Georges Méliès
December 08, 1861 – January 21, 1938
Georges Méliès loved to entertain. As a boy, he built puppets, painted and longed to be on stage. His dream took detours through the military and his family’s shoe business, but he remained persistent. When he discovered the art of stage illusions, he developed a lifelong passion for the craft.
In 1888, Méliès’ father died and he used his inheritance to buy a theatre. Georges plunged headlong into the art of stage magic, creating dozens of new effects and illusions on his stage. He was living his dream.
Then, in 1895, the Lumière brothers invented a cinematograph…one of the very first movie projectors.
In December of that year, Méliès witnessed the cinematograph in person and did everything he could to secure one of his own. Eventually, he bought one from London to use in his theatre. He was infinitely fascinated by the device and tinkered with it so that it was able to act as a movie camera. He began experimenting with filmmaking…an art that barely existed at the time. He leaned heavily on the same practical effects used in his stage acts, and by the turn of the 20th century, Méliès was churning out films by the score. By 1913, he had made nearly 500 short films, many of which blazed unchartered territory in the fledgling industry. Though many of his films were lost, survivors like A Trip to the Moon (1902), One Man Band (1900) and The Impossible Voyage (1904) remain as pioneering icons of the early days of not only cinema, but also the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Méliès continued to use his creativity and innovation to advance camera and projector technology. But, his quest to constantly expand his subjects and craft led to some poor business decisions and partnerships and by the time World War I had erupted, he was bankrupt. Constant fighting with business partners and a fiery temper also resulted in Méliès burning many of his negatives in a fit of rage. Despite his role as a pioneer in a wildly successful new medium and the piles of honors that were heaped upon him, Georges Méliès died in relative poverty at the age of 76. His influence impacted generations of artists from Walt Disney to Terry Gilliam. In 2015 – more than a century after he made his last film – Méliès was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
Burial
Père Lachaise Cemetery – Paris, FRANCE
Specific Location
Division 64; In this narrow section at the north end of the cemetery, Georges is buried in the 2nd row from the path, behind a family mausoleum for FAMILLES GOMEZ et D’AIGUEBELLE.
Celebrity Graveland 
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