Georges Méliès
Georges Méliès (December 9, 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.
Acted in
A Collection of Silent Films, Given Sound
2025
as The Gnome of the Clock, a halberdier
Méliès: Tales of Terror
2021
as The Melomaniac
The Méliès Mystery
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese
2019
as Magician (archive footage from "The Vanishing Lady")
El hombre que quiso ser Segundo
2014
as Self (archive footage)
The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
2012
as Self (archive footage)
The Extraordinary Voyage
2011
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Méliès' Magic Show
1997
as Divers
Cinematógrafo 1900
1979
as Self (archive footage)
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
1978
as Self (archive footage)
Violons d'Ingres
1939
as Himself (archive footage)
Gala Méliès
1929
as Himself
The Knight of the Snow
1912
as Devil
The Conquest of the Pole
1912
as Le professeur Mabouloff
The Diabolical Church Window
1911
Whimsical Illusions
1909
as The Magician
Fortune Favors the Brave
1909
as Gnome
The Diabolic Tenant
1909
as Le locataire diabolique
The Doctor's Secret
1909
Tribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
1908
as The Roman
Long Distance Wireless Photography
1908
The Indian Sorcerer
1908
as The Fakir
Satan in Prison
1907
as Satan
Good Glue Sticks
1907
Tunneling the English Channel
1907
The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
1907
as Professor of Astronomy
Ali Barbouyou and Ali Bouf, In Oil
1907
as Ali Barbouyou
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1907
The Witch
1906
as The Fairy Carabosse
The Mysterious Retort
1906
The Merry Frolics of Satan
1906
as Satan
A Desperate Crime
1906
A Roadside Inn
1906
as Drunk Traveler
The Hilarious Posters
1906
as The Bill Poster
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
1905
Rip's Dream
1905
as Rip Van Winkle
The Palace of the Arabian Nights
1905
as The Sorcerer Khalafar (uncredited)
A Mesmerian Experiment
1905
The Black Imp
1905
The Living Playing Cards
1905
as The Magician
The Christmas Angel
1904
as The Rag-and-Bone Man / Beggar on Crutches / Coal Seller
The Wandering Jew
1904
The Impossible Voyage
1904
as Mabouloff
The Mermaid
1904
The Devilish Plank
1904
The Firefall
1904
as Satan
The Cook in Trouble
1904
The Wonderful Living Fan
1904
Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
1904
A Moonlight Serenade
1904
The Clockmaker's Dream
1904
The Untamable Whiskers
1904
as Man with whiskers
The Fugitive Apparitions
1904
Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
1904
A Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself
1904
as The Magician / The Double
Tit for Tat
1904
The Terrible Turkish Executioner
1904
Faust in the Underworld
1903
as Mephistopholes
The Ballet Master's Dream
1903
Alcofribas, The Master Magician
1903
Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
1903
Jupiter's Thunderballs
1903
The Magic Lantern
1903
The Infernal Cauldron
1903
as Devil
Apparitions
1903
Extraordinary Illusions
1903
The Kingdom of the Fairies
1903
as Prince Bel-Azor
The Melomaniac
1903
The Monster
1903
The Oracle of Delphi
1903
The Mystical Flame
1903
The Infernal Cakewalk
1903
as Devil
Misfortune Never Comes Alone
1903
as Lamplighter
The Marvellous Wreath
1903
as Musketeer
The Mysterious Box
1903
Robinson Crusoe
1902
as Robinson Crusoé
Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
1902
as Gulliver
Sure Cure for Indigestion
1902
as Doctor
An Impossible Balancing Feat
1902
The Human Fly
1902
as The Hindoo Magician
The Treasures of Satan
1902
A Trip to the Moon
1902
as Professor Barbenfouillis / The Moon
The Prolific Magical Egg
1902
The Dwarf and the Giant
1901
The Man with the Rubber Head
1901
as The Chemist / The India Rubber Head
The Devil and the Statue
1901
Hat of Many Surprises
1901
Bluebeard
1901
as Barbe-bleue
The Prince of Magicians
1901
as Excelsior
The Temple of the Sun
1901
A Maiden's Paradise
1901
as The Wizard
The Magician's Cavern
1901
The Triple Headed Lady
1901
The Brahmin and the Butterfly
1901
as The brahmin
The Christmas Dream
1900
as Beggar
Joan of Arc
1900
as Père de Jeanne
The Artist and the Dummy
1900
as Artiste
The One-Man Band
1900
as All the members of the orchestra
The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
1900
as Wrestler
Going to Bed Under Difficulties
1900
as The Man
Up-to-Date Spiritualism
1900
as Le comique excentrique
The Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
1900
as Prince
A Fantastical Meal
1900
as The Man
The Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
1900
as Conjurer
The Magic Book
1900
as The Magician
The Dreyfus Affair
1899
as Fernand Labori
Cinderella
1899
as The Gnome of the Clock / The Swiss at the Entrance to the Church
Summoning the Spirits
1899
The Human Pyramid
1899
A Midnight Episode
1899
as The Sleeping Man (uncredited)
The Devil in a Convent
1899
as The Devil
An Up-to-Date Conjurer
1899
as Magician
The Mysterious Knight
1899
as Le chevalier mystère
The Mysterious Portrait
1899
as L'illusioniste
Cleopatra's Tomb
1899
as un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
The Pillar of Fire
1899
The Four Troublesome Heads
1898
as Conjurer
The Astronomer's Dream
1898
as Astronomer
The Temptation of St. Anthony
1898
Pygmalion and Galatea
1898
as Pygmalion
The Magician
1898
as Le Sculpteur
The Famous Box Trick
1898
as The Magician
Faust and Marguerite
1897
as Méphistophélès
The Haunted Castle
1897
The Bewitched Inn
1897
as The Traveler
Naval Combat in Greece
1897
as The Captain
Between Calais and Dover
1897
as The Man in the Checked Suit
A Nightmare
1896
as Man
The Haunted Castle
1896
as Mephistopheles
Conjuring
1896
as Himself
A Terrible Night
1896
as L'homme qui essaie de dormir
The Vanishing Lady
1896
as Magician
Playing Cards
1896
as Un joueur de cartes