 and 1918 editions of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory. In an obituary in The Billboard it was spelled as "Pierade."

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