Pierre Richard

Pierre Richard
Pierre Richard, 20 September 2010
Born	Pierre-Richard Maurice Charles Léopold Defays (1934-08-16) 16 August 1934 Valenciennes, France
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–present
Website	pierre-richard.fr

Pierre Richard (born Pierre-Richard Defays;^[1] 16 August 1934) is a popular French actor best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films. Richard is considered by many, such as Louis de Funès and Gérard Depardieu, to be one of the greatest and most talented French comedians in the last 50 years. He is also a film director and occasional singer.

Life and career

Pierre Richard at the 31e cérémonie des César in 2006

Richard was born in Valenciennes, Nord. He started his acting career at the theatre. He worked with Yves Robert on Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire and its sequel Le retour du grand blond; both these films were written by Francis Veber. Veber cast Richard while directing his own first feature film: Le Jouet. Veber and Richard had a long and successful partnership during the 1980s, highlighted by three comedies – La Chèvre, Les Compères and Les Fugitifs – which paired Richard with Gérard Depardieu. Richard again moved behind the camera to direct On peut toujours rêver (1991) and Droit dans le mur (1997).

In 1981, he was selected to be one the first Young Leaders of the French-American Foundation.^[2]

In 2006 the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema awarded him a lifetime achievement César.

In addition to being an actor and film director Pierre Richard is also a businessman. He owns the restaurant Au pied de chameau in Paris and a 20-hectare vineyard in Southern France which produces some 80,000 bottles a year, including some 12,000 bottles of rosé labelled as le Bel Évêque.

If he is not overseeing his wine business on location, he lives in Paris. He used to live for many years on a barge on the Seine in the center of Paris. His two sons are musicians: Olivier is a group member of "Blues trottoir" and plays the saxophone whereas Christophe plays the double bass. His grandson, Arthur Defays, is a model and a young actor.

The Académie André Delvaux awarded him the Honorary Magritte Award at the 5th Magritte Awards.^[3]

Filmography

Cinema

Television

• 1967: Malican père and fils, directed by Yannick Andréi, Marcel Cravenne and François Moreuil
• 1969: Agence intérim, directed by Marcel Moussy and Pierre Neurrisse
• 1980: Chouette, chat, chien... show, directed by Jacques Samyn
• 1980: Ça va plaire, directed by Jean-Pierre Cassel and Bernard Lion
• 2000: Sans famille, directed by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe
• 2003: Robinson Crusoé, directed by Thierry Chabert

Direction

• 1970: Le Distrait
• 1972: Les Malheurs d'Alfred
• 1973: Je sais rien, mais je dirai tout
• 1978: Je suis timide... mais je me soigne
• 1980: C'est pas moi, c'est lui
• 1991: On peut toujours rêver
• 1997: Droit dans le mur

Selected discography

• 1983: Madame Sardine

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pierre Richard.

• Official website (in French; English version under development)
• Pierre Richard at the Internet Movie Database
• Le bonheur de Pierre (in French)
• Pierre Richard in Siberia – March 4, 2011 – photo essay and comments on a creative meeting with the actor in Novosibirsk, Russia (in Russian)