You guys can’t imagine how excited I was when I found out “Monsieur Murdoch”, one of my favourite episodes ever, actually includes a historical figure! How cool is that?
Actor Yannick Soulier portrays famous French police commissioner Marcel Guillaume, who was born on October 17, 1872 in Epernay, France. Guillaume was not exactly academically gifted, so his origins are rather humble, starting out as an apprentice grocer.
Guillaume joined the police force in 1900 in La Chapelle, gradually rising through the ranks before being promoted to commissioner in 1913. Considering that the episode takes place in 1898, Murdoch Mysteries wasn’t completely accurate here. In 1928, he was appointed the commissioner position in Quai des Orfèvres, where he stayed until his retirement in 1937.
Guillaume died on February 10, 1963 at the age of 91.
- Belgian writer Georges Simenon met Guillaume sometime in the 1920s, and has freely admitted to basing the character Chief Inspector Jules Maigret on him. Maigret has appeared in over seventy-five novels and twenty-eight short stories.
