Biography

He was born in Paris to a musical family; his mother was a pianist and his father a violinist.

He has appeared in many different roles, from seducer to cop to gangster to Pope, in more than 170 movies. Piccoli has worked with Jean Renoir, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Lelouch, Jacques Demy, Claude Sautet, Louis Malle, Agnès Varda, Leos Carax, Luis Buñuel, Costa-Gavras, Alfred Hitchcock, Marco Ferreri, Jacques Rivette, Otar Iosseliani, Nanni Moretti, Jacques Doillon, Mario Bava, Manoel de Oliviera, Claude Faraldo, Raúl Ruiz, Theodoros Angelopoulos and Alain Resnais.

He has been married three times, first to Éléonore Hirt, then for eleven years to the singer Juliette Gréco and finally to Ludivine Clerc. He has one daughter from his first marriage, Anne-Cordélia.

Piccoli is politically active on the left, and is vocally opposed to the Front National.

Selected filmography

• Destinées (1954, directed by Jean Delannoy, Christian-Jaque, Marcello Pagliero)
• Bad Liaisons (1955, directed by Alexandre Astruc)
• Ernst Thälmann (1955, directed by Kurt Maetzig)
• Death in the Garden (1956, directed by Luis Buñuel)
• The Crucible (1957, directed by Raymond Rouleau)
• Rafles sur la ville (fr) (1957, directed by Pierre Chenal)
• Tabarin (1958, directed by Richard Pottier)
• La Bête à l'affût (fr) (1959, directed by Pierre Chenal)
• Le Bal des espions (fr) (1960, directed by Michel Clément (fr))
• Le Rendez-vous (fr) (1961, directed by Jean Delannoy)
• Le Doulos (1962, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville)
• Contempt (1963, directed by Jean-Luc Godard)
• The Day and the Hour (1963, directed by Rene Clement)
• Diary of a Chambermaid (1964, directed by Luis Buñuel)
• La Chance et l'Amour (fr) (1964, directed by Bertrand Tavernier, Claude Berri, Charles L. Bitsch (fr), Éric Schlumberger (fr))
• All About Loving (1964, directed by Jean Aurel)
• Le Coup de grâce (fr) (1964, directed by Jean Cayrol, Claude Durand)
• Masquerade (1965, directed by Basil Dearden)
• Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre (fr) (TV movie) (1965, directed by Marcel Bluwal)
• The Sleeping Car Murders (1965, directed by Costa-Gavras)
• Lady L (1965, directed by Peter Ustinov)
• Marie Soleil (fr) (1966, directed by Antoine Bourseiller)
• The War Is Over (1966, directed by Alain Resnais)
• Les Ruses du diable (fr) (1966, directed by Paul Vecchiali)
• The Game Is Over (1966, directed by Roger Vadim)
• Schornstein Nr. 4 (de) (1966, directed by Jean Chapot)
• Les Créatures (fr) (1966, directed by Agnès Varda)
• Is Paris Burning? (1966, directed by René Clément)
• My Love, My Love (1967, directed by Nadine Trintignant)
• The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967, directed by Jacques Demy)
• Shock Troops (1967, directed by Costa-Gavras)
• Belle de jour (1967, directed by Luis Buñuel)
• Benjamin (1968, directed by Michel Deville)
• Danger: Diabolik (1968, directed by Mario Bava)
• La Chamade (1968, directed by Alain Cavalier)
• La prisonnière (1968, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot)
• Dillinger Is Dead (1969, directed by Marco Ferreri)
• The Milky Way (1969, directed by Luis Buñuel)
• L'Invitée (fr) (1969, directed by Vittorio De Seta)
• Topaz (1969, directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
• The Things of Life (1970, directed by Claude Sautet)
• L'Invasion (fr) (1970, directed by Yves Allégret)
• Max et les ferrailleurs (1971, directed by Claude Sautet)
• La Poudre d'escampette (fr) (1971, directed by Philippe de Broca)
• Ten Days' Wonder (1971, directed by Claude Chabrol)
• L'udienza (1971, directed by Marco Ferreri)
• Liza (1972, directed by Marco Ferreri)
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972, directed by Luis Buñuel)
• Plot (1972, directed by Yves Boisset)
• La Femme en bleu (fr) (1973, directed by Michel Deville)
• Themroc (1973, directed by Claude Faraldo)
• Wedding in Blood (1973, directed by Claude Chabrol)
• La Grande Bouffe (1973, directed by Marco Ferreri)
• Don't Touch the White Woman! (1974, directed by Marco Ferreri)
• Le Trio infernal (fr) (1974, directed by Francis Girod)
• Tamaño natural (es) (1974, directed by Luis García Berlanga)
• The Phantom of Liberty (1974, directed by Luis Buñuel)
• Vincent, François, Paul and the Others (1974, directed by Claude Sautet)
• La smagliatura (it) (1975, directed by Peter Fleischmann)
• Leonor (fr) (1975, directed by Juan Luis Buñuel (es))
• Sept morts sur ordonnance (1975, directed by Jacques Rouffio)
• The Last Woman (1976, directed by Marco Ferreri)
• Todo modo (1976, directed by Elio Petri)
• F comme Fairbanks (1976, directed by Maurice Dugowson)
• Mado (1976, directed by Claude Sautet)
• René la Canne (fr) (1976, directed by Francis Girod)
• Spoiled Children (1977, directed by Bertrand Tavernier)
• The Accuser (1977, directed by Jean-Louis Bertucelli)
• La Part du feu (fr) (1978, directed by Étienne Périer)
• The Savage State (1978, directed by Francis Girod)
• La petite fille en velours bleu (1978, directed by Alan Bridges)
• Le sucre (1978, directed by Jacques Rouffio)
• Neapolitan Mystery (1979, directed by Sergio Corbucci)
• Le Mors aux dents (fr) (1978, directed by Laurent Heynemann (fr))
• Der Preis fürs Überleben (1980, directed by Hans Noever)
• A Leap in the Dark (1980, directed by Marco Bellocchio)
• Atlantic City (1980, directed by Louis Malle)
• La Fille prodigue (fr) (1981, directed by Jacques Doillon)
• La confusion des sentiments (fr) (1981, directed by Étienne Périer)
• Strange Affair (1981, directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre)
• Espion, lève-toi (1982, directed by Yves Boisset)
• The Passerby (1982, directed by Jacques Rouffio)
• Passion (1982, directed by Jean-Luc Godard)
• Beyond the Door (1982, directed by Liliana Cavani)
• Gli occhi, la bocca (it) (1982, directed by Marco Bellocchio)
• Une chambre en ville (1982, directed by Jacques Demy)
• Que les gros salaires lèvent le doigt ! (fr) (1982, directed by Denys Granier-Deferre)
• Le Prix du Danger (1983, directed by Yves Boisset)
• The General of the Dead Army (1983, directed by Luciano Tovoli)
• Dangerous Moves (1984, directed by Richard Dembo)
• Viva la vie (1984, directed by Claude Lelouch)
• Success Is the Best Revenge (1984, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski)
• Death in a French Garden (1985, directed by Michel Deville)
• Partir, revenir (1985, directed by Claude Lelouch)
• Adieu Bonaparte (1985, directed by Youssef Chahine)
• My Brother-in-Law Killed My Sister (1986, directed by Jacques Rouffio)
• Le Paltoquet (fr) (1986, directed by Michel Deville)
• Mauvais Sang (1986, directed by Leos Carax)
• La Puritaine (fr) (1986, directed by Jacques Doillon)
• La rumba (fr) (1986, directed by Roger Hanin)
• The Distant Land (1987, directed by Luc Bondy)
• Maladie d'amour (fr) (1987, directed by Jacques Deray)
• L'homme voilé (1987, directed by Maroun Bagdadi)
• May Fools (1990, directed by Louis Malle)
• La Belle Noiseuse (1991, directed by Jacques Rivette)
• The Children Thief (1991, directed by Christian de Chalonge)
• Le Bal des casse-pieds (fr) (1992, directed by Yves Robert)
• Le Visionarium (The Timekeeper, 1992)
• Al-Mohager (1994, directed by Youssef Chahine)
• Les Cent et une Nuits de Simon Cinéma (1995, directed by Agnès Varda)
• Beaumarchais (1996, directed by Édouard Molinaro)
• Traveling Companion (1996, directed by Peter Del Monte)
• Party (1996, directed by Manoel de Oliveira)
• Tykho Moon (fr) (1996, directed by Enki Bilal)
• Passion in the Desert (1997, directed by Lavinia Currier)
• Genealogies of a Crime (1997, directed by Raúl Ruiz)
• Rien sur Robert (fr) (1999, directed by Pascal Bonitzer)
• Libero Burro (1999, directed by Sergio Castellitto)
• París-Tombuctú (es) (1999, directed by Luis García Berlanga)
• Les Acteurs (2000, directed by Bertrand Blier)
• Tout va bien, on s'en va (fr) (2000, directed by Claude Mouriéras)
• I'm Going Home (2001, directed by Manoel de Oliveira)
• That Day (2003, directed by Manoel de Oliveira)
• C'est pas tout à fait la vie dont j'avais rêvé (2005, directed by Michel Piccoli)
• Magic Mirror (2005, directed by Manoel de Oliveira)
• Gardens in Autumn (fr) (2006, directed by Otar Iosseliani)
• Belle Toujours (2007, directed by Manoel de Oliveira)
• The Duchess of Langeais (2007, directed by Jacques Rivette)
• Boxes (2007, directed by Jane Birkin)
• Les Toits de Paris (fr) (2007, directed by Huner Saleem)
• On War (2008, directed by Bertrand Bonello)
• The Dust of Time (2008, directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos)
• Le Bel Âge (fr) (2009, directed by Laurent Perreau (fr))
• We Have a Pope (2011, directed by Nanni Moretti)
• You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (2012, directed by Alain Resnais)
• Holy Motors (2012, directed by Leos Carax)
• Lines of Wellington (2012, directed by Valeria Sarmiento)
• As Linhas de Torres Vedras (2012) (TV Mini-Series)
• Le goût des myrtilles (2014)

Awards

He won the Best Actor Award at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival for A Leap in the Dark. In 1982, he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival for his role in Strange Affair. In 2001 he was the recipient of the Europe Theatre Prize.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]