French actor, director, and politician Jacques Martial (born May 7, 1955) died today, August 13, 2025, in Paris, France. Born to parents from Guadeloupe, he was the President of Mémorial ACTe in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe since June 15, 2015.
Martial was known to the general public for playing the role of Bain-Marie in the crime series Navarro. He was also a voice actor, who regularly performed the voice of actors such as Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, or Denzel Washington.
According to Wikipedia, [. . .] From 2006 to 2015, he was President of the Public Establishment of the Parc et de la Grande Halle de la Villette, then [became] President of the ACTe Memorial from June 15, 2015. In July 2020, Jacques Martial was elected Paris Councilor, Delegate for Overseas France. In November 2022, he was elected Deputy Mayor of Paris for Overseas France.
He founded the Rond-Point des Cultures association, which, in partnership with the Théâtre du Rond-Point and various theaters in Paris, presented events highlighting overseas cultures and, more generally, the creativity of artists from visible minorities.
Born to Guadeloupean parents, he is known to the general public for his participation in the television series Navarro with Roger Hanin. Jacques Martial has spent a significant part of his career in theater, teaching, directing, and acting. He began his training at Sarah Sanders’s workshop, before becoming her assistant. Their collaboration lasted several years, during which he taught authors from the repertoire, from Racine to Shakespeare, and contemporary works, from Césaire to Pinter, Jean-Louis Bourdon, and Koltès. At the same time, he established and led a series of actor training and development workshops in Cayenne, French Guiana. [. . .]
For more on Martial, see https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Martial (Translation of excerpts by Ivette Romero.)
Also see https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/culture/culture-creole, https://www.cipdh.gob.ar/memorias-situadas/en/lugar-de-memoria/memorial-acte/ and https://memorial-acte.fr/
[Photo above: Detail from a photo (jacques-martial-sorties-des-obseques-d-580×0-2.jpg) by Rastapopoulos25, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=167406719.]
French actor, director, and politician Jacques Martial (born May 7, 1955) died today, August 13, 2025, in Paris, France. Born to parents from Guadeloupe, he was the President of Mémorial ACTe in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe since June 15, 2015. Martial was known to the general public for playing the role of Bain-Marie in the crime series