生于土耳其的罗洛史杜地方。4岁时随家逃离土耳其，定居马赛，在法国就读工科大学，研究机构工程，毕业后未成为机械技师，却成了广播节目撰述员和新闻记者。二次世界大战时参加地下军，于1946年从影。经过短片导演和副导演，于1951年导演费南度雷主演的剧情长片《乡村争执》，他谐趣笔触，充满冷讽意味，他是属于娱乐派的导演。但不论爱情片或犯罪动作片，他都能表现情感充沛而细腻的描写，他的作品在世界各地颇具票房力。
The apocryphal biography of Fernand Contandin tells the invention of his artistic name Fernandel by his sister-in-law ("Voici le Fernand d'elles"). At the beginning of the thirties he became a typical actor of the comedy genre: popular, common, likable and with a concealed grain of drama. Marc Allégret was the director of his first successful film La meilleure bobonne (1930). He tried to work as director twice during World War II but did not succeed in that.
