Directing · Paris, France · Born December 8, 1861
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.
MovieSatans Sacrilegious Saga
2025
as Devil
MovieAlcoléa & cie Documentary
2024
MovieMéliès: Tales of Terror
2021
as The Melomaniac
MovieThe Méliès Mystery
2021
as Self (archive footage)
MovieEl hombre que quiso ser Segundo
2014
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Cinemagician, Georges Méliès
2012
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Extraordinary Voyage
2011
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
MovieThe Magic of Méliès
1997
as Self / Various Roles (archive footage)
MovieCinematógrafo 1900
1979
as Self (archive footage)
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
1978
as Self (archive footage)
MovieViolons d'Ingres
1939
as Himself (archive footage)
MovieGala Méliès
1929
as Himself
MovieThe Knight of the Snow
1912
as Devil
MovieThe Conquest of the Pole
1912
as Le professeur Mabouloff
MovieThe Diabolical Church Window
1911
MovieWhimsical Illusions
1909
as The Magician
MovieThe Diabolic Tenant
1909
as Le locataire diabolique
MovieThe Doctor's Secret
1909
The Fortune Favors the Brave
1908
as Gnome
MovieFrench Cops Learning English
1908
as The Police Inspector
MovieTribulations; or, The Misfortunes of a Cobbler
1908
as The Roman
The Indian Sorcerer
1908
as The Fakir
MovieLes infortunes des patineurs
1908
as Passerby
MovieNot Guilty
1908
as The Old Farmer
MovieThe New Lord of the Village
1908
as Le fantôme de César
MovieIn the Barber Shop
1908
MovieLong Distance Wireless Photography
1908
MovieThe Good Luck of a 'Souse'
1907
as Le commissaire de police
MovieThe King and the Jester
1907
as Tribolet
MovieSatan in Prison
1907
as Satan
MovieGood Glue Sticks
1907
MovieThe Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and Moon
1907
as Professor of Astronomy
MovieDelirium in a Studio
1907
as Ali Barbouyou
MovieTunneling the English Channel
1907
Movie20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1907
MovieThe Witch
1906
as The Fairy Carabosse
MovieThe Mysterious Retort
1906
MovieThe Merry Frolics of Satan
1906
as Satan
MovieA Roadside Inn
1906
as Drunk Traveler
MovieA Desperate Crime
1906
MovieThe Hilarious Posters
1906
as The Bill Poster
MovieThe Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship
1905
MovieRip's Dream
1905
as Rip Van Winkle
MovieUlysses and the Giant Polyphemus
1905
as Ulysses (uncredited)
MovieThe Palace of the Arabian Nights
1905
as The Sorcerer Khalafar (uncredited)
MovieA Mesmerian Experiment
1905
MovieThe Lilliputian Minuet
1905
MovieThe Black Imp
1905
MovieThe Living Playing Cards
1905
as The Magician
MovieThe Christmas Angel
1904
as The Rag-and-Bone Man / Beggar on Crutches / Coal Seller
MovieThe Firefall
1904
as Satan
MovieThe Wandering Jew
1904
MovieThe Impossible Voyage
1904
as Мабулофф
MovieThe Mermaid
1904
MovieThe Devilish Plank
1904
MovieThe Cook in Trouble
1904
MovieThe Wonderful Living Fan
1904
MovieTchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
1904
MovieFaust and Marguerite
1904
as Méphistophélès
MovieThe Imperceptible Transmutations
1904
as Prince
MovieThe Clockmaker's Dream
1904
MovieThe Untamable Whiskers
1904
as Man with whiskers
MovieThe Fugitive Apparitions
1904
MovieEvery Man His Own Cigar Lighter
1904
MovieA Wager Between Two Magicians, or, Jealous of Myself
1904
as The Magician / The Double
MovieTit for Tat
1904
MovieA Moonlight Serenade
1903
MovieThe Terrible Turkish Executioner
1903
as The Executioner
MovieFaust in the Underworld
1903
as Mephistopholes
MovieThe Ballet Master's Dream
1903
MovieThe Magic Lantern
1903
