Michel Piccoli
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1925-12-27
Day of Death
2020-05-12 (94 years old)
Place of Birth
Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Michel Piccoli
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.
Known For
Acting
(2025)
Film Study 01
as Footage from La Belle Noiseuse
(2024)
It's Not Me
as (archive footage)
(2023)
Godard by Godard
as Self (archive footage)
(2022)
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
as Self (archive footage)
(2021)
François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story
as Self (archive footage)
(2021)
Marx Can Wait
as Agostino (archive footage) (uncredited)
(2019)
Claude Chabrol, the Maverick
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
(2018)
Dios de monoambiente
as Self (archive footage)
(2017)
Marco Ferreri: Dangerous But Necessary
as Self (archive footage)
(2017)
The Incredible Mr. Piccoli
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
(2017)
Claude Sautet, Romy, Yves, Michel et les autres
as Self (archive footage)
(2017)
Coming Apart
as (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
(2012)
Lines of Wellington
as Leópold Scheitzer
(2012)
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
as Le père
(2011)
We Have a Pope
as Melville
(2011)
(2011)
(2010)
Portrait Of My Father
as Self
(2009)
Le Bel Âge
as Maurice Reverdy
(2009)
Once Upon a Time… Contempt
as Self
(2008)
The Beaches of Agnès
as Self (archive footage)
(2008)
The Dust of Time
as Spyros
(2008)
On War
as Le grand Hou
(2007)
To Each His Own Cinema
as Nikita Kruschev (segment "Rencontre unique")
(2007)
The Duchess of Langeais
as Vidame de Pamiers
(2007)
Boxes
as Daddy
(2007)
Beneath the Rooftops of Paris
as Marcel
(2007)
Le Roi Lear
as Le roi Lear
(2007)
Sole Meeting
as Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev
(2006)
Magic Mirror
as Prof. Heschel
(2006)
Belle Toujours
as Henri Husson
(2006)
Gardens in Autumn
as Marie, la mère de Vincent
(2006)
Otar Iosseliani, le merle siffleur
as Himself
(2005)
Everything's Connected
as Narrator
(2004)
(2003)
Raining Cats and Frogs
as Ferdinand (voice)
(2003)
Little Lili
as acteur qui joue Simon
(2003)
A Man, a Real One
as Michel Piccoli
(2003)
That Day
as Harald
(2002)
(2002)
(2001)
I’m Going Home
as Gilbert Valence
(2000)
Actors
as Michel Piccoli
(2000)
Kiarostami in Close up
as as Self
(2000)
Speaking of Buñuel
as Self
(2000)
Everything's Fine, We're Leaving
as Louis
(1999)
París-Tombuctú
as Michel des Assantes
(1999)
Nothing About Robert
as Lord Ariel Chatwick-West
(1999)
The Happiest Place on Earth
as Récitant (voice)
(1999)
Libero Burro
as Zio Tony
(1997)
Passion in the Desert
as Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis
(1997)
Genealogies of a Crime
as Georges Didier
(1996)
Beaumarchais the Scoundrel
as Prince de Conti
(1996)
Tykho Moon
as Mac Bee / frère Mac Bee
(1996)
Party
as Michel
(1996)
Traveling Companion
as Cosimo
(1995)
One Hundred and One Nights
as Simon Cinéma
(1995)
The World of Jacques Demy
as Self
(1995)
Tödliches Geld
as Paul Belmont
(1995)
2 x 50 Years of French Cinema
as Himself
(1994)
The Emigrant
as Adam - Ram's father
(1994)
The Black Angel
as Georges Feuvrier
(1994)
Berau, sur les traces de Joseph Conrad
as Presenter
(1994)
(1994)
(1993)
Loonies at Large
as Henri Toussaint
(1993)
Rupture(s)
as Paul
(1993)
Archipel
as Leonard Wilde
(1993)
The Young Girls Turn 25
as Self (archive footage)
(1992)
Le Bal des casse-pieds
as Désiré, l'homosexuel
(1992)
The Supper
as Chateaubriand (voice)
(1992)
La Belle Noiseuse: Divertimento
as Edouard Frenhofer
(1991)
La Belle Noiseuse
as Edouard Frenhofer
(1991)
The Children Thief
as Mr. Armand
(1991)
Against Oblivion
as Self
(1991)
The Fate of Baron Leisenbohg
as Le baron de Leisenbohg
(1991)
Walking a Tightrope
as Marcel Spadice
