Pierre Richard (born Pierre-Richard Maurice Charles Léopold Defays; 16 August 1934) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films. Richard is considered by some, such as Louis de Funès and Gérard Depardieu, to be one of the greatest French comedians of the last 50 years. He is also a film director and occasional singer.
Early life Pierre Richard was born in a bourgeois family from Valenciennes. He is the grandson of Léopold Defays who was the director of the company Escaut-et-Meuse. His name comes from the stage name of Pierre Richard-Willm who was his mother's favorite actor. Richard spent his childhood and a part of his teenage years in his native city where he was a student at the Henri-Wallon high school.
Skipping classes regularly to go to the cinema, it was Danny Kaye in Up in Arms that revealed his vocation. This was received with only a moderate enthusiasm by his family, but he decided nonetheless to go to Paris to study dramatic arts at the famous Ecole Charles Dullin. His debuts were far from brilliant (he wanted to play straight drama, which was not in his nature) and he studied kinesiotherapy to have a safety exit if needed, but did not renounce acting.
Acting career
After a short stint as an extra at Jean Vilar's Théâtre National Populaire, Pierre Richard started his career with Antoine Bourseiller and, to augment his income, created a comedy duet with Victor Lanoux. They performed with great success in famous Parisian cabarets and music-halls sketches they had written themselves. He then began his film career in 1968 in the film Alexandre le Bienheureux (Very Happy Alexander) directed by Yves Robert. In 1970, he directed his first film Le Distrait, followed by Les Malheurs d'Alfred (1972) and Je ne sais rien mais je dirai tout (I Don't Know Much, But I'll Say Everything) (1973). He worked again with Yves Robert for the film Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe) (1972) and its sequel The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1974), both written by Francis Veber, who then cast him in the main role in his directorial film debut, Le Jouet (The Toy) (1976). Their partnership achieved further success in three successful comedies of the early 1980s, La Chèvre (1981), (1983) and Les Fugitifs (1986), which paired Richard with Gérard Depardieu. Richard returned behind the camera to direct On peut toujours rêver (1991) and Droit dans le mur (1997).
Recurring names Among his most famous film roles, Richard came to play different characters with the same name but without any link between them. He is named : François Perrin in the films : The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe and The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe, a violinist used as a "booby trap" and taken as a secret agent, On aura tout vu, a photographer who writes a script and sells it to a producer of pornographic films (Jean-Pierre Marielle), The Toy, an unemployed journalist bought as a toy in a big store by the son of a powerful and wealthy businessman (Michel Bouquet), La Chèvre, an incredibly unlucky accountant sent to Mexico and assistant of a private detective (Gérard Depardieu); Pierre Renaud in the films : Je suis timide mais je me soigne, a hotel cashier suffering of a sickly shyness and attempting to seduce a rich customer with the help of a marital agent (Aldo Maccione), C'est pas moi, c'est lui, a ghostwriter writing for the same author and getting his chance working for a famous producer (Aldo Maccione); François Pignon in the films : , a depressive unemployed teacher, in charge of an investigation with a macho journalist (Gérard Depardieu), Les Fugitifs, a father of a five-year-old girl, unemployed for three years, attempts a bank robbery and forces a former burglar (Gérard Depardieu) to accompany him as he leaves the scene.
Other activities Since 1986, Richard has also become a businessman and winemaker. He owns the restaurant Au pied de chameau in Paris and a 50-hectare vineyard which produces some 80,000 bottles a year (red and rosé) labelled as Château Bel Évêque in Gruissan in the department of Aude.
Personal life Married and divorced three times, Richard has two sons who are both actors and musicians, Olivier is a group member of "Blues trottoir" and plays the saxophone and Christophe plays the double bass. His grandson, Arthur Defays, is a model and actor.
