Michel Piccoli

Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide variety of roles and worked with many acclaimed directors, being awarded with a Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival.

Life and career Piccoli was born in Paris to a musical family; his mother was a pianist and his father was a violinist whose grandfather was from the canton of Ticino.

He appeared in many different roles, from seducer to cop to gangster to Pope, in more than 170 movies. He appeared in six films directed by Luis Buñuel including Belle de Jour (1967) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), but also appeared as Brigitte Bardot's husband in Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (1963) and as the main antagonist in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz (1969). He also appeared in many films by Claude Sautet, sometimes co-starring in them with Romy Schneider, and became a frequent collaborator of director Marco Ferreri, with whom he worked on several films, including Dillinger Is Dead and La Grande Bouffe. In 1973 he starred in Luis García Berlanga's (Life Size), a controversial film that suffered censorship during the Franco era and was not released in Spain until 1978.

In the 1990s, Piccoli also worked as a director on three films. One of his last leading roles was his portrayal of a depressed, newly elected pope in Nanni Moretti's We Have a Pope (2011), for which he was awarded with the David di Donatello Award for Best Actor. His first marriage was to Éléonore Hirt. They had one daughter together. He was then married for eleven years to singer Juliette Gréco. His final marriage was to Ludivine Clerc, with whom he adopted a daughter and a son.

Europe Theatre Prize

In 2001, he was awarded the IX Europe Theatre Prize, in Taormina, with the following citation: Michel Piccoli began his career on the stage - his Don Juan remains celebrated - before crossing to the "other shore", the cinema, finally coming to accept the relativity of travelling back and forth between the two and taking full advantage of their potential interaction. Piccoli captivates us because he is halfway between the clearly defined identity of the film actor and the ductile identity of the stage actor. When Bondy, Brook, and Chéreau turned to him, despite his reputation as a cinema performer, it was undoubtedly because of this receptiveness and adaptability. He was not trapped by an image, but brought a unique presence. He was also ready to take on an unprecedented variety of roles, which took him from Schnitzler to Chekhov and Pirandello, from Shakespeare to Koltès. The film actor was able of step back and make way for his double, the stage actor. What is it that we love about Piccoli? The fact that he is an artist who has lasted over time without turning into an effigy… he provides certainty and maintains a hidden dimension. The light does not expel the shadow, which always accompanies the brilliance of the legendary actor that he is. There is nothing one-dimensional about him. Michel Piccoli is a European figure. In him we do not see so much an international star unaware of borders, but an open-minded actor who strives to cross them. A free citizen, he does not want to become a prisoner and his whole life bears witness to this unquenched desire to go beyond limits. National as well as artistic limits. Michel Piccoli refuses civil indifference. He has never lacked commitment, and has always taken sides and got involved. His ethic is constant, whether as an actor or as a citizen. If he is taken as a model, it is always despite himself. He is not a hero who puts himself on display. More than anyone else, Piccoli has managed to maintain his humanity. A vibrant humanity that continues to guide his actions and his words. Michel Piccoli is an exemplary actor, responsible towards himself and towards his art.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Cannes Film Festival 1980: Best Actor Award for A Leap in the Dark Berlin Film Festival 1982: Silver Bear for Best Actor for Strange Affair Locarno Festival 2007: Best Actor Award for Les Toits de Paris 2007: Excellence Award César Awards 1981: Nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for Strange Affair 1984: Nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for Dangerous Moves 1990: Nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for May Fools 1991: Nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for La Belle Noiseuse Shanghai International Film Festival 1997: Golden Goblet Award for Best Actor for Traveling Companion David di Donatello Awards 2012: David di Donatello for Best Actor for We Have a Pope European Film Awards 2001: Nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actor for I'm Going Home 2007: Nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actor for Belle Toujours 2011: Honorary Award 2011: Nominated for the European Film Award for Best Actor for We Have a Pope Europe Theatre Prize - 2001