(1990)
May Fools
as Milou
(1990)
Martha and I
as Ernst
(1989)
(1988)
Un coupable
as L'avocat
(1988)
How Good the Whites Are
as Père Jean-Marie
(1988)
La Ruelle au clair de lune
as Pierre Willer
(1988)
Blanc de Chine
as Batz
(1987)
Malady of Love
as Raoul Bergeron
(1987)
La Rumba
as Damien Malleville
(1987)
The Distant Land
as Friedrich Hofreiter
(1987)
The Veiled Man
as Kassar
(1986)
Mauvais Sang
as Marc
(1986)
The Prude
as Pierre
(1986)
My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister
as Étienne Sembadel
(1986)
The Nonentity
as der Tölpel
(1985)
Death in a French Garden
as Graham Tombsthay
(1985)
Going and Coming Back
as Simon Lerner
(1985)
Adieu Bonaparte
as Caffarelli
(1985)
(1984)
Long Live Life
as Michel Perrin
(1984)
Success Is the Best Revenge
as French Official
(1984)
Dangerous Moves
as Akiva Liebskind
(1984)
Le Matelot 512
as Narrator (voice)
(1983)
The Prize of Peril
as Frédéric Mallaire
(1983)
The General of the Dead Army
as Benetandi
(1982)
The Passerby
as Max Baumstein
(1982)
The Night of Varennes
as King Louis XVI (uncredited)
(1982)
Spy, Stand Up
as Jean-Paul Chance
(1982)
A Room in Town
as Edmond Leroyer
(1982)
Godard's Passion
as Michel Boulard
(1982)
(1982)
Beyond the Door
as Mr. Mutti
(1982)
La Cerisaie
as Léonid
(1982)
The Eyes, the Mouth
as Tío Agostino
(1982)
Scénario du film Passion
as Self
(1981)
The Prodigal Daughter
as Le père
(1981)
Strange Affair
as Bertrand Malair
(1981)
Confused Feelings
as Professor
(1981)
(1980)
Atlantic City
as Joseph
(1980)
The Price of Survival
as René Winterhalter
(1980)
A Leap in the Dark
as Mauro Ponticelli
(1979)
Atrocious Tales of Love and Death
as Victor Navarro
(1979)
The Bit Between the Teeth
as Pierre Chazerand
(1979)
Le divorcement
as Philippe
(1978)
Sugar
as Grezillo
(1978)
Little Girl in Blue Velvet
as Conrad Brukner
(1978)
Fire's Share
as Robert Hansen
(1978)
The Savage State
as Orlaville
(1978)
(1977)
Rene the Cane
as Ispettore Marchand
(1977)
Spoiled Children
as Bernard Rougerie
(1977)
The Accuser
as Saint-Ramé
(1976)
Mado
as Simon Léotard
(1976)
The Last Woman
as Michel
(1976)
One Way or Another
as Lui
(1976)
F as in Fairbanks
as Etienne
(1975)
Leonor
as Richard
(1975)
Seven Deaths by Prescription
as Dr Losseray
(1975)
Weak Spot
as L'enquêteur
(1974)
The Phantom of Liberty
as The Second Police Prefect
(1974)
Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
as François, médecin
(1974)
Don't Touch the White Woman!
as Buffalo Bill
(1974)
The Infernal Trio
as Georges Sarret
(1974)
(1974)
Un amour de pluie
as Mr. Dellerue (voice)
(1974)
Life Size
as Michel
(1973)
La Grande Bouffe
as Michel
(1973)
Wedding in Blood
as Pierre Maury
(1973)
Themroc
as Themroc
(1973)
The Woman in Blue
as Pierre
(1973)
Far West
as Indian chief
(1972)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
as Interior Minister
(1972)
Cesar and Rosalie
as Narrator (voice)
(1972)
Liza
as Giorgio's friend
(1972)
The Assassination
as Colonel Kassar
(1972)
The Audience
as Padre Amerin
(1971)
Max and the Junkmen
as Max, inspector
(1971)
Touch and Go
as Valentin
(1971)
Ten Days' Wonder
as Paul Regis
(1970)
The Things of Life
as Pierre Bérard
(1970)
Invasion
as Marcello
(1969)
Topaz
as Jacques Granville
(1969)
The Milky Way
as Marquis de Sade
(1969)
Dillinger Is Dead
as Glauco
(1969)
The Uninvited
as François Desailly
(1968)
Danger: Diabolik
as Inspector Ginko
(1968)
Woman in Chains
as L'invité pressé au vernissage (uncredited)
(1968)
The Diary of an Innocent Boy
as Count Philippe
(1968)
Heartbeat
as Charles
(1968)
(1967)
Belle de Jour
as Henri Husson
(1967)
The Young Girls of Rochefort
as Simon Dame
(1967)
Shock Troops
as L'homme de trop
(1967)
The Dinosaur and the Baby
as Paul Javal (archive footage)
(1967)
My Love, My Love
as Marrades
(1967)
Romy: Anatomy of a Face
as Self
(1966)
Is Paris Burning?
