Jacques Barzaghi, a Former Fixture Beside Jerry Brown, Dies at 82
Jacques Georges Barzaghi was born on July 26, 1938, in the small town of Beausoleil in the south of France, near Monaco. His father, RenĂ© Barzaghi, who was part of the French Resistance during World War II, was an officer in the French merchant marine. He and Jacquesâs mother, Marie Louise (Denoix) Barzaghi, separated when Jacques was 6. In effect abandoned by his parents, Jacques was raised by his paternal grandmother.
He left for Paris at 16, before finishing high school. Falling in with theater and movie people, he found work as an actor, taking the stage name Lorenzo Poldi. He joined the French Army at 18 and served briefly until he was injured and returned to Paris. There, enamored of New Wave film directors like François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, he dabbled in directing himself.
After the 1968 student uprisings in Paris, Mr. Barzaghi moved to West Hollywood and worked briefly in the film industry. One night at a party in Laurel Canyon, he fell into conversation with a man about movies, relationships and the Navajo, learning only later that this stranger was Californiaâs secretary of state, Mr. Brown. His lack of deference, he told The New York Times, âwas the key to connectingâ with him.
Some found Mr. Barzaghi a little far out. âWhen asked a question, he will stare a long moment, during which the words youâve just spoken seem to ring with foolishness,â The Los Angeles Times wrote. âThen he will utter a cryptic remark like, âDonât sell the skin of the bear before you shoot the bear.ââ
Others found him a grounding influence on âGovernor Moonbeam,â as Mr. Brown was called in more derisive quarters, a reference to his sometimes eccentric, New Agey tendencies. âI came to think that Barzaghi was the ballast to Jerry Brownâs ship,â one Brown aide told The Washington Post in 1992. âHe gave stability. He was the calm at the center of the storm.â
There was little calm in Mr. Barzaghiâs personal life: Over the course of six marriages and six divorces he sired eight children. In addition to Tatiana Barzaghi, he is survived by two other daughters, Jessica Doherty and Edwina Barzaghi; five sons, Ky, Rashad, Akira, Hassan and Salam Barzaghi; 11 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.