Pierre Jalbert
 The
following biography appeared in the COMBOAT! '96 Souvenir booklet. Copyright Strange New
Worlds, 1996. All rights reserved.
The belief that it isn’t what you know but who you know that counts, doesn’t
always hold true. There are rare exceptions and one of them is Pierre Jalbert, who played
Caje, the Cajun GI from Louisiana, in Combat!
For years, Jalbert wanted to be an actor. For years, he worked at MGM as a film editor,
meeting directors and producers. For more years, he became close friend of stars and
motion picture celebrities. This latter phase was while he was a popular ski instructor at
Sun Valley, Idaho, and Aspen, Colorado.
Asked why his friends hadn’t opened doors to acting for him, Jalbert confesses:
“I found it impossible to say to these people, ‘Look, you’re an influential
figure in Hollywood and I want to be an actor. Can you help me?’ Maybe I'm crazy, but
I just couldn’t bring myself to ask that of friends. It seemed an imposition.”
Pierre was born the son of a newspaperman in Quebec City, Canada on January 9, and
christened Joseph Jacques Pierre-Paul Jalbert. There, he attended Ouellet College, from
which he was graduated, and Laval University.
He was the top seated ski racer in Canada and was hoping for a berth on the Canadian
Olympic team when disaster struck. He contracted rheumatic fever and his doctor informed
him that he would never ski again.
By the following fall, he made an astonishing recovery from an illness that customarily
leaves its victims semi-invalids. His doctor gave him the go-ahead to resume skiing.
Pierre immediately began training for the National Championships, in which a top
performance would place him on the Olympic team. He not only sparkled in the competition,
but also emerged as Canadian National Champ and team captain. Unfortunately, he never
competed, because he broke his leg in a training mishap two days before the Olympics
started.
After the Olympics, he remained in Europe, sightseeing and later living in Paris where
he studied art and art appreciation at the Sorbonne. A year later, he returned to Canada
and resumed his job as editor and associate producer with the Canadian National Film
Board, a federal production agency, and later with an independent film production company
in Montreal for two years. His desire was always to come to Hollywood, but he felt was not
yet ready.
While captain of the Canadian ski team, he competed in ski races at Sun Valley and
Aspen and climaxed his Stateside trips with a visit to Hollywood. Later that year, he
returned to Paris, where he worked as assistant producer for a French film company and as
partner in a Parisian import-export firm.
He spent much of his spare time with film star Norma Shearer and her husband, Marti
Arrougé, old skiing acquaintances also living in Paris. They suggested he turn
professional and accompany them for the ski season to Sun Valley, Idaho. Pierre agreed and
became an instructor at Sun Valley.
His acting ambition still in mind, in the spring he went to Hollywood, where he has
lived since. At Universal, he was hired as an assistant editor. A lull in production
resulted in his being laid off. After another hiatus, he landed an editor’s
assignment at MGM.
An agent friend submitted his name for the pilot of Combat!, was auditioned, and got
the role of Caje. The part lasted six years.
He married Joy Lee, former actress and ballerina, in January of 1961, and the couple
have remained happily married. Pierre spends his spare time refinishing furniture,
remodeling houses, and writing. When time and weather allow, he keeps up his skiing.
ACTOR CREDITS
Films:
Goodbye Cruel World
43: The Richard Petty Story
Ski Bum
Ski Lift to Death
Airport '79
Television (recurring roles):
Combat! — series co-star 6 years
Television (guest):
Mission: Impossible
Night Gallery
The Virginian
Santa Barbara
TECHNICAL CREDITS
1951-1961: MGM — staff film editor and dialogue editor on features, including
Blackboard Jungle, Bad Day at Black Rock, Ben Hur, Mutiny on the Bounty, An American in
Paris, Tea and Sympathy, Something of Value
1961-1990: Paramount — editor and dialogue editor on features, including
Concorde, Bloodline, Grease, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Mikey & Nikey, The
Godfather, Washington Behind Closed Doors, Shogun
Vital Statistics:
Born: Quebec City, Canada Jan. 9, 1925
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 150 lbs.
Hair: Black
Eyes: Hazel
|
