Michel Piccoli
Born: 1925-12-27 in Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Died: 2020-05-12
Known For: Acting
Biography
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.
Filmography
2025
2024
- It's Not Me as (archive footage)
2023
- Godard by Godard as Self (archive footage)
2022
- Il était une fois Champs-Élysées as Self (archive footage)
- La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président as Self (archive footage)
2021
- Marx Can Wait as Agostino (archive footage) (uncredited)
- François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story as Self (archive footage)
2019
- Claude Chabrol, the Maverick as Self - Actor (archive footage)
2018
- Dios de monoambiente as Self (archive footage)
2017
- Coming Apart as (archive footage)
- The Incredible Mr. Piccoli as Self - Actor (archive footage)
- Marco Ferreri: Dangerous But Necessary as Self (archive footage)
- Claude Sautet, Romy, Yves, Michel et les autres as Self (archive footage)
2015
- Our Lady of Hormones as Narrator
2014
- The Taste of Blueberries as Michel
2012
- Holy Motors as Man with the Wine Stain
- Lines of Wellington as Leópold Scheitzer
- You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet as Le père
2011
- Agnès Varda: From Here to There as Self
- We Have a Pope as Melville
- Agnès Varda: From Here to There as Self
- Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres as Self
2010
- Portrait Of My Father as Self
2009
- Once Upon a Time… Contempt as Self
- Le Bel Âge as Maurice Reverdy
2008
- The Beaches of Agnès as Self (archive footage)
- The Dust of Time as Spyros
- On War as Le grand Hou
2007
- To Each His Own Cinema as Nikita Kruschev (segment "Rencontre unique")
- The Duchess of Langeais as Vidame de Pamiers
- Boxes as Daddy
- Beneath the Rooftops of Paris as Marcel
- Le Roi Lear as Le roi Lear
2006
- Magic Mirror as Prof. Heschel
- Belle Toujours as Henri Husson
- C'est pas tout à fait la vie dont j'avais rêvé ... (Director)
- Gardens in Autumn as Marie, la mère de Vincent
- Otar Iosseliani, le merle siffleur as Himself
2005
- Everything's Connected as Narrator
2004
2003
- Raining Cats and Frogs as Ferdinand (voice)
- A Man, a Real One as Michel Piccoli
- Little Lili as acteur qui joue Simon
- That Day as Harald
2002
2001
- I’m Going Home as Gilbert Valence
- The Black Beach ... (Director)
2000
- Actors as Michel Piccoli
- Kiarostami in Close up as as Self
- Speaking of Buñuel as Self
- Everything's Fine, We're Leaving as Louis
1999
- París-Tombuctú as Michel des Assantes
- Nothing About Robert as Lord Ariel Chatwick-West
- Libero Burro as Zio Tony
- The Happiest Place on Earth as Récitant (voice)
1998
- Vivement dimanche as Self
- Les paradoxes de Buñuel as Self
1997
- Alors voilà, ... (Director)
- Genealogies of a Crime as Georges Didier
- Passion in the Desert as Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis
1996
- Tykho Moon as Mac Bee / frère Mac Bee
- Party as Michel
- Beaumarchais the Scoundrel as Prince de Conti
- Ousmane Sow as Narrateur
- Traveling Companion as Cosimo
1995
- Tödliches Geld as Paul Belmont
- The World of Jacques Demy as Self
- One Hundred and One Nights as Simon Cinéma
- 2 x 50 Years of French Cinema as Self
1994
- The Emigrant as Adam - Ram's father
- The Black Angel as Georges Feuvrier
- Bête de scène
- Berau, sur les traces de Joseph Conrad as Presenter
- Train de nuit
1993
- Rupture(s) as Paul
- Loonies at Large as Henri Toussaint
- Archipel as Leonard Wilde
- The Young Girls Turn 25 as Self (archive footage)
1992
- The Supper as Chateaubriand (voice)
- Le Bal des casse-pieds as Désiré, l'homosexuel
- From Time to Time as Jules Verne
