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.
Known for
Midi Première
Self
Midi trente
Self
German Film Award
Self
Contempt
Paul Javal
The Milky Way
Marquis de Sade
Spoiled Children
Bernard Rougerie
The Day and the Hour
Antoine
The Creatures
Edgar Piccoli
The Monkey Folk
Marie Soleil
Kafka
La Grande Bouffe
Michel
The Supper
Chateaubriand (voice)
Loonies at Large
Henri Toussaint
The Distant Land
Friedrich Hofreiter
On War
Le grand Hou
Belle de Jour
Henri Husson
The Prude
Pierre
The Savage State
Orlaville
The Duchess of Langeais
Vidame de Pamiers
Cesar and Rosalie
Narrator (voice)
Ten Days' Wonder
Paul Regis
The Emigrant
Adam - Ram's father
Life Size
Michel
Le divorcement
Philippe
Martha and I
Ernst
Woman in Chains
L'invité pressé au vernissage (uncredited)
The Game Is Over
Alexandre Saccard
La Rumba
Damien Malleville
The Phantom of Liberty
The Second Police Prefect
Beast at Bay
Commissioner Jacques Guimard
Danger: Diabolik
Inspector Ginko
Mado
Simon Léotard
Agnès Varda: From Here to There
Self
París-Tombuctú
Michel des Assantes
Godard's Passion
Michel Boulard
The Nonentity
der Tölpel
La Lune
The Sleeping Car Murder
René Cabourg, l'employé besogneux (Victime #2)
The Audience
Padre Amerin
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
Self (archive footage)
That Obscure Object of Desire
Mathieu Faber (voice) (uncredited)
From Time to Time
Jules Verne
The Infernal Trio
Georges Sarret
Malady of Love
Raoul Bergeron
Kiarostami in Close up
as Self
Leonor
Richard
Once Upon a Time… Contempt
Self
Adieu Bonaparte
Caffarelli
Beaumarchais the Scoundrel
Prince de Conti
Max and the Junkmen
Max, inspector
To Each His Own Cinema
Nikita Kruschev (segment "Rencontre unique")
The Dust of Time
Spyros
Topaz
Jacques Granville
Against Oblivion
Self
Le Temps des assassins
Récitant (voice)
Holy Motors
Man with the Wine Stain
The Uninvited
François Desailly
La Belle Noiseuse
Edouard Frenhofer
Liza
Giorgio's friend
Success Is the Best Revenge
French Official
Sugar
Grezillo
The Beaches of Agnès
Self (archive footage)
The Prodigal Daughter
Le père
Invasion
Marcello
Shock Troops
L'homme de trop
Lady L
Lecoeur
It's Not Me
(archive footage)
The Bit Between the Teeth
Pierre Chazerand
Ernst Thälmann – Leader of the Working Class
Maurice Rouger
Daughters of Destiny
Pasquerel (segment "Jeanne")
Raining Cats and Frogs
Ferdinand (voice)
Tykho Moon
Mac Bee / frère Mac Bee
I’m Going Home
Gilbert Valence
Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
François, médecin
The Diary of an Innocent Boy
Count Philippe
Mauvais Sang
Marc
Sinners of Paris
L'inspecteur Vardier, de la P.J.
The Prize of Peril
Frédéric Mallaire
The Night of Varennes
King Louis XVI (uncredited)
Nathalie
Franck Marchal
Portrait Of My Father
Self
Libero Burro
Zio Tony
Far West
Indian chief
Tabarin
Jacques Forestier
The War Is Over
Inspector #1
Dom Juan
Dom Juan
Is Paris Burning?
Edgar Pisani
The Price of Survival
René Winterhalter
Atlantic City
Joseph
Little Girl in Blue Velvet
Conrad Brukner
Touch and Go
Valentin
The Bellman
Un villageois
La Ruelle au clair de lune
Pierre Willer
The Incredible Mr. Piccoli
Self - Actor (archive footage)
The Devil's Tricks
L'antiquaire
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Interior Minister
Godard by Godard
Self (archive footage)
The Accuser
Saint-Ramé
Masquerade
Georges Sarrassin
Atrocious Tales of Love and Death
Victor Navarro
Un amour de pluie
Mr. Dellerue (voice)
2 x 50 Years of French Cinema
Himself
French Cancan
Le Capitaine Valorgueil
The Children Thief
Mr. Armand
Film Study 01
Footage from La Belle Noiseuse
The Taste of Blueberries
Michel
Les Joueurs
Chvokhniev
Magic Mirror
Prof. Heschel
Climates of Love
François
One Way or Another
Lui
Du crime considéré comme un des beaux-arts.
Morrand
Le Bal des casse-pieds
Désiré, l'homosexuel
Death in a French Garden
Graham Tombsthay
The Grand Manoeuvre
Officer (uncredited)
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Self (archive footage)
Romy Schneider, étrange étrangère
Self
La Belle Noiseuse: Divertimento
Edouard Frenhofer
Le Matelot 512
Narrator (voice)
Torticola versus Frankensberg
Torticola
Heartbeat
Charles
Without Leaving an Address
Un journaliste aux archives (uncredited)
Without Leaving an Address
Un journaliste aux archives
Will the High Salaried Workers Raise Their Hands!
