Georges Méliès

Biography

Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. One of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, tracking shots, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work, Méliès pioneered effects that would define cinematic special effects for decades to come.  A prolific innovator in the use of special effects, Méliès accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, a method of creating seamless disappearing and/or appearing effects used throughout both films and television for decades to come.  Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician". Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896).   In early 1909 Méliès stopped making films to protest Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Parents Company monopoly, and presided over the first meeting of the International Filmmakers Congress in Paris.  Further financial hardships created by his opposition to Edison and diminishing influence, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he made a meager living as a candy and toy salesma in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers.  Although he was recognized for his contributions in cinema, Méliès spent most of his later years in poverty before being accepted into La Maison du Retraite du Cinéma, the film industry's retirement home in Orly.  

Known For

A Trip to the Moon

The Extraordinary Voyage

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Le manoir du diable

The Impossible Voyage

The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès

The Pillar of Fire

Cinderella

All Movies (151)

• Satans Sacrilegious Saga2025 · as Devil
• Alcoléa & cie Documentary2024
• Méliès: Tales of Terror2021 · as The Melomaniac
• The Méliès Mystery2021 · as Self (archive footage)
• El hombre que quiso ser Segundo2014 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès2012 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Extraordinary Voyage2011 · as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
• The Magic of Méliès1997 · as Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
• Cinematógrafo 19001979 · as Self (archive footage)
• Violons d'Ingres1939 · as Himself (archive footage)
• Gala Méliès1929 · as Himself
• The Knight of the Snow1912 · as Devil
• The Conquest of the Pole1912 · as Le professeur Mabouloff
• The Diabolical Church Window1911
• Whimsical Illusions1909 · as The Magician
• The Diabolic Tenant1909 · as Le locataire diabolique
• The Doctor's Secret1909
• The Fortune Favors the Brave1908 · as Gnome
• French Cops Learning English1908 · as The Police Inspector
• Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler1908 · as The Roman
• The Indian Sorcerer1908 · as The Fakir
• Les infortunes des patineurs1908 · as Passerby
• Not Guilty1908 · as The Old Farmer
• The New Lord of the Village1908 · as Le fantôme de César
• In the Barber Shop1908
• Long Distance Wireless Photography1908
• The Good Luck of a 'Souse'1907 · as Le commissaire de police
• The King and the Jester1907 · as Tribolet
• Satan in Prison1907 · as Satan
• Good Glue Sticks1907
• The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon1907 · as Professor of Astronomy
• Delirium in a Studio1907 · as Ali Barbouyou
• Tunneling the English Channel1907
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea1907
• The Witch1906 · as The Fairy Carabosse
• The Mysterious Retort1906
• The Merry Frolics of Satan1906 · as Satan
• A Roadside Inn1906 · as Drunk Traveler
• A Desperate Crime1906
• The Hilarious Posters1906 · as The Bill Poster
• The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship1905
• Rip's Dream1905 · as Rip Van Winkle
• Ulysses and the Giant Polyphemus1905 · as Ulysses (uncredited)
• The Palace of the Arabian Nights1905 · as The Sorcerer Khalafar (uncredited)
• A Mesmerian Experiment1905
• The Lilliputian Minuet1905
• The Black Imp1905
• The Living Playing Cards1905 · as The Magician
• The Christmas Angel1904 · as The Rag-and-Bone Man / Beggar on Crutches / Coal Seller
• The Firefall1904 · as Satan
• The Wandering Jew1904
• The Impossible Voyage1904 · as Mabouloff
• The Mermaid1904
• The Devilish Plank1904
• The Cook in Trouble1904
• The Wonderful Living Fan1904
• Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer1904
• Faust and Marguerite1904 · as Méphistophélès
• The Imperceptible Transmutations1904 · as Prince
• The Clockmaker's Dream1904
• The Untamable Whiskers1904 · as Man with whiskers
• The Fugitive Apparitions1904
• Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter1904
• A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself1904 · as The Magician / The Double
• Tit for Tat1904
• A Moonlight Serenade1903
• The Terrible Turkish Executioner1903 · as The Executioner
• Faust in the Underworld1903 · as Mephistopholes
• The Ballet Master's Dream1903
• The Magic Lantern1903
• Alcofribas, The Master Magician1903
• Extraordinary Illusions1903
• Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid1903
• Jupiter's Thunderballs1903
• Apparitions1903
• The Infernal Cauldron1903 · as Devil
• The Kingdom of the Fairies1903 · as Prince Bel-Azor
• The Monster1903 · as The priest
• The Melomaniac1903
• The Oracle of Delphi1903
• The Mystical Flame1903
• The Mysterious Box1903
• The Infernal Cake-Walk1903 · as Devil
• Misfortune Never Comes Alone1903 · as Lamplighter
• Beelzebub's Daughters1903
• The Marvellous Wreath1903
• The Enchanted Basket1903
• Robinson Crusoe1902 · as Robinson Crusoé
• Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants1902 · as Gulliver
• Sure Cure for Indigestion1902 · as Doctor
• An Impossible Balancing Feat1902 · as The Magician
• The Human Fly1902 · as The Hindoo Magician
• The Treasures of Satan1902
• A Trip to the Moon1902 · as Professeur Barbenfouillis / La Lune
• The Prolific Magical Egg1902
• The Dwarf and the Giant1901
• The Man with the Rubber Head1901 · as The Chemist / The India Rubber Head
• The Devil and the Statue1901
• Hat of Many Surprises1901
• Bluebeard1901 · as Barbe-bleue
• The Prince of Magicians1901 · as Excelsior
• The Temple of the Sun1901
• A Maiden's Paradise1901 · as The Wizard
• The Magician's Cavern1901
• The Triple Headed Lady1901
• The Brahmin and the Butterfly1901 · as The brahmin
• Barbe-bleue1901 · as Bluebeard
• The Astronomer's Dream1900 · as Astronomer
• The Christmas Dream1900 · as Beggar
• Joan of Arc1900 · as Père de Jeanne
• The Artist and the Dummy1900 · as Artiste
• The One-Man Band1900 · as All the members of the orchestra
• The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match1900 · as Wrestler
• Going to Bed Under Difficulties1900 · as The Man
• Up-to-Date Spiritualism1900 · as Le comique excentrique
• The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy1900 · as Prince
• A Fantastical Meal1900 · as The Man
• The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head1900 · as Conjurer
• The Magic Book1900 · as The Magician
• The Dreyfus Affair1899 · as Fernand Labori
• Cinderella1899 · as le gnome de la pendule / le suisse à l'entrée de l'église
• Summoning the Spirits1899
• The Human Pyramid1899
• A Midnight Episode1899 · as The Sleeping Man (uncredited)
• The Devil in a Convent1899 · as The Devil
• An Up-to-Date Conjurer1899 · as Magician
• The Mysterious Knight1899 · as Le chevalier mystère
• The Mysterious Portrait1899 · as L'illusioniste
• Cleopatra's Tomb1899 · as un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
• The Pillar of Fire1899
• The Four Troublesome Heads1898 · as Conjurer
• The Temptation of St. Anthony1898 · as Saint Antoine
• Pygmalion and Galatea1898 · as Pygmalion
• The Famous Box Trick1898 · as The Magician
• The Magician1898 · as Le Sculpteur
• The Bridegroom's Dilemma1898 · as Le marié
• Faust and Marguerite1897 · as Méphistophélès
• Le château hanté1897 · as Mephisto
• The Bewitched Inn1897 · as The Traveler
• Naval Combat in Greece1897 · as The Captain
• Between Calais and Dover1897 · as The Man in the Checked Suit
• Dancing in a Harem1897
• A Funny Mahometan1897 · as The Funny Mahometan
• Gugusse and the Automaton1897 · as Gugusse
• A Nightmare1896 · as Man
• Le manoir du diable1896 · as Mephistopheles
• Conjuring1896 · as Himself
• Playing Cards1896 · as Un joueur de cartes
• A Terrible Night1896 · as L'homme qui essaie de dormir
• The Vanishing Lady1896 · as Le magicien
• Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913)— · as Various Roles

All TV Shows (1)

• Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma1978 · as Self (archive footage)