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Michel Piccoli

Michel Piccoli

Actor · 1925 – 2020 · Paris, Ile-de-France, France

Michel Jacques Daniel Piccoli was the son of Henri Piccoli, violinist and Marcelle Expert-Bezançon (1892-1990), pianist and daughter of the French industrialist and politician Charles Expert-Bezançon. In 1954, Michel Piccoli married actress Éléonore Hirt with whom he had a daughter, Anne-Cordélia Piccoli. In 1966, he married the singer Juliette Gréco, then in 1978 the screenwriter Ludivine Clerc, with whom he adopted two children of Polish origin, Inord and Missia. Placed in an establishment for problem children, the commitments of the young Piccoli, are made in opposition to his maternal grandfather, senator of the Third Republic, financier of the Radical Party, and important industrial painter, accused by the trade union left and by Georges Clemenceau, of having intoxicated his workmen through lead white which causes lead poisoning. Michel Piccoli then trained as an actor first with Andrée Bauer-Théraud and then during Simon. After an appearance as an extra in "Sortilèges" by Christian-Jaque in 1945, Michel Piccoli made his film debut in "Le Point Du Jour" by Louis Daquin. In the theater he distinguished himself with the Renaud-Barrault and Grenier-Hussot companies as well as at the Théâtre de Babylone. Noticed in the film "French Cancan" in 1954, he continued on stage and worked with directors Jacques Audiberti, Jean Vilar, Jean-Marie Serreau, Peter Brook, Luc Bondy, Patrice Chéreau and André Engel, and became also know in popular TV movies. Having become an atheist after a family bereavement, he met Luis Buñuel in 1956, and ironically took on the role of a priest in "La Mort En Ce Jardin". In 1959, he shot "Le Rendez-Vous De Noël", a short film by André Michel based on the short story by Malek Ouary "Le Noël Du Petit Cireur", in Algiers. The 1960s sounded his consecration, noticed in "Le Doulos" by Jean-Pierre Melville, he was revealed internationally with "Le Mépris" by Jean-Luc Godard alongside Brigitte Bardot. From then on, he toured with the greatest French and international filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Youssef Chahine, Manoel de Oliveira... He began the 1980s with the interpretation prize at the Cannes festival in 1980, with "Le Saut Dans Le Vide" by Marco Bellocchio, and that of the Berlin festival in 1982, with "Une Étrange Affaire" by Pierre Granier-Deferre. . He worked with Jacques Doillon, Leos Carax, before trying his hand at directing. In 2001 he received the IX Europe Prize for Theatre. He was part of the jury of the 60th Cannes Film Festival in 2007, chaired by Stephen Frears. In 2011, he played in "Habemus Papam" by Nanni Moretti. The last film in which Michel Piccoli appears is the film "Le Goût Des Myrtilles", by Thomas de Thiers in 2013. Politically committed to the left, member of the Peace Movement (communist), Michel Piccoli distinguished himself by his positions against the National Front, and mobilized for Amnesty International. Michel Piccoli died on May 12, 2020 following a stroke in his mansion in Saint-Philbert-sur-Risle in Eure. His funeral takes place in Évreux on May 19, 2020, where he is cremated, his ashes are scattered within the family property.

Movies24

  • Movie7.3

    Belle de jour

    1967 · 1K votes

  • Movie7.5

    Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie

    The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

    1972 · 939 votes

  • Movie7.1

    La Grande Bouffe

    1973 · 560 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Le Mépris

    Contempt

    1963 · 991 votes

  • Movie7.7

    Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

    The Young Girls of Rochefort

    1967 · 674 votes

  • Movie7.5

    Cet obscur objet du désir

    That Obscure Object of Desire

    1977 · 463 votes

  • Movie7.3

    La Belle Noiseuse

    1991 · 298 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Holy Motors

    2012 · 1.3K votes

  • Movie6.0

    Topaz

    1969 · 433 votes

  • Movie7.2

    Paris brûle-t-il?

    Is Paris Burning?

    1966 · 229 votes

  • Movie7.0

    C'est pas moi

    It's Not Me

    2024 · 32 votes

  • Movie7.5

    Le Fantôme de la liberté

    The Phantom of Liberty

    1974 · 340 votes

  • Movie6.8

    Atlantic City

    1980 · 308 votes

  • Movie6.4
  • Movie6.8

    Adieu Philippine

    1962 · 57 votes

  • Movie7.1

    Le Journal d'une femme de chambre

    Diary of a Chambermaid

    1964 · 243 votes

  • Movie5.8

    Les Acteurs

    Actors

    2000 · 107 votes

  • Movie6.3

    Diabolik

    Danger: Diabolik

    1968 · 262 votes

  • Movie5.0

    Hauteclaire

    1961 · 3 votes

  • Movie6.1

    7 morts sur ordonnance

    Seven Deaths by Prescription

    1975 · 44 votes

  • Movie7.1

    Mauvais Sang

    1986 · 290 votes

  • Movie6.5

    Partir revenir

    Going and Coming Back

    1985 · 22 votes

  • Movie6.5

    Généalogies d'un crime

    Genealogies of a Crime

    1997 · 32 votes

  • Movie6.9

    La Nuit de Varennes

    That Night of Varennes

    1982 · 74 votes

Series19

  • TV6.8

    Champs-Elysées

    1982 · 9 votes

  • TV3.6

    Vivement dimanche

    1998 · 9 votes

  • TV8.5

    Apostrophes

    1975 · 4 votes

  • TV9.0

    Midi Première

    1975 · 2 votes

  • TV9.5

    Spécial cinéma

    1974 · 2 votes

  • TV5.6

    Wetten, dass..?

    1981 · 24 votes

  • TV6.0
  • TV5.0

    Ciné regards

    1978 · 1 votes

  • TV6.0

    Midi trente

    1972 · 1 votes

  • TV6.1

    Nulle part ailleurs

    1987 · 8 votes

  • TV6.0

    Samedi soir

    1971 · 1 votes

  • TV8.0

    V.I.P. Schaukel

    1971 · 3 votes

  • TV6.5
  • TV
  • TV8.0

    Nouvelles d'Henry James

    Henry James Stories

    1976 · 1 votes

  • TV6.5

    Agnès de ci de là Varda

    Agnès Varda: From Here to There

    2011 · 6 votes

  • TV10.0

    Les Grandes Familles

    1989 · 1 votes

  • TV7.0

    Chili Impressions

    1978 · 1 votes

  • TV7.0

    Docteur Teyran

    1980 · 1 votes