Michel Piccoli
Michel Piccoli | |
|---|---|
 Michel Piccoli at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival | |
| Born | Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli 27 December 1925 |
| Died | 12 May 2020 (aged 94) Saint-Philbert-sur-Risle, France |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, screenwriter, director, musician, singer |
| Years active | 1945–2015 |
| Spouse(s) | Eléonore Hirt (1954–?) Juliette Gréco (1966–1977) Ludivine Clerc (1980–2020) |
| Signature | |
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Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years.
He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide variety of roles and worked with many acclaimed directors, being awarded with a Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival.[1][2]
Life and career
Piccoli was born in Paris to a musical family; his French mother was a pianist and his Swiss father was a violinist from the canton of Ticino.
He appeared in many different roles, from seducer to cop to gangster to Pope, in more than 170 movies. He appeared in six films directed by Luis Buñuel including Belle de Jour (1967) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), but also appeared as Brigitte Bardot's husband in Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (1963) and as the main antagonist in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz (1969).[3] He also appeared in many films by Claude Sautet, sometimes co-starring in them with Romy Schneider, and became a frequent collaborator of director Marco Ferreri, with which worked on several films, including Dillinger Is Dead and La Grande Bouffe.
In the 1990s, Piccoli also worked as a director on three films.[4] One of his last leading roles was his portrayal of a depressed, newly elected pope in Nanni Moretti's We Have a Pope (2011), for which he was awarded with the David di Donatello Award for Best Actor.[3]
Political views
Piccoli was part of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés circle in the 1950s, which included Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. He was a member of the French Communist Party in this era.[1] A life-long left-winger, he objected to repression in the Soviet bloc, and supported the Solidarity trade union in Poland.[2]
Personal life and death
Piccoli married three times, first to Éléonore Hirt, then for eleven years to the singer Juliette Gréco and finally to Ludivine Clerc. He had one daughter from his first marriage, Anne-Cordélia. He also had two adopted children with Ludivine Clerc.[4]
Piccoli died from complications of a stroke on 12 May 2020, at the age of 94.[5][6]
Selected filmography
Awards and Nominations
- Locarno Festival
- 2007: Best Actor Award for Les Toits de Paris
- 2007: Excellence Award
- César Awards
- 1981: Nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for Strange Affair
- 1984: Nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for Dangerous Moves
- 1990: Nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for May Fools
- 1991: Nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for La Belle Noiseuse
- European Film Awards
- 2001: Nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actor for I'm Going Home
- 2007: Nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actor for Belle Toujours
- 2011: Honorary Award
- 2011: Nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actor for We Have a Pope
In 2001 he was the recipient of the Europe Theatre Prize.[9]
References
- ^ a b Bergan, Ronald (18 May 2020). "Michel Piccoli obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ a b "French screen legend Michel Piccoli, who starred in Belle de jour, dies at 94". France 24. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ a b Mintzer, Jordan (18 May 2020). "Michel Piccoli, Betrayed by Brigitte Bardot in Jean-Luc Godard's 'Contempt,' Dies at 94". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ a b Smith, Harrison. "Michel Piccoli, French film star who worked with Buñuel and Godard, dies at 94". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- ^ Balle, Catherine (18 May 2020). "Mort de Michel Piccoli, acteur de légende du cinéma français". leparisien.fr. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ Pulver, Andrew (18 May 2020). "Michel Piccoli, renowned French acting veteran, dies aged 94". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: A Leap in the Dark". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
- ^ "Berlinale: 1982 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ IX Europe Theatre Prize / Reasons Europe Theatre Prize
External links
- 1925 births
- 2020 deaths
- 20th-century French male actors
- 21st-century French male actors
- Male actors from Paris
- French male film actors
- French male stage actors
- French male television actors
- French film directors
- Male actors of Italian descent
- French people of Italian descent
- French people of Swiss-Italian descent
- Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
- David di Donatello winners
- German Film Award winners
- Silver Bear for Best Actor winners
- Recipients of the Legion of Honour