Jean_Rochefort

Jean Rochefort

Jean Rochefort

French actor (1930–2017)

Jean Raoul Robert Rochefort (French: [ʒã ʁɔʃ.fɔʁ]; 29 April 1930 – 9 October 2017) was a French actor. He received many accolades during his career, including an Honorary César in 1999.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Life and career

Rochefort was born on 29 April 1930 in Paris, France, to Breton parents.[1][better source needed] He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen.[2][3]

Rochefort was nineteen years old when he entered the Centre d'Art Dramatique de la rue Blanche. Later he joined the Conservatoire National.[4] After completing his national service in 1953, he worked with the Compagnie Grenier Hussenot as a theatre actor for seven years. There he was noticed for his ability to play both drama and comedy. He then became a television and cinema actor, and also worked as director.

After some supporting roles in Cartouche, Captain Fracasse and in Marvelous Angelique, Rochefort played his first big role with Annie Girardot as his wife and Claude Jade as his daughter in Hearth Fires in 1972. In this drama, he starred as a man who leaves his family for ten years before returning. In this film he played with 41 years a family father of adult children (the young Claude Jade was already 23). To appear older, he grew a moustache, his trademark, which he had removed only once in 1996 for Ridicule.

Four years after Hearth Fires he was the leading star of the midlife crisis comedy Pardon Mon Affaire as a man who risks his married life with Danièle Delorme for an affair with Anny Duperey. Thanks to the success of this film, Rochefort achieved big popularity. In 1972, he starred opposite Pierre Richard as Chief of Counter-Espionage Louis Toulouse in the Yves Robert comedy Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire, a role he reprised in the 1974 sequel Le Retour du grand blond, also directed by Robert. In 1998, he starred as "Fernand de Morcerf" opposite Gerard Depardieu in the mini-series Le Comte de Monte Cristo.

In his thirties during the shooting of Cartouche, he discovered his passion for horses and equestrianism. He was a horse breeder since then and owned Le Haras de Villequoy. His passion led him to become a horse consultant for French television in 2004. He won two César Awards: in 1976, Best Supporting Actor for Que la fête commence; and in 1978, Best Actor for Le Crabe-tambour.

Rochefort in 2013

In the eighties, he became the narrator of the French version of Welcome to Pooh Corner, replacing Laurie Main. This made him popular with children at the time and Disney hired him to record several audio versions of their classic movies. In the 1990s, he returned to comedy with Les Grands Ducs where he played alongside two other actors of his generation with a similar career, Philippe Noiret and Jean-Pierre Marielle.

He was set to play the lead role in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, after being found as "the perfect Quixote" by director Terry Gilliam. Rochefort learned to speak English just for the part. Unfortunately, amongst other production problems, he began suffering from a herniated disc. Unable to film for months, production was cancelled. A documentary, Lost in La Mancha, was made about the failed production.

In 1960, he married Alexandra Moscwa, with whom he had two children: Marie (1962) and Julien (1965). With actress-filmmaker Nicole Garcia, he also had a son Pierre. Through his second marriage with Françoise Vidal, he had two children, Louise (1990) and Clémence (1992).

Death

Rochefort died on 9 October 2017 at the age of 87.[5][6]

Awards

Rochefort won many awards throughout his career, most notably three César Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Que La Fête Commence, Best Actor for Le Crabe-Tambour and an honorary prize in 1999. He was nominated for many more awards.[7]

Filmography

More information Year, Title ...

Theater

Audio book

Notes

  1. [1]
    Source : Who's Who. Jean Rochefort was not born in Dinan, but his parents were living there.
  2. [2]
    "Lycée Pierre Corneille de Rouen - The Lycée Corneille of Rouen". lgcorneille-lyc.spip.ac-rouen.fr.
  3. [3]
    Jacques Lafitte, Stephen Taylor (1999). Qui est qui en France. J. Lafitte. p. 1471.
  4. [4]
    "Jean ROCHEFORT". Festival de Cannes (in French). 17 May 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  5. [5]
    "French acting legend Jean Rochefort has died". The Independent. 9 October 2017. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017.
  6. [6]
    Vely, Yannick (9 October 2017). "Jean Rochefort, la mort de l'élégant du cinéma français". parismatch.be (in French). Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  7. [7]
    "Jean Rochefort". IMDb. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  8. [8]
    "Le soleil dans l'oeil". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  9. [9]
    "Fort-du-fou". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  10. [10]
    "Symphonie pour un massacre". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  11. [11]
    "L'oeuf". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  12. [12]
    "Le Diable dans la boîte". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  13. [13]
    "Grandison". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  14. [14]
    "Un dimanche de flic". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  15. [15]
    "Sortüz egy fekete bivalyért". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  16. [16]
    "l'Atlantide". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  17. [17]
    "La prossima volta il fuoco". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  18. [18]
    "Tom est tout seul". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  19. [19]
    "Palace (1995)". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  20. [20]
    "Le serpent a mangé la grenouille". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  21. [21]
    "Le Comte de Monme Cristo". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  22. [22]
    "El viento se llevó lo qué". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  23. [23]
    "Honolulu Baby". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  24. [24]
    "La Vie sans secret de Walter Nions". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  25. [25]
    Télé 7 Jours (1377): 99. 18–24 October 1986. Note critique : Un hommage flamboyant au Boulevard du crime. Une mise en scène insolente et une troupe de comédiens qui joue le jeu avec un bonheur évident. En tête, Jean Rochefort qui interprète avec panache le célèbre Robert Macaire. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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