Philippe Noiret Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Profession Actor
Nationality French
Birth October 1, 1930 (Lille – France)
Death November 23, 2006

BIOGRAPHY
After failing his baccalaureate several times, Philippe Noiret took drama lessons and in 1953 entered the Théâtre National Populaire directed by Jean Vilar . He experienced troupe life there for seven years, rubbed shoulders with Gérard Philipe , performed more than forty roles and met the actress Monique Chaumette , whom he married in 1962. At the same time, he formed a comedy cabaret duo with Jean-Pierre Darras , far from the classic pieces of the NPT.

He played a first role in the cinema in 1956 in La Pointe courte by Agnès Varda , but had to wait until 1960 to appear again on the big screen in Zazie dans le métro by Louis Malle . Apart from his role in Therese Desqueyroux by Georges Franju in 1962, Philippe Noiret played supporting roles without breaking through until La Vie de château by Jean-Paul Rappeneau , in 1966. But it was the dreamy and bucolic peasant character of Alexandre le Bienheureux , directed by Yves Robert , who brought him to the attention of professionals and the general public in 1967, to the point of being able to devote himself exclusively to cinema and abandoning the theater.

Aware that he would never play the role of a young leading man, the actor made a series of appearances in Monsieur Tout-le-monde ( The Old Girl , 1971), not hesitating to shake up his good-natured image with controversial feature films like La Grande Bouffe by Marco Ferreri , story of a collective suicide through food which caused a real scandal at Cannes in 1973. He made a specialty of compositional characters, with a predilection for certain directors like Bertrand Tavernier (L’ Horloger de Saint -Paul , 1973; Let the party begin , 1974), Yves Boisset ( L’Attentat , 1972; Un taxi mauve , 1977), or even Philippe de Broca ( Les Caprices de Marie , 1970; Tendre chicken , 1977).

Philippe Noiret rose to the status of French star thanks to the immense popular success of Robert Enrico ‘s Vieux Fusil , which earned him a César for Best Actor in 1976. But the actor did not abandon his taste for composition, nuanced with a touch of humanity in his bastard roles ( Coup de torchon , 1981), or of perversity in his honorable bourgeois characters ( Le Temoin, 1974).

He also followed a career in Italy, mainly under the direction of Mario Monicelli ( My dear friends , Provided that it’s a girl ), and became the essential figure of successful French comedies in the 80s and 90s with Twist again in Moscow by Jean-Marie Poiré and especially Les Ripoux by Claude Zidi , in 1984. The success of this film gave rise five years later to a sequel entitled Ripoux contre ripoux , and the tandem of cops formed by Noiret and Thierry Lhermitte will do it again in 2003 for Ripoux 3 , by the same director. The actor won his second César in 1990 for Life and Nothing Else and even appeared at the top of the bill in international productions such as Cinema Paradiso (1988).

Less in demand by the cinema in the mid-90s, Philippe Noiret returned to the stage in 1997 in Les Cotelettes by Bertrand Blier then played in the film adaptation of the play in 2003, still by Blier . But it was by playing the role of a tender and clumsy father the same year under the direction of Michel Boujenah in Père et fils that he returned to success, at the age of 73. In 2005, he starred in the police comedy Edy , directed by François Berléand .