‘Hypnotic Eye’, ‘Gigi’ Star Jacques Bergerac Dead

Jacques Bergerac & Zsa Zsa Gabor

Death takes dashing French lady killer JACQUES BERGERAC who starred in “The Hypnotic Eye”, ”Les Girls” and “Gigi”.

French media reported that Bergerac died yesterday at his chateau in Anglet in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques region of southwest France.

With his suave continental good looks Jacques also was fond of marrying Oscar-winning hot blondes!

He was married to Oscar-winning actresses Ginger Rogers (the fourth of her five husbands, he was 26 years old, 16 years her junior) and Dorothy Malone (as the first of her three husbands).

Bergerac is perhaps known for his starring role in the 1960 classic “The Hypnotic Eye” (with Allison “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” Hayes as his sexy assistant) . Bergerac plays  a preternaturally endowed hypnotist who trances women to disfigure themselves in the most lurid ways imaginable. In a gimmick that shamed master showman William Castle, the flick featured “HypnoMagic,” billed as an “amazing new audience thrill that makes YOU part of the show!” The swirling psychotronic effect had Bergerac’s character stare directly into the camera and then performing hypnotic suggestions directly to the enthralled audience.

Bergerac was a law student when he met a vacationing Ginger Rogers in France. Smitten, she landed him a screen test at MGM which led to them canoodling onscreen in “Twist of Fate” (1954). They were married from February 1953 until their divorce in July 1957.

Then Jacques the lady killer married Dorothy Malone in June 1959 in Hong Kong, where she was shooting “The Last Voyage” with Robert Stack. Their nasty divorce December 1964 made headlines around the world.

In addition to working with Gene Kelly on director George Cukor’s “Les Girls” and Vincente Minnelli’s “Gigi” , Bergerac appeared on countless TV shows including “The Millionaire”, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”,” Perry Mason”,  “Get Smart” “The Lucy Show” and “The Doris Day Show”.

And that’s not all, pop cult fans — Bergerac also played French Freddy/Freddie the Fence on episodes of TV’s “Batman” featuring The  Catwoman (Julie Newmar) and Minerva (Zsa Zsa Gabor).

Bergerac finally said “adieu” to the film biz in the late 1960s  — joining his older brother who ran Revlon Cosmetics.

Au revoir, Jacques Bergerac.