Henry de La Falaise

Henry De La Falaise

Henry de La Falaise, so-called Marquis de La Coudraye, born James Henry Le Bailly de La Falaise (Saint-Cyr-l'École, France, February 11, 1898 – April 10, 1972), was a French nobleman, translator, film director, film producer, sometimes actor and war hero who was best known for his high-profile marriages to two leading Hollywood actresses.

His actual surname was Le Bailly, though he and other members of his family used Le Bailly de La Falaise, referring to an ancestral estate; it is typically abbreviated to de La Falaise. As the marquis told The New York Times (7 October 1925), "My patronymic name is Le Bailly, but ... I use the name de la Falaise because it is one of the great-grandfather branches of the Le Bailly family. De La Falaise is the only existing branch of that family today. So this should be my entire name: James Henry Le Bailly de La Falaise, Marquis de La Coudraye".

The title held by the head of the family, Marquis de La Coudraye, dating from 1707, was granted, by an 1876 act of succession, to the younger son of Pacôme-François Le Bailly, Seigneur de La Falaise, and his wife, Pauline-Louise-Victoire de Loynes, daughter of the Marquis de La Coudraye. However, the title of Marquis was never registered at the "Sceau de France, Ministry of Justice" and is therefore not valid. The same goes for the title of Count. Male descendants can on the other hand claim the title of Ecuyer. Descendants of that couple use the surname "Le Bailly de La Falaise", and after the act of succession, the family's younger sons have called themselves Count de La Falaise. The origins of the Le Bailly de La Falaise can be found in the book "Du Pays de Caux à la Vendée, Histoire et Généalogie des LE BAILLY de LA FALAISE et de leurs alliances, du XVème siècle à nos jours" by GEOFFROY GUERRY (2011)