- La Belle Noiseuse: Divertimento as Edouard Frenhofer
1991
- Walking a Tightrope as Marcel Spadice
- La Belle Noiseuse as Edouard Frenhofer
- Against Oblivion as Self
- The Children Thief as Mr. Armand
- The Fate of Baron Leisenbohg as Le baron de Leisenbohg
1990
- Martha and I as Ernst
- May Fools as Milou
1989
- The Monkey Folk
- Les Grandes Familles as Noël Schoudler
1988
- La Ruelle au clair de lune as Pierre Willer
- Un coupable as L'avocat
- How Good the Whites Are as Père Jean-Marie
- Blanc de Chine as Batz
1987
- Nulle part ailleurs as Self
- Malady of Love as Raoul Bergeron
- The Veiled Man as Kassar
- La Rumba as Damien Malleville
- The Distant Land as Friedrich Hofreiter
1986
- The Nonentity as der Tölpel
- Mauvais Sang as Marc
- The Prude as Pierre
- My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister as Étienne Sembadel
1985
- La Lune
- Going and Coming Back as Simon Lerner
- Adieu Bonaparte as Caffarelli
- Death in a French Garden as Graham Tombsthay
1984
- Dangerous Moves as Akiva Liebskind
- Success Is the Best Revenge as French Official
- Long Live Life as Michel Perrin
- Le Matelot 512 as Narrator (voice)
1983
- The Prize of Peril as Frédéric Mallaire
- The General of the Dead Army as Benetandi
1982
- Champs-Elysées as Self
- Godard's Passion as Michel Boulard
- Will the High Salaried Workers Raise Their Hands! as José Viss
- The Passerby as Max Baumstein
- La Cerisaie as Léonid
- The Night of Varennes as King Louis XVI (uncredited)
- A Room in Town as Edmond Leroyer
- Spy, Stand Up as Jean-Paul Chance
- Beyond the Door as Mr. Mutti
- Scénario du film Passion as Self
- The Eyes, the Mouth as Tío Agostino
1981
- Wetten, dass..? as Self
- The Prodigal Daughter as Le père
- Du crime considéré comme un des beaux-arts. as Morrand
- Strange Affair as Bertrand Malair
- Confused Feelings as Professor
1980
- Atlantic City as Joseph
- A Leap in the Dark as Mauro Ponticelli
- Docteur Teyran as Jean Teyran
- The Price of Survival as René Winterhalter
1979
- Le divorcement as Philippe
- The Bit Between the Teeth as Pierre Chazerand
- Atrocious Tales of Love and Death as Victor Navarro
1978
- Sugar as Grezillo
- Little Girl in Blue Velvet as Conrad Brukner
- Fire's Share as Robert Hansen
- The Savage State as Orlaville
- Strauberg ist da as Strauberg
1977
- That Obscure Object of Desire as Mathieu Faber (voice) (uncredited)
- Rene the Cane as Ispettore Marchand
- The Accuser as Saint-Ramé
- Spoiled Children as Bernard Rougerie
1976
- Mado as Simon Léotard
- One Way or Another as Lui
- The Last Woman as Michel
- F as in Fairbanks as Etienne
- Nouvelles d'Henry James as Capitaine Roger
1975
- Midi Première as Self
- Apostrophes as Self
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche as Self
- Leonor as Richard
- Weak Spot as L'enquêteur
- Seven Deaths by Prescription as Dr Losseray
1974
- Spécial cinéma as Self
- Life Size as Michel
- Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others as François, médecin
- The Phantom of Liberty as The Second Police Prefect
- The Infernal Trio as Georges Sarret
- Don't Touch the White Woman! as Buffalo Bill
- Un amour de pluie as Mr. Dellerue (voice)
- The Voyage Into the Whirlpool Has Begun
1973
- Themroc as Themroc
- La Grande Bouffe as Michel
- Far West as Indian chief
- Wedding in Blood as Pierre Maury
- The Woman in Blue as Pierre
1972
- The Audience as Padre Amerin
- Liza as Giorgio's friend
- Midi trente as Self
- The Assassination as Colonel Kassar
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie as Interior Minister
- Cesar and Rosalie as Narrator (voice)
1971
- Samedi soir as Self
