Jean Rochefort
A well-loved actor in his native France for five decades, the saturnine-faced Jean Rochefort was a staple of light comedies and dramas alike, playing reserved men with hidden wells of emotion in "The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe" (1972), "Pardon Mon Affaire" (1976) and "The Hairdresser's Husband" (1990). Born Jean Raoul Robert Rochefort on April 29, 1930 in Paris, France to wealthy parents of Breton descent, he began to study acting at the Centre d'Art Dramatique de la rue Blanche in 1949 before joining the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art, where his fellow students included Jean-Paul Belmondo and director Claude Rich. He began acting professionally after completing his national service in 1953, working primarily on stage at first before branching into film and television. Rochefort first drew attention with a supporting role opposite Jean-Paul Belmondo in the adventure film "Cartouche" (1962), and was soon a staple of costumed swashbuckler dramas, including the popular "Angelique" (1964), with Michele Mercier, and two of its four sequels. He finally earned his breakout roles in 1972, first in "Hearth Fires" as a lawyer who returned to his family after a ten-year absence. Though 41 at the time, he played a man much older than himself, and to aid in the transformation, grew a substantial mustache that would become his trademark for the remainder of his career. That same year, he also starred in in Yves Robert's "The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe" (1972), playing a police chief who fabricates a drug smuggling case based around a stranger (Pierre Richard) picked at random to distract from efforts to discredit Rochefort. A critical and box office success in both Europe and abroad, it helped to mint Rochefort as a leading man in French cinema, especially in light comedies and often in collaboration with Robert, who directed him in "The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe" (1974), the Golden Globe-nominated sex farce "Pardon Mon Affaire" (1976) and "Courage - Let's Run" (1980), which earned Rochefort a Cesar nomination for Best Actor. Rochefort also enjoyed a successful collaboration with Bertrand Tavernier, whose 1976 historical drama "Let Joy Reign Supreme" brought Rochefort a Cesar for Best Supporting Actor as an atheist priest during the reign of Louis XV. Rochefort would later star in films by such acclaimed directors as Luis Buñuel ("The Phantom of Liberty," 1974), Claude Chabrol ("Dirty Hands," 1975) and Pierre Schoendoerffer, whose 1977 war drama "The "Drummer-Crab") won Rochefort the Cesar for Best Actor. In 1978, he made his English-language debut in Ted Kotcheff's "Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe," but would remain faithful to European cinema throughout the decade, though largely in unremarkable features. Rochefort's career underwent a revival in 1990 through collaborations with Patrice Leconte, including the international hits "The Hairdresser's Husband" (1990) "Ridicule" (1996) and "The Man on the Train" (2002) with fellow French icon Johnny Hallyday, and an appearance with an all-star European cast in Robert Altman's "Pret-a-Porter" (1994), set in the world of Paris fashion. In 2000, he began work on "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," a proposed re-imagining of the Miguel Cervantes novel by Terry Gilliam; the production was plagued by disasters, including an injury to Rochefort that required him to leave the production. He soon recovered and returned to steady work as a character actor in films like "Hell" (2005), based on a script by Krzysztof Kieslowski, Guillame Canet's hit thriller "Tell No One" (2006) and "The Artist and the Model" (2012), which earned him a Best Actor nod at the Goya Awards. While promoting the latter film, Rochefort announced that he was retiring from acting, due largely to the quality of scripts offered to him, all of which, he claimed, concerned "how to get rid of grandpa." Despite this, Rochefort continued to act, and gave his final appearance in "Floride" (2015), Philippe Le Guay's drama about an elderly man who enlists his daughter in an impulsive trip to Florida. Hospitalized in early October 2017, Rochefort died on October 9 of that year at the age of 87; his passing, and significance to French film, was confirmed by that country's cultural minister, Françoise Nyssen, who described him as an "elegant, endearing and beloved actor."