MovieAlcofribas, The Master Magician
1903
MovieExtraordinary Illusions
1903
MovieBob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
1903
MovieJupiter's Thunderballs
1903
MovieApparitions
1903
MovieThe Infernal Cauldron
1903
as Devil
MovieThe Kingdom of the Fairies
1903
as Принц Бель-Азор
MovieThe Monster
1903
as The priest
MovieThe Melomaniac
1903
MovieThe Oracle of Delphi
1903
MovieThe Mystical Flame
1903
MovieThe Mysterious Box
1903
MovieThe Infernal Cake-Walk
1903
as Devil
MovieMisfortune Never Comes Alone
1903
as Lamplighter
Beelzebub's Daughters
1903
MovieThe Marvellous Wreath
1903
The Enchanted Basket
1903
MovieRobinson Crusoe
1902
as Robinson Crusoé
MovieGulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
1902
as Gulliver
MovieSure Cure for Indigestion
1902
as Doctor
MovieAn Impossible Balancing Feat
1902
as The Magician
MovieThe Human Fly
1902
as The Hindoo Magician
MovieThe Treasures of Satan
1902
MovieA Trip to the Moon
1902
as Professeur Barbenfouillis / La Lune
MovieThe Prolific Magical Egg
1902
MovieThe Dwarf and the Giant
1901
MovieThe Man with the Rubber Head
1901
as Аптекар / Гумова голова
MovieThe Devil and the Statue
1901
MovieHat of Many Surprises
1901
MovieBluebeard
1901
as Barbe-bleue
MovieThe Prince of Magicians
1901
as Excelsior
The Temple of the Sun
1901
A Maiden's Paradise
1901
as The Wizard
MovieThe Magician's Cavern
1901
MovieThe Triple Headed Lady
1901
MovieThe Brahmin and the Butterfly
1901
as The brahmin
MovieThe Astronomer's Dream
1900
as Астроном
MovieThe Christmas Dream
1900
as Beggar
MovieJoan of Arc
1900
as Père de Jeanne
MovieThe Artist and the Dummy
1900
as Artiste
MovieThe One-Man Band
1900
as All the members of the orchestra
MovieThe Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
1900
as Wrestler
MovieGoing to Bed Under Difficulties
1900
as The Man
Up-to-Date Spiritualism
1900
as Le comique excentrique
MovieThe Wizard, the Prince and the Good Fairy
1900
as Prince
MovieThe Magic Book
1900
as The Magician
MovieA Fantastical Meal
1900
as The Man
MovieThe Triple Conjurer and the Living Head
1900
as Conjurer
MovieThe Dreyfus Affair
1899
as Fernand Labori
MovieCinderella
1899
as le gnome de la pendule / le suisse à l'entrée de l'église
MovieSummoning the Spirits
1899
The Human Pyramid
1899
MovieA Midnight Episode
1899
as The Sleeping Man (uncredited)
MovieThe Devil in a Convent
1899
as The Devil
MovieAn Up-to-Date Conjurer
1899
as Magician
MovieThe Mysterious Knight
1899
as Le chevalier mystère
MovieThe Mysterious Portrait
1899
as L'illusioniste
MovieCleopatra's Tomb
1899
as un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
MovieThe Pillar of Fire
1899
MovieThe Four Troublesome Heads
1898
as Фокусник
MovieThe Temptation of St. Anthony
1898
as Saint Antoine
MoviePygmalion and Galatea
1898
as Pygmalion
MovieThe Magician
1898
as Le Sculpteur
MovieThe Famous Box Trick
1898
as The Magician
MovieThe Bridegroom's Dilemma
1898
as Le marié
Faust and Marguerite
1897
as Méphistophélès
MovieLe château hanté
1897
as Mephisto
MovieThe Bewitched Inn
1897
as The Traveler
MovieNaval Combat in Greece
1897
as The Captain
MovieBetween Calais and Dover
1897
as The Man in the Checked Suit
Dancing in a Harem
1897
A Funny Mahometan
1897
as The Funny Mahometan
MovieGugusse and the Automaton
1897
as Gugusse
MovieA Nightmare
1896
as Man
MovieLe manoir du diable
1896
as Мефістофель
MovieConjuring
1896
as Himself
MoviePlaying Cards
1896
as Un joueur de cartes
MovieA Terrible Night
1896
as L'homme qui essaie de dormir
MovieThe Vanishing Lady
1896
as Фокусник
Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913)
as Various Roles
