Acting
Michel Piccoli
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
Browse movies and TV shows featuring Michel Piccoli
Vivement dimanche
Wetten, dass..?
A long-running German-language entertainment television show based on the format of the British show You Bet! a...
Apostrophes
Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and hosted by Bern...
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
A talk show presented by Michel Drucker
Midi Première
Midi Première is a French variety show presented by Danièle Gilbert, directed by Jacques Pierre and broadcast f...
Spécial cinéma
Marcello Mastroianni, Isabelle Adjani, Alain Delon, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen... the biggest stars in cinema...
German Film Award
Midi trente
Samedi soir
Nulle part ailleurs
V.I.P. Schaukel
V.I.P.-Schaukel is a 45 minute documentary-family-news-talk show starring Margret Dünser as Host. The series pr...
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
Belle de Jour
Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alo...
Contempt
A philistine in the art film business, Jeremy Prokosch is a producer unhappy with the work of his director. Pro...
Treffpunkte
That Obscure Object of Desire
After dumping a bucket of water on a beautiful young woman from the window of a train car, wealthy Frenchman Ma...
Holy Motors
We follow 24 hours in the life of a being moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving fro...
La Belle Noiseuse
The former famous painter Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife on a countryside residence in the French Proven...
The Young Girls of Rochefort
In the seaside town of Rochefort, twin sisters Delphine and Solange dream of love and artistic fulfillment beyo...
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
In Luis Buñuel’s deliciously satiric masterpiece, an upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, the...
Topaz
Copenhagen, Denmark, 1962. When a high-ranking Soviet official decides to change sides, a French intelligence a...
To Each His Own Cinema
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought togethe...
La Grande Bouffe
Four friends gather at a villa with the intention of eating themselves to death.
Is Paris Burning?
Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear...
We Have a Pope
The newly elected Pope suffers a panic attack just as he is about to greet the faithful who have gathered to se...
One Hundred and One Nights
Monsieur Cinema, a hundred years old, lives alone in a large villa. His memories fade away, so he engages a you...
Mauvais Sang
Two aging crooks are given two weeks to repay a debt to a woman named The American. They recruit their recently...
The Beaches of Agnès
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new w...
The Phantom of Liberty
This Surrealist film, with a title referencing the Communist Manifesto, strings together short incidents based...
Atlantic City
In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together...
The Last Woman
Psychological drama of the compelling relationship between a young French engineer and the girl he takes into h...
Le Doulos
Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from pri...
Diary of a Chambermaid
Celestine has a new job as a chambermaid for the quirky M. Monteil, his wife and her father. When the father di...
Danger: Diabolik
International man of mystery Diabolik and his sensuous lover Eva Kant pull off heist after heist, all while Eur...
May Fools
During the events of May 1968 in France, different worldviews of conflicting relatives collide in their family...