as Edgar Pisani
(1966)
The War Is Over
as Inspector #1
(1966)
The Game Is Over
as Alexandre Saccard
(1966)
La Voleuse
as Werner Kreuz
(1966)
The Devil's Tricks
as L'antiquaire
(1966)
The Creatures
as Edgar Piccoli
(1966)
Le Coup de grâce
as Capri / Bruno
(1966)
Elsa the Rose
as Narrator (voice)
(1965)
Lady L
as Lecoeur
(1965)
The Sleeping Car Murder
as René Cabourg, l'employé besogneux (Victime #2)
(1965)
Masquerade
as Georges Sarrassin
(1965)
Dom Juan
as Dom Juan
(1964)
Diary of a Chambermaid
as Monsieur Monteil
(1964)
Paparazzi
as Texte dit par (voice)
(1964)
Chance at Love
as Philippe Decharme (segment "Lucky la chance")
(1964)
Marie Soleil
as Kafka
(1964)
Bardot et Godard
as Self
(1964)
All About Loving
as Raoul
(1964)
Luis Buñuel : Un cinéaste de notre temps
as Narrator (voice)
(1964)
L'Été en hiver
as Jean, the reporter
(1964)
Café tabac
as Récitant (voice)
(1963)
Contempt
as Paul Javal
(1963)
The Day and the Hour
as Antoine
(1963)
Hello Cubans
as Narrator (voice)
(1962)
Le Doulos
as Nuttheccio
(1962)
Adieu Philippine
as Izquierdo dans l'émission de télévision 'Montserrat' (uncredited)
(1962)
Climates of Love
as François
(1962)
Parisienne... Parisiennes
as Récitant (voice)
(1962)
Le Temps des assassins
as Récitant (voice)
(1961)
Amazons of Rome
as Console Publicola
(1961)
Hauteclaire
as Serlon de Savigny
(1961)
Rendezvous
as Paul
(1961)
(1961)
La Chevelure
as L'homme
(1961)
Quarante fontaines
as Récitant (voice)
(1960)
(1960)
(1960)
Danger in the Middle East
as Brian Cannon
(1960)
Les Joueurs
as Chvokhniev
(1959)
Beast at Bay
as Commissioner Jacques Guimard
(1959)
La Nuit de Tom Brown
as Tom Brown, jeune
(1959)
Le Chalet sous la neige
as Robert
(1958)
Sinners of Paris
as L'inspecteur Vardier, de la P.J.
(1958)
Tabarin
as Jacques Forestier
(1957)
The Witches of Salem
as James Putnam
(1957)
Nathalie
as Franck Marchal
(1957)
Sunday Buddies
as Le directeur de l'aéro-club
(1957)
Le Plus Heureux des trois
as Pianist
(1957)
Le quadrille des diamants
as Richard Burke
(1956)
Death in the Garden
as Father Lizzardi
(1956)
La France romane
as Récitant (voice)
(1955)
French Cancan
as Le Capitaine Valorgueil
(1955)
Ernst Thälmann – Leader of the Working Class
as Maurice Rouger
(1955)
The Grand Manoeuvre
as Officer (uncredited)
(1955)
Bad Liaisons
as un inspecteur
(1955)
Price of Love
as Georges
(1955)
Croissance de Paris
as Récitant (voice)
(1954)
Daughters of Destiny
as Pasquerel (segment "Jeanne")
(1954)
Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances
as Gérard
(1954)
Tout chante autour de moi
as Reverdier
(1952)
Torticola versus Frankensberg
as Torticola
(1951)
Without Leaving an Address
as Un journaliste aux archives (uncredited)
(1951)
Without Leaving an Address
as Un journaliste aux archives
(1951)
Chicago Digest
as Slim Spring
(1951)
(1951)
Terreur en Oklahoma
as Tommy Goudchote
(1949)
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
as Lebel
(1949)
The Mark Of The Day
as Georges Gohelle
(1945)
The Bellman
as Un villageois
Crew
(2006)
C'est pas tout à fait la vie dont j'avais rêvé
Director, Writer
(2001)
The Black Beach
Director, Writer
(1997)
Alors voilà,
Director, Writer
(1994)
Train de nuit
Writer, Director
(1991)
Against Oblivion
Director
(1983)
The General of the Dead Army
Producer
(1980)
The Price of Survival
Producer
(1978)
The Savage State
Producer
(1975)
Weak Spot
Co-Producer
(1975)
Leonor
Producer
(1975)
Seven Deaths by Prescription
Associate Producer
(1974)
Don't Touch the White Woman!
Producer
(1974)
Life Size
Producer
(1964)
Paparazzi
Writer