- V.I.P. Schaukel as Self
- Max and the Junkmen as Max, inspector
- Touch and Go as Valentin
- Ten Days' Wonder as Paul Regis
1970
- Invasion as Marcello
- The Things of Life as Pierre Bérard
- Treffpunkte as Self
1969
- The Uninvited as François Desailly
- Topaz as Jacques Granville
- The Milky Way as Marquis de Sade
- Dillinger Is Dead as Glauco
1968
- Woman in Chains as L'invité pressé au vernissage (uncredited)
- Heartbeat as Charles
- The Diary of an Innocent Boy as Count Philippe
- Danger: Diabolik as Inspector Ginko
- Délire à deux as Him
1967
- Belle de Jour as Henri Husson
- The Young Girls of Rochefort as Simon Dame
- Shock Troops as L'homme de trop
- Romy: Anatomy of a Face as Self
- My Love, My Love as Marrades
- The Dinosaur and the Baby as Paul Javal (archive footage)
1966
- The Game Is Over as Alexandre Saccard
- The Creatures as Edgar Piccoli
- Is Paris Burning? as Edgar Pisani
- La Voleuse as Werner Kreuz
- The War Is Over as Inspector #1
- Elsa the Rose as Narrator (voice)
- The Devil's Tricks as L'antiquaire
- Le Coup de grâce as Capri / Bruno
1965
- Lady L as Lecoeur
- The Sleeping Car Murder as René Cabourg, l'employé besogneux (Victime #2)
- Masquerade as Georges Sarrassin
- Dom Juan as Dom Juan
1964
- Marie Soleil as Kafka
- Café tabac as Récitant (voice)
- Diary of a Chambermaid as Monsieur Monteil
- Paparazzi as Texte dit par (voice)
- All About Loving as Raoul
- Chance at Love as Philippe Decharme (segment "Lucky la chance")
- Bardot et Godard as Self
- Luis Buñuel : Un cinéaste de notre temps as Narrator (voice)
- L'Été en hiver as Jean, the Reporter
1963
- Contempt as Paul Javal
- The Day and the Hour as Antoine
- Hello Cubans as Narrator (voice)
1962
- Adieu Philippine as Izquierdo dans l'émission de télévision 'Montserrat' (uncredited)
- Climates of Love as François
- Parisienne... Parisiennes as Récitant (voice)
- Le Temps des assassins as Récitant (voice)
- Le Doulos as Nuttheccio
1961
- Hauteclaire as Serlon de Savigny
- Fumée, histoire et fantaisie
- Amazons of Rome as Console Publicola
- La Chevelure as L'homme
- Quarante fontaines as Récitant (voice)
- Rendezvous as Paul
1960
- Les Joueurs as Chvokhniev
- Danger in the Middle East as Brian Cannon
- Le Rendez-vous de Noël
- La dragée haute as Hugo Barsac
1959
- La Nuit de Tom Brown as Tom Brown, jeune
- Beast at Bay as Commissioner Jacques Guimard
- Le Chalet sous la neige as Robert
1958
- Tabarin as Jacques Forestier
- Sinners of Paris as L'inspecteur Vardier, de la P.J.
1957
- Nathalie as Franck Marchal
- Le Plus Heureux des trois as Pianist
- Sunday Buddies as Le directeur de l'aéro-club
- Le Quadrille des diamants as Richard Burke
- The Witches of Salem as James Putnam
1956
- Death in the Garden as Father Lizzardi
- La France romane as Récitant (voice)
1955
- Ernst Thälmann – Leader of the Working Class as Maurice Rouger
- French Cancan as Le Capitaine Valorgueil
- The Grand Manoeuvre as Officer (uncredited)
- Price of Love as Georges
- Croissance de Paris as Récitant (voice)
- Bad Liaisons as un inspecteur
1954
- Daughters of Destiny as Pasquerel (segment "Jeanne")
- Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances as Gérard
- Tout chante autour de moi as Reverdier
1953
- Horizons... as un ouvrier
1952
- Torticola versus Frankensberg as Torticola
1951
- German Film Award as Self
- Without Leaving an Address as Un journaliste aux archives (uncredited)
- Chicago Digest as Slim Spring
- La Leçon d'humour dans un parc
- Terreur en Oklahoma as Tommy Goudchote
1949
- The Mark of the Day as Georges Gohelle
- The Perfume of the Lady in Black as Lebel
1945
- The Bellman as Un villageois