Eddie Constantine

Born 29 October 1913, Los Angeles, USA

Died 25 February 1993, Wiesbaden, Germany

American-born actor and singer of Jewish Russian/Polish descent, who spent his career working in Europe. He became a French citizen, and was popular especially in France in the 1950s and later on in Germany, best known for acting as the character "Lemmy Caution".

There are differing accounts of both his real name and his birth year. His birth certificate confirms that he was born in 1913 as Israel Constantine. Census records from 1920 and 1930 use this name as well, while the 1940 census and his 1940 draft registration card call him Edward. Some non-contemporary literature incorrectly lists his birth year as 1917, while some claims his real name was Edward Constantinowsky. However, by the time of his birth, his father Moses Konstantinovsky (1888-1967) had already permanently adopted an Anglicized version of his name, calling himself Maurice or Morris Constantine. Likewise, his mother Bertha Heller (1888-1965) had adopted the name Bella. Some French sources list his name as Israël. However the added diacritical mark is only a feature of the French language to signify that the two vowels are pronounced separately.