Photos
Jean Rochefort
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
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No Score Yet | No Score Yet | April and the Extraordinary World | Pops (Voice) | $294.3K | 2015 |
No Score Yet |
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Florida | Claude Lherminier (Character) | - | 2015 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart | Méliès (Voice) | - | 2013 |
No Score Yet |
|
Astérix and Obélix: God Save Britannia | Lucius Fouinus (Character) | - | 2012 |
71% |
|
The Artist and the Model | Marc Cros (Character) | $43.0K | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Il est minuit, Paris s'éveille | Self | - | 2012 |
No Score Yet |
|
Tootuff | Pépé (Voice) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet |
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Agathe Cléry | Louis Guinard (Character) | - | 2008 |
51% |
|
Mr. Bean's Holiday | Maitre d'hotel (Character) | $32.6M | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster | Jean (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
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Twice Upon a Time | Louis Ruinard (Character) | - | 2006 |
93% |
|
Tell No One | Gilbert Neuville (Character) | $6.2M | 2006 |
No Score Yet |
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Akoibon | Chris Barnes (Character) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet |
|
Hell | Unknown (Character) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet |
|
RRRrrrr!!! | Lucie (Character) | - | 2004 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | J.S. Bach: The Music, the Life, the Legend | Narrator | - | 2003 |
14% |
|
Fanfan la Tulipe |
Récitant/ |
$28.4K | 2003 |
92% |
|
The Man on the Train | Manesquier (Character) | $2.5M | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Blanche | Mazarin (Character) | - | 2002 |
85% |
|
The Closet | Kopel, Company Director (Character) | $6.7M | 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Honolulu Baby | Cri Cri (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet |
|
Rembrandt | Nicolaes Tulp (Character) | $12.4K | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wind With the Gone | Edgard Wexley (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Barracuda | Monsieur Clément (Character) | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet |
|
Never Ever | Gerard Panier (Character) | - | 1996 |
80% |
|
Ridicule | Le Marquis de Bellegarde (Character) | $2.5M | 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Palace | Thomas Fausto (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Grand Dukes | Eddie Carpentier (Character) | - | 1996 |
21% |
|
Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter) | Inspector Tantpis (Character) | $10.7M | 1994 |
No Score Yet |
|
Tango | Bellhop (Character) | - | 1993 |
No Score Yet |
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Wild Target | Victor Meynard (Character) | - | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | El Largo Invierno | Jordi Casals (Character) | - | 1992 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | L'Atlantide | Unknown (Character) | - | 1992 |
No Score Yet |
|
Madly in Love | Rudolph (Character) | - | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Le bal des casse-pieds | Unknown (Character) | - | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Amoureux Fou | Rudolph (Character) | - | 1991 |
92% |
|
The Hairdresser's Husband | Antoine (Character) | $11.1K | 1990 |
73% |
|
My Mother's Castle |
Loïs de Montmajour/ |
- | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Other Woman | Farou (Character) | - | 1989 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I'm the King of the Castle | Monsieur Bréaud (Character) | - | 1989 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Le Moustachu | Unknown (Character) | - | 1987 |
No Score Yet |
|
Duo | Michel Marteau dit Michel Mortez (Character) | - | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | My First Forty Years | Principe Riccio (Character) | - | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The King's Cake | Unknown (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet |
|
Frankenstein 90 | Unknown (Character) | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | L'ami de Vincent | Vincent Lamar (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Big Brother | Charles-Henri Rossi (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | L'indiscrétion | Alain Tescique (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Birgitt Haas Must Die | Charles-Philippe Bauman (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Birgitt Haas Must Be Killed | Charles-Philippe Bauman (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet |
|
I Sent a Letter to My Love | Gilles Martin (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I Hate Blondes | Donald Rose (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet |
|
French Postcards | Monsieur Tessier (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet |
|
Pardon Mon Affaire Too | Etienne Dorsay (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Courage, fuyons! | Unknown (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Practice Makes Perfect | Unknown (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | We Will All Meet in Paradise | Etienne Dorsay (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet |
|
Le Crabe-Tambour | Captain (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet |
|
Escape From Death Row | Louis Annunziata (Character) | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Death Rite (Les magiciens) | Unknown (Character) | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet |
|
Pardon Mon Affaire | Étienne (Character) | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet |
|
Dirty Hands | Maître Légal (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Femmes Fatales | Albert (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet |
|
Let Joy Reign Supreme | L'abbé Dubois (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Johns Were Locked From Inside | Le commissaire Pichard (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mobsters Revenge | Louis Annunziata (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet |
|
Les vécés étaient fermés de l'intérieur | Le commissaire Pichard (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Happy Divorce | Jean-Baptiste Morin (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet |
|
Mio Dio Come Sono Caduta in Basso! (Till Marriage Do Us Part) (How Long Can You Fall?) | Unknown (Character) | - | 1974 |
100% |
|
The Clockmaker | Le commissