The Life of Mirrors
2025 · Movie
Michel Piccoli
1925-12-27
•
Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Writers: ,
Michel Jacques Daniel Piccoli was the son of Henri Piccoli, violinist and Marcelle Expert-Bezançon (1892-1990), pianist and daughter of the French industrialist and politician Charles Expert-Bezançon. In 1954, Michel Piccoli married actress Éléonore Hirt with whom he had a daughter, Anne-Cordélia Piccoli. In 1966, he married the singer Juliette Gréco, then in 1978 the screenwriter Ludivine Clerc, with whom he adopted two children of Polish origin, Inord and Missia. Placed in an establishment for problem children, the commitments of the young Piccoli, are made in opposition to his maternal grandfather, senator of the Third Republic, financier of the Radical Party, and important industrial painter, accused by the trade union left and by Georges Clemenceau, of having intoxicated his workmen through lead white which causes lead poisoning. Michel Piccoli then trained as an actor first with Andrée Bauer-Théraud and then during Simon. After an appearance as an extra in "Sortilèges" by Christian-Jaque in 1945, Michel Piccoli made his film debut in "Le Point Du Jour" by Louis Daquin. In the theater he distinguished himself with the Renaud-Barrault and Grenier-Hussot companies as well as at the Théâtre de Babylone. Noticed in the film "French Cancan" in 1954, he continued on stage and worked with directors Jacques Audiberti, Jean Vilar, Jean-Marie Serreau, Peter Brook, Luc Bondy, Patrice Chéreau and André Engel, and became also know in popular TV movies. Having become an atheist after a family bereavement, he met Luis Buñuel in 1956, and ironically took on the role of a priest in "La Mort En Ce Jardin". In 1959, he shot "Le Rendez-Vous De Noël", a short film by André Michel based on the short story by Malek Ouary "Le Noël Du Petit Cireur", in Algiers. The 1960s sounded his consecration, noticed in "Le Doulos" by Jean-Pierre Melville, he was revealed internationally with "Le Mépris" by Jean-Luc Godard alongside Brigitte Bardot. From then on, he toured with the greatest French and international filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Youssef Chahine, Manoel de Oliveira... He began the 1980s with the interpretation prize at the Cannes festival in 1980, with "Le Saut Dans Le Vide" by Marco Bellocchio, and that of the Berlin festival in 1982, with "Une Étrange Affaire" by Pierre Granier-Deferre. . He worked with Jacques Doillon, Leos Carax, before trying his hand at directing. In 2001 he received the IX Europe Prize for Theatre. He was part of the jury of the 60th Cannes Film Festival in 2007, chaired by Stephen Frears. In 2011, he played in "Habemus Papam" by Nanni Moretti. The last film in which Michel Piccoli appears is the film "Le Goût Des Myrtilles", by Thomas de Thiers in 2013. Politically committed to the left, member of the Peace Movement (communist), Michel Piccoli distinguished himself by his positions against the National Front, and mobilized for Amnesty International. Michel Piccoli died on May 12, 2020 following a stroke in his mansion in Saint-Philbert-sur-Risle in Eure. His funeral takes place in Évreux on May 19, 2020, where he is cremated, his ashes are scattered within the family property.
