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Jean-Claude Carrière

1931 – 2021

French screenwriter and actor

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About Jean-Claude Carrière

Lived 1931 – 2021 (aged 89). Jean-Claude Carrière was a French writer, playwright, lyricist, film actor, film director and translator.

Jean-Claude Carrière (; 17 September 1931 – 8 February 2021) was a French novelist, screenwriter and actor. He received an Academy Award for best short film for co-writing Heureux Anniversaire, and was later given an Honorary Oscar in 2014.

Early life Carrière was born in Colombières-sur-Orb in southwestern France on 17 September 1931. Carrière was a gifted student, who employed Carrière to write novels based on his movies.

Career Carrière met Pierre Étaix, who worked as Tati's first assistant. They earned their second Oscar nomination five years later for Best Adapted Screenplay in That Obscure Object of Desire (1977).

Carrière also penned the screenplay for The Tin Drum (1979), which won both the Palme d'Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars a year later. His work on The Return of Martin Guerre (1983) won the 1983 César Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Carrière co-founded La Fémis, the French state film school, in 1986. He collaborated with Peter Brook on a nine hour long stage version of the ancient Sanskrit epic The Mahabharata, and a five-hour film version. He was credited as a script consultant in The White Ribbon, which won the Palme d'Or in 2009. Carrière also wrote comics for Bernard Yslaire and Pierre Étaix. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 2014, Academy Honorary Award (2014) for lifetime achievement (at Governors Awards) Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement (2000) Asteroid 347266 Carrière, discovered by amateur astronomer Bernard Christophe at Saint-Sulpice Observatory in 2004, was named in his memory. The was announced by the International Astronomical Union on 16 June 2021. Rupture (1962, Short) Heureux Anniversaire (1962, Short) Diary of a Chambermaid (1964) Tant qu'on a la santé (1966) The Thief of Paris (1967) La Chair de l'orchidée (1975) Julie pot de colle (1977) The Associate (1979) The General of the Dead Army (1983) The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) Priez pour nous (1994) The Night and the Moment (1995) The Ogre (1996) Les Thibault (2003, TV mini series) The Artist and the Model (2012)

Actor

Diary of a Chambermaid (1964) – Le curé Le jeu du solitaire (1976) – Luc L'amour nu (1981) – Le professeur Certified Copy (2010) – L'homme de la place

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Lycée Lakanal, École normale supérieure de lettres et sciences humaines, Lycée Voltaire
Awards
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film; Padma Shri in literature and education; Commander of the Legion of Honour; European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award; Commander of the National Order of Merit; Jean-Le-Duc award; Academy Honorary Award

People in Jean-Claude Carrière's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Jean-Claude Carrière's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Jean-Claude Carrière?

French screenwriter and actor (1931-2021)

When was Jean-Claude Carrière born?

Jean-Claude Carrière was born on 17 September 1931 in Colombières-sur-Orb.

When did Jean-Claude Carrière die?

Jean-Claude Carrière died on 8 February 2021 in 9th arrondissement of Paris.

What was Jean-Claude Carrière's occupation?

Jean-Claude Carrière was a writer, playwright, lyricist, film actor, film director and translator.

What nationality was Jean-Claude Carrière?

Jean-Claude Carrière was French.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Jean-Claude Carrière

· Wikidata: Q551429

· DBpedia: Jean-Claude Carrière

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Jean-Claude Carrière. https://biography.guide/jean-claude-carriere/

MLA: "Jean-Claude Carrière." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/jean-claude-carriere/.

Chicago: "Jean-Claude Carrière." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/jean-claude-carriere/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-24 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

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