Pierre Étaix

Pierre Étaix (; 23 November 1928 – 14 October 2016) was a French clown, comedian and filmmaker. Étaix made a series of short- and feature-length films, many of them co-written by influential screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. He won an Academy Award for best live action short film in 1963. Due to a legal dispute with a distribution company, his films were unavailable from the 1970s until 2009.

Jerry Lewis once remarked that twice in his life he understood what genius meant: the first time when he looked up the definition in a dictionary, and the second time when he met Pierre Etaix.

Awards Louis Delluc Prize, 1962, for Le Soupirant Special Diploma, 1963, for Le Soupirant at the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival Academy Award, Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects (1963), for Heureux anniversaire shared with Jean-Claude Carrière Telluride Film Festival Silver Medallion, 2011 Aardman Slapstick Visual Comedy Award, 2012 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, 2013 Grand Prize of the SACD (Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers), 2013

Filmography

As director Rupture (1961) short Insomnie (1962) short, incorporated into As Long as You've Got Your Health 1971 edition) Heureux Anniversaire (Happy Anniversary, 1962) short Le Soupirant (The Suitor, 1962) Yoyo (1965) Tant qu'on a la santé (As Long As You've Got Your Health, 1966, re-edited 1971) Le grand amour (1969) Pays de cocagne (Land of Milk and Honey, 1971) documentary L'âge de Monsieur est avancé (1987) TV film Méliès 88: Rêve d'artiste (1988) TV short J'écris dans l'espace (1989) documentary featurette En pleine forme (Feeling Good, As Long as You've Got Your Health segment, deleted 1971, released standalone 2010) Unreleased

Nous n'irons plus au bois (1961) short

TV series episodes

Souris noire (1987)

Performances Pickpocket (1959) – second accomplice Tire-au-flanc 62 (The Army Game, 1960) – Le chef de gare (uncredited) Rupture (1961, Short) – L'homme qui reçoit une lettre de rupture Une grosse tête (1962) Heureux anniversaire (1962, Short) – Le mari Le Soupirant (1962) – Pierre, the Suitor Le Pèlerinage (1962, Short) Yo Yo (1965) – Yoyo / le millionaire Tant qu'on a la santé (As Long As We've Got Our Health, 1966) – Pierre Le Voleur (The Thief of Paris, 1967) – Le pickpocket (uncredited) Le Grand Amour (1969) – Pierre I Clowns (1970, TV Movie) – Himself Bel Ordure (1973) Sérieux comme le plaisir (1975) – Le garçon d'étage Noctuor (1978, Short) La Métamorphose (1983, TV Movie) Max mon amour (1985) – Le détective / Detective Nuit docile (1987) – SOS Amor L'âge de monsieur est avancé (1987) – L'auteur Henry & June (1990) – Henry's Friend No. 1 Jardins en automne (Gardens in Autumn, 2006) Lucifer et moi (2008) Micmacs à tire-larigot (2009) – L'inventeur des histoires drôles (uncredited) Chantrapas (2010) – Le producteur français Le Havre (2011) – Docteur Becker Chant d'hiver (2015) – Marquis-clochard Unreleased

The Day the Clown Cried (1972, unreleased) – Gustav