Filmography
It's Not Me
2024 · Movie
as (archive footage)
Godard by Godard
2023 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
2022 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Romy, A Free Woman
2022 · Movie
as archive footage
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
2022 · TV Show
as Self (archive footage)
François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story
2021 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Marx Can Wait
2021 · Movie
as Agostino (archive footage) (uncredited)
Claude Chabrol, the Maverick
2019 · Movie
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
No image
Dios de monoambiente
2018 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Coming Apart
2017 · Movie
as (archive footage)
Claude Sautet, Romy, Yves, Michel et les autres
2017 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
The Incredible Mr. Piccoli
2017 · Movie
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Marco Ferreri: Dangerous But Necessary
2017 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Our Lady of Hormones
2015 · Movie
as Narrator
The Taste of Blueberries
2014 · Movie
as Michel
Holy Motors
2012 · Movie
as Man with the Wine Stain
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
2012 · Movie
as Le père
Lines of Wellington
2012 · Movie
as Leópold Scheitzer
The Bardot mystery
2012 · Movie
We Have a Pope
2011 · Movie
as Melville
Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres
2011 · Movie
as Self
Agnès Varda: From Here to There
2011 · Movie
as Self
Agnès Varda: From Here to There
2011 · TV Show
as Self
Portrait Of My Father
2010 · Movie
as Self
Le Bel Âge
2009 · Movie
as Maurice Reverdy
Once Upon a Time… Contempt
2009 · Movie
as Self
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009 · Movie
On War
2008 · Movie
as Le grand Hou
The Dust of Time
2008 · Movie
as Spyros
The Beaches of Agnès
2008 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
2 x 50 Years of French Cinema
2008 · Movie
as Self
The Duchess of Langeais
2007 · Movie
as Vidame de Pamiers
No image
Le Roi Lear
2007 · Movie
as Le roi Lear
Beneath the Rooftops of Paris
2007 · Movie
as Marcel
Boxes
2007 · Movie
as Daddy
To Each His Own Cinema
2007 · Movie
as Nikita Kruschev (segment "Rencontre unique")
Rencontre Unique
2007 · Movie
as Nikita Khrouchtchev
Gardens in Autumn
2006 · Movie
as Marie, la mère de Vincent
Belle Toujours
2006 · Movie
as Henri Husson
Otar Iosseliani, le merle siffleur
2006 · Movie
as Himself
Magic Mirror
2006 · Movie
as Prof. Heschel
Everything's Connected
2005 · Movie
as Narrator
Un divertissement et Michel Piccoli
2004 · Movie
as Self
Raining Cats and Frogs
2003 · Movie
as Ferdinand (voice)
Little Lili
2003 · Movie
as acteur qui joue Simon
That Day
2003 · Movie
as Harald
A Man, a Real One
2003 · Movie
as Michel Piccoli
No image
Il bambino di Betlemme
2002 · Movie
Romy Schneider, étrange étrangère
2002 · Movie
as Self
I’m Going Home
2001 · Movie
as Gilbert Valence
Kiarostami in Close up
2000 · Movie
as as Self
Actors
2000 · Movie
as Michel Piccoli
Everything's Fine, We're Leaving
2000 · Movie
as Louis
Speaking of Buñuel
2000 · Movie
as Self
París-Tombuctú
1999 · Movie
as Michel des Assantes
Nothing About Robert
1999 · Movie
as Lord Ariel Chatwick-West
Libero Burro
1999 · Movie
as Zio Tony
The Happiest Place on Earth
1999 · Movie
as Récitant (voice)
Les paradoxes de Buñuel
1998 · Movie
as Self
Vivement dimanche
1998 · TV Show
as Self
Passion in the Desert
1997 · Movie
as Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis
Genealogies of a Crime
1997 · Movie
as Georges Didier
Tykho Moon
1996 · Movie
as Mac Bee / frère Mac Bee
Beaumarchais the Scoundrel
1996 · Movie
as Prince de Conti
Traveling Companion
1996 · Movie
as Cosimo
Party
1996 · Movie
as Michel
Ousmane Sow
1996 · Movie
as Narrateur
One Hundred and One Nights
1995 · Movie
as Simon Cinéma
The World of Jacques Demy
1995 · Movie
as Self
No image
Tödliches Geld
1995 · Movie
as Paul Belmont
The Black Angel
1994 · Movie
as Georges Feuvrier
No image
Bête de scène
1994 · Movie
No image
Berau, sur les traces de Joseph Conrad
1994 · Movie
as Presenter
Train de nuit
1994 · Movie
The Emigrant
1994 · Movie
as Adam - Ram's father
Loonies at Large
1993 · Movie
as Henri Toussaint
The Young Girls Turn 25
1993 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
