Career
However, his most important, career-defining role came in 1934, when Jean Cocteau's play, La Machine infernale (The Infernal Machine), was released. When his film and stage career began rising quickly, World War II broke out. Aumont remained in France until 1942, when he realized that because he was Jewish he would have to flee the Nazis. From an unoccupied portion of Vichy territory, he migrated to New York City, then to Hollywood to pursue his film career.
He began working with MGM, however, he was not content while his fellow countrymen were fighting for their lives in Europe. After finishing the film The Cross of Lorraine, he joined the Free French Forces. He was sent to North Africa, where he participated in Operation Torch in Tunisia. Then, he moved with the Allied armies through Italy and France. Through the war, he was wounded twice. The first was on a mission with his brother; the second was more serious. Aumont's Jeep was blown up near a landmined bridge. General Diego Brosset, commander of the 1st Free French Division, to whom Aumont was aide de camp, was killed. For his bravery during the fighting, Aumont received the Legion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre.
He starred as the magician in Lili with Leslie Caron. He continued working with various prominent actors and directors. In the mid-1950s he appeared as a guest on the television show What's My Line? In the 1960s/70s he appeared in various Broadway productions, including Gigi. One of his last acting performances was in A Tale of Two Cities (1989). Two years later, he was decorated with the cross of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1991, he received an honorary César Award.
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“Whether lawyer, politician or executive, the American who knows what’s good for his career seeks an institutional rather than an individual identity. He becomes the man from NBC or IBM. The institutional imprint furnishes him with pension, meaning, proofs of existence. A man without a company name is a man without a country.”
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