Filmography Richard has acted in all the films he directed. Year Title Role Director 1958 Montparnasse 19 uncredited Jacques Becker 1967 An Idiot in Parisa policeman Serge Korber 1968 Alexandre le Bienheureux Colibert Yves Robert La Prisonnièreuncredited Henri-Georges Clouzot 1969 Pierre Christian-Paul Arrighi the painter Marcel Moussy 1970 Le Distrait (Absent-minded aka. The Daydreamer)Pierre Malaquet Pierre Richard 1972 Les malheurs d'Alfred Alfred Dhumonttyé Pierre Richard Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe) François Perrin Yves Robert 1973 the learner Raymond Devos and François Reichenbach Je sais rien, mais je dirai toutPierre Gastié-Leroy Pierre Richard 1974 Juliette and Juliette Bob Rozenec Remo Forlani Prévot (Lucky Pierre)Pierre Durois Claude Zidi Le Retour du Grand Blond (The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe)François Perrin Yves Robert 1975 Trop c'est tropa policeman (The Wild Goose Chase)Pierre Vidal Claude Zidi 1976 On aura tout vuFrançois Perrin Georges Lautner The Castaways of Turtle Island Jean-Arthur Bonaventure Jacques Rozier Le Jouet (The Toy)François Perrin Francis Veber 1978 Je suis timide mais je me soignePierre Renaud Pierre Richard La CarapateJean-Philippe Duroc Gérard Oury 1980 C'est pas moi, c'est luiPierre Renaud Pierre Richard Le Coup du parapluie (The Umbrella Coup) Grégoire LecomteGérard Oury 1981 La Chèvre (Knock on Wood)François Perrin Francis Veber 1983 Pierre Cohen Bernard Guillou (ComDads)François Pignon Francis Veber 1984 Le Jumeau (The Twin)Matthias et Mathieu Duval Yves Robert 1985 Tranches de vie Dubois François Leterrier 1986 Les FugitifsFrançois Pignon Francis Veber 1988 Mangeclous Moshé Mizrahi À gauche en sortant de l'ascenseur (Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator)Yann Ducoudray Édouard Molinaro 1990 Promotion canapéthe informant Didier Kaminka the hitchhiker 1991 Charles de Boisleve Pierre Richard 1992 Charlie 1993 Bertrand Daumale 1994 Ambroise 1995 Squirrat Benoît Barbier 1997 A Chef in Love (Shekvarebuli kulinaris ataserti retsepti)Pascal Ichak Nana Dzhordzhadze Romain Pierre Richard 2000 27 Missing KissesCaptain Nana Dzhordzhadze 2003 Mariées mais pas tropMaurice Donnay Catherine Corsini Les Clefs de bagnole (The Car Keys)as himself Laurent Baffie 2004 Jean-René 2005Christian and 2006 Yves-Marie's father Pierre-François Martin-Laval Le Serpent (The Serpent)Cendras Éric Barbier 2008 Faubourg 36 Max Christophe Barratier William-Fernand Pierre-François Martin-Laval Mia and the Migoo Pedro (voice) 2009 A Happy Man (Le Bonheur de Pierre) Pierre Martin Robert Ménard Victor Victor Corbin cameo appearance Yann Moix 2011 All TogetherAlbert Stéphane Robelin 2012 Mes héros Jean Éric Besnard 2016 Lost in Paris Norman Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon 2017Mr. Stein Goes OnlinePierre SteinStéphane Robelin 2018Mrs. MillsAlbert Dupont, alias Mrs. Scarlett Mills / Mr. Rosenberg / Léonard Chomsky.Sophie MarceauPierrot Christophe Duthuron 2021PietroLorenzo Bianchini 2022UmamiRufusSlony SowPattie and the Wrath of PoseidonZeusDavid Alaux2023Asterix & Obelix: The Middle KingdomGetafixGuillaume Canet Jeanne du Barry Marshal de Richelieu MaïwennMichel
Publications
Pierre Richard and Jérémie Imbert, Je sais rien mais je dirai tout (autobiography). Preface by Gérard Depardieu. Éditions Flammarion, 2015.
Distinctions Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 1996 : Best Actor for A Chef in Love Just for Laughs Festival of Montréal 2004 : Honorary Prize 31st César Awards 2006 : Honorary Cesar Magritte Awards 2015 (Belgium) : Honorary Prize Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour
Documentaries Un jour, un destin : Pierre Richard, l'incompris (A film by Laurent Allen-Caron). Broadcast on France 2 on 6 September 2015 and again on 31 December 2015. Pierre Richard, the quiet one directed by Gregory Monro in 2018
References
External links
Official website Official web television Site of wines by Pierre Richard