No image
Archipel
1993 · Movie
as Leonard Wilde
No image
Rupture(s)
1993 · Movie
as Paul
The Supper
1992 · Movie
as Chateaubriand (voice)
Le Bal des casse-pieds
1992 · Movie
as Désiré, l'homosexuel
La Belle Noiseuse: Divertimento
1992 · Movie
as Edouard Frenhofer
From Time to Time
1992 · Movie
as Jules Verne
La Belle Noiseuse
1991 · Movie
as Edouard Frenhofer
Walking a Tightrope
1991 · Movie
as Marcel Spadice
Lest We Forget
1991 · Movie
as Self (segment "Pour Nasrin Rasooli, Iran")
The Children Thief
1991 · Movie
as Mr. Armand
The Fate of Baron Leisenbohg
1991 · Movie
as Le baron de Leisenbohg
May Fools
1990 · Movie
as Milou
Martha and I
1990 · Movie
as Ernst
The Monkey Folk
1989 · Movie
Les Grandes Familles
1989 · TV Show
as Noël Schoudler
Un coupable
1988 · Movie
as L'avocat
How Good the Whites Are
1988 · Movie
as Père Jean-Marie
La Ruelle au clair de lune
1988 · Movie
as Pierre Willer
Blanc de Chine
1988 · Movie
as Batz
The Veiled Man
1987 · Movie
as Kassar
La Rumba
1987 · Movie
as Damien Malleville
Malady of Love
1987 · Movie
as Raoul Bergeron
The Distant Land
1987 · Movie
as Friedrich Hofreiter
Nulle part ailleurs
1987 · TV Show
as Self
Mauvais Sang
1986 · Movie
as Marc
The Prude
1986 · Movie
as Pierre
My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister
1986 · Movie
as Étienne Sembadel
The Nonentity
1986 · Movie
as der Tölpel
Death in a French Garden
1985 · Movie
as Graham Tombsthay
La Lune
1985 · Movie
Going and Coming Back
1985 · Movie
as Simon Lerner
Adieu Bonaparte
1985 · Movie
as Caffarelli
Dangerous Moves
1984 · Movie
as Akiva Liebskind
Long Live Life
1984 · Movie
as Michel Perrin
Success Is the Best Revenge
1984 · Movie
as French Official
Le Matelot 512
1984 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
The General of the Dead Army
1983 · Movie
as Benetandi
The Prize of Peril
1983 · Movie
as Frédéric Mallaire
A Room in Town
1982 · Movie
as Edmond Leroyer
The Passerby
1982 · Movie
as Max Baumstein
Godard's Passion
1982 · Movie
as Michel Boulard
Spy, Stand Up
1982 · Movie
as Jean-Paul Chance
Will the High Salaried Workers Raise Their Hands!
1982 · Movie
as José Viss
Beyond the Door
1982 · Movie
as Mr. Mutti
The Eyes, the Mouth
1982 · Movie
as Tío Agostino
La Cerisaie
1982 · Movie
as Léonid
That Night of Varennes
1982 · Movie
as King Louis XVI (uncredited)
Scénario du film Passion
1982 · Movie
as Self
Champs-Elysées
1982 · TV Show
as Self
Strange Affair
1981 · Movie
as Bertrand Malair
The Prodigal Daughter
1981 · Movie
as Le père
No image
Du crime considéré comme un des beaux-arts.
1981 · Movie
as Morrand
Confused Feelings
1981 · Movie
as Professor
Wetten, dass..?
1981 · TV Show
as Self
Atlantic City
1980 · Movie
as Joseph
A Leap in the Dark
1980 · Movie
as Mauro Ponticelli
The Price of Survival
1980 · Movie
as René Winterhalter
Docteur Teyran
1980 · TV Show
as Jean Teyran
Atrocious Tales of Love and Death
1979 · Movie
as Victor Navarro
The Bit Between the Teeth
1979 · Movie
as Pierre Chazerand
Le Divorcement
1979 · Movie
as Philippe
Sugar
1978 · Movie
as Grezillo
Little Girl in Blue Velvet
1978 · Movie
as Conrad Brukner
Fire's Share
1978 · Movie
as Robert Hansen
The Savage State
1978 · Movie
as Orlaville
No image
Strauberg ist da
1978 · Movie
as Strauberg
Chili Impressions
1978 · TV Show
as Self - Le lecteur des écrits d'A. Pinochet (voice)
Ciné regards
1978 · TV Show
as Self
Spoiled Children
1977 · Movie
as Bernard Rougerie
The Accuser
1977 · Movie
as Saint-Ramé
Rene the Cane
1977 · Movie
as Ispettore Marchand
That Obscure Object of Desire
1977 · Movie
as Mathieu Faber (voice) (uncredited)
Mado
1976 · Movie
as Simon Léotard
The Last Woman
1976 · Movie
as Michel
F as in Fairbanks
1976 · Movie
as Etienne
One Way or Another
1976 · Movie
as Him
No image
Henry James Stories
1976 · TV Show
as Captain Roger
Seven Deaths by Prescription
1975 · Movie
as Dr Losseray
Leonor
1975 · Movie
as Richard
Weak Spot
1975 · Movie
as L'enquêteur
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975 · TV Show
as Self
Midi Première
1975 · TV Show
as Self
Apostrophes
1975 · TV Show
as Self
The Infernal Trio
1974 · Movie
as Georges Sarret
The Phantom of Liberty
1974 · Movie
as Police Prefect #2
Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
1974 · Movie
as François, médecin
Don't Touch the White Woman!
1974 · Movie
as Buffalo Bill
Life Size
1974 · Movie
as Michel
The Voyage Into the Whirlpool Has Begun
1974 · Movie
Loving in the Rain
1974 · Movie
as Mr. Dellerue (voice)
Spécial cinéma
1974 · TV Show
as Self
La Grande Bouffe
1973 · Movie
as Michel
Themroc
1973 · Movie
as Themroc
Wedding in Blood
1973 · Movie
as Pierre Maury
The Woman in Blue
1973 · Movie
as Pierre
Far West
1973 · Movie
as Indian chief
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
1972 · Movie
as Interior Minister
Liza
1972 · Movie
as Giorgio's friend
The Audience
1972 · Movie
as Padre Amerin
The Assassination
1972 · Movie
as Colonel Kassar
Cesar and Rosalie
1972 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
Midi trente
1972 · TV Show
as Self
Max and the Junkmen
1971 · Movie
as Max, inspector
Ten Days' Wonder
1971 · Movie
as Paul Regis
Touch and Go
1971 · Movie
as Valentin
No image
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971 · TV Show
as Self
No image
Samedi soir
1971 · TV Show
as Self
The Things of Life
1970 · Movie
as Pierre Bérard
Invasion
1970 · Movie
as Marcello
No image
Treffpunkte
1970 · TV Show
as Self
Topaz
1969 · Movie
as Jacques Granville
The Milky Way
1969 · Movie
as Marquis de Sade
Dillinger Is Dead
1969 · Movie
as Glauco
The Uninvited
1969 · Movie
as François Desailly
Danger: Diabolik
1968 · Movie
as Inspector Ginko
Heartbeat
1968 · Movie
as Charles
Délire à deux
1968 · Movie
as Him
The Diary of an Innocent Boy
1968 · Movie
as Count Philippe
Woman in Chains
1968 · Movie
as L'invité pressé au vernissage (uncredited)
Belle de Jour
1967 · Movie
as Henri Husson
Shock Troops
1967 · Movie
as L'homme de trop
My Love, My Love
1967 · Movie
as Marrades
The Dinosaur and the Baby
1967 · Movie
as Paul Javal (archive footage)
Romy: Anatomy of a Face
1967 · Movie
as Self
The Young Girls of Rochefort
1967 · Movie
as Simon Dame
La Voleuse
1966 · Movie
as Werner Kreuz
Is Paris Burning?