José Viss
Les paradoxes de Buñuel
Self
Le Chalet sous la neige
Robert
Themroc
Themroc
A Leap in the Dark
Mauro Ponticelli
The Witches of Salem
James Putnam
Walking a Tightrope
Marcel Spadice
Romy: Anatomy of a Face
Self
The Last Woman
Michel
We Have a Pope
Melville
Seven Deaths by Prescription
Dr Losseray
Confused Feelings
Professor
Wedding in Blood
Pierre Maury
Berau, sur les traces de Joseph Conrad
Presenter
Docteur Teyran
Jean Teyran
Hauteclaire
Serlon de Savigny
Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres
Self
Fire's Share
Robert Hansen
Speaking of Buñuel
Self
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Simon Dame
The Life of Mirrors
Croissance de Paris
Récitant (voice)
Sunday Buddies
Le directeur de l'aéro-club
All About Loving
Raoul
The Fate of Baron Leisenbohg
Le baron de Leisenbohg
Weak Spot
L'enquêteur
The Things of Life
Pierre Bérard
Nouvelles d'Henry James
Capitaine Roger
Actors
Michel Piccoli
Dangerous Moves
Akiva Liebskind
La Cerisaie
Léonid
Adieu Philippine
Izquierdo dans l'émission de télévision 'Montserrat' (uncredited)
Dios de monoambiente
Self (archive footage)
Diary of a Chambermaid
Monsieur Monteil
Don't Touch the White Woman!
Buffalo Bill
Chicago Digest
Slim Spring
Tödliches Geld
Paul Belmont
The Voyage Into the Whirlpool Has Begun
La Nuit de Tom Brown
Tom Brown, jeune
The Veiled Man
Kassar
How Good the Whites Are
Père Jean-Marie
Our Lady of Hormones
Narrator
The Mark of the Day
Georges Gohelle
Gardens in Autumn
Marie, la mère de Vincent
Le Roi Lear
Le roi Lear
The Black Angel
Georges Feuvrier
Spy, Stand Up
Jean-Paul Chance
La Voleuse
Werner Kreuz
A Man, a Real One
Michel Piccoli
The Passerby
Max Baumstein
Lines of Wellington
Leópold Scheitzer
Traveling Companion
Cosimo
Belle Toujours
Henri Husson
Danger in the Middle East
Brian Cannon
Le quadrille des diamants
Richard Burke
Terreur en Oklahoma
Tommy Goudchote
Le Doulos
Nuttheccio
Dillinger Is Dead
Glauco
Rene the Cane
Ispettore Marchand
Otar Iosseliani, le merle siffleur
Himself
The Assassination
Colonel Kassar
Passion in the Desert
Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis
Un coupable
L'avocat
Death in the Garden
Father Lizzardi
Marx Can Wait
Agostino (archive footage) (uncredited)
Little Lili
acteur qui joue Simon
Strauberg ist da
Strauberg
Long Live Life
Michel Perrin
The World of Jacques Demy
Self
Café tabac
Récitant (voice)
Party
Michel
My Love, My Love
Marrades
Horizons...
un ouvrier
Coming Apart
(archive footage)
Fumée, histoire et fantaisie
Going and Coming Back
Simon Lerner
Beneath the Rooftops of Paris
Marcel
Agnès Varda: From Here to There
Self
Archipel
Leonard Wilde
La Chevelure
L'homme
Scénario du film Passion
Self
The Happiest Place on Earth
Récitant (voice)
The Woman in Blue
Pierre
Le Coup de grâce
Capri / Bruno
Hello Cubans
Narrator (voice)
Elsa the Rose
Narrator (voice)
Claude Sautet, Romy, Yves, Michel et les autres
Self (archive footage)
One Hundred and One Nights
Simon Cinéma
Amazons of Rome
Console Publicola
That Day
Harald
Beyond the Door
Mr. Mutti
The Dinosaur and the Baby
Paul Javal (archive footage)
Genealogies of a Crime
Georges Didier
Nothing About Robert
Lord Ariel Chatwick-West
Rupture(s)
Paul
Chance at Love
Philippe Decharme (segment "Lucky la chance")
May Fools
Milou
Boxes
Daddy
Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances
Gérard
La Leçon d'humour dans un parc
Bad Liaisons
un inspecteur
Blanc de Chine
Batz
Bête de scène
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
Le père
A Room in Town
Edmond Leroyer
Strange Affair
Bertrand Malair
Claude Chabrol, the Maverick
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Le Plus Heureux des trois
Pianist
Ousmane Sow
Narrateur
Rendezvous
Paul
La dragée haute
Hugo Barsac
Price of Love
Georges
Bardot et Godard
Self
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
Lebel
Parisienne... Parisiennes
Récitant (voice)
Paparazzi
Texte dit par (voice)
Il bambino di Betlemme
My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister
Étienne Sembadel
Le Rendez-vous de Noël
Marco Ferreri: Dangerous But Necessary
Self (archive footage)
The Eyes, the Mouth
Tío Agostino
Tout chante autour de moi
Reverdier
Quarante fontaines
Récitant (voice)
Délire à deux
Him
La France romane
Récitant (voice)
Luis Buñuel : Un cinéaste de notre temps
Narrator (voice)
François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story
Self (archive footage)
The General of the Dead Army
Benetandi
Le Bel Âge
Maurice Reverdy
Everything's Connected
Narrator
F as in Fairbanks
Etienne
Everything's Fine, We're Leaving
Louis
Train de nuit
The Young Girls Turn 25
Self (archive footage)
Un divertissement et Michel Piccoli
Self
L'Été en hiver
Jean, the reporter
Champs-Elysées
Self
Vivement dimanche
Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
Apostrophes
Self
Wetten, dass..?
Self
Spécial cinéma
Self
Samedi soir
Self
Nulle part ailleurs
Self
V.I.P. Schaukel
Self
Treffpunkte
Self