1966 · Movie
as Edgar Pisani
The War Is Over
1966 · Movie
as Inspector #1
Le Coup de grâce
1966 · Movie
as Capri / Bruno
The Creatures
1966 · Movie
as Edgar Piccoli
The Game Is Over
1966 · Movie
as Alexandre Saccard
Elsa the Rose
1966 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
The Devil's Tricks
1966 · Movie
as L'antiquaire
Masquerade
1965 · Movie
as Georges Sarrassin
The Sleeping Car Murders
1965 · Movie
as René Cabourg, l'employé besogneux (Victime #2)
Dom Juan
1965 · Movie
as Dom Juan
Lady L
1965 · Movie
as Lecoeur
Diary of a Chambermaid
1964 · Movie
as Monsieur Monteil
L'Été en hiver
1964 · Movie
as Jean, the Reporter
All About Loving
1964 · Movie
as Raoul
Marie Soleil
1964 · Movie
as Kafka
Paparazzi
1964 · Movie
as Texte dit par (voice)
Luis Buñuel : Un cinéaste de notre temps
1964 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
Bardot et Godard
1964 · Movie
as Self
Chance at Love
1964 · Movie
as Philippe Decharme (segment "Lucky la chance")
No image
Café tabac
1964 · Movie
as Récitant (voice)
Contempt
1963 · Movie
as Paul Javal
The Day and the Hour
1963 · Movie
as Antoine
Hello Cubans
1963 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
Climates of Love
1962 · Movie
as François
Le Doulos
1962 · Movie
as Nuttheccio
Parisienne... Parisiennes
1962 · Movie
as Récitant (voice)
No image
Le Temps des assassins
1962 · Movie
as Récitant (voice)
Adieu Philippine
1962 · Movie
as Izquierdo dans l'émission de télévision 'Montserrat' (uncredited)
Hauteclaire
1961 · Movie
as Serlon de Savigny
Amazons of Rome
1961 · Movie
as Console Publicola
La Chevelure
1961 · Movie
as L'homme
Rendezvous
1961 · Movie
as Paul
No image
Fumée, histoire et fantaisie
1961 · Movie
No image
Quarante fontaines
1961 · Movie
as Récitant (voice)
Danger in the Middle East
1960 · Movie
as Brian Cannon
Les Joueurs
1960 · Movie
as Chvokhniev
La dragée haute
1960 · Movie
as Hugo Barsac
No image
Le Rendez-vous de Noël
1960 · Movie
Beast at Bay
1959 · Movie
as Commissioner Jacques Guimard
La Nuit de Tom Brown
1959 · Movie
as Tom Brown, jeune
No image
Le Chalet sous la neige
1959 · Movie
as Robert
Sinners of Paris
1958 · Movie
as L'inspecteur Vardier, de la P.J.
Tabarin
1958 · Movie
as Jacques Forestier
The Witches of Salem
1957 · Movie
as James Putnam
Sunday Buddies
1957 · Movie
as Le directeur de l'aéro-club
No image
Le Plus Heureux des trois
1957 · Movie
as Pianist
Nathalie
1957 · Movie
as Franck Marchal
Le Quadrille des diamants
1957 · Movie
as Richard Burke
Death in the Garden
1956 · Movie
as Father Lizzardi
No image
La France romane
1956 · Movie
as Récitant (voice)
French Cancan
1955 · Movie
as Le Capitaine Valorgueil
Price of Love
1955 · Movie
as Georges
Ernst Thälmann – Leader of the Working Class
1955 · Movie
as Maurice Rouger
Bad Liaisons
1955 · Movie
as un inspecteur
The Grand Manoeuvre
1955 · Movie
as Officer (uncredited)
Croissance de Paris
1955 · Movie
as Récitant (voice)
Daughters of Destiny
1954 · Movie
as Pasquerel (segment "Jeanne")
Tout chante autour de moi
1954 · Movie
as Reverdier
Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances
1954 · Movie
as Gérard
Horizons...
1953 · Movie
as un ouvrier
No image
Torticola versus Frankensberg
1952 · Movie
as Torticola
Without Leaving an Address
1951 · Movie
as Un journaliste aux archives (uncredited), Un journaliste aux archives
No image
Terreur en Oklahoma
1951 · Movie
as Tommy Goudchote
No image
La Leçon d'humour dans un parc
1951 · Movie
Chicago Digest
1951 · Movie
as Slim Spring
No image
German Film Award
1951 · TV Show
as Self
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
1949 · Movie
as Lebel
The Mark of the Day
1949 · Movie
as Georges Gohelle
The Bellman
1945 · Movie
as Un villageois
Crew Credits
C'est pas tout à fait la vie dont j'avais rêvé
2006 · Movie
Director, Writer
The Black Beach
2001 · Movie
Director, Writer
Alors voilà,
1997 · Movie
Director, Writer
Train de nuit
1994 · Movie
Writer, Director
Lest We Forget
1991 · Movie
Director
The General of the Dead Army
1983 · Movie
Producer
The Price of Survival
1980 · Movie
Producer
The Savage State
1978 · Movie
Producer
Spoiled Children
1977 · Movie
Producer
Weak Spot
1975 · Movie
Co-Producer
Leonor
1975 · Movie
Producer
Seven Deaths by Prescription
1975 · Movie
Associate Producer
Don't Touch the White Woman!
1974 · Movie
Producer
Life Size
1974 · Movie
Producer
Paparazzi
1964 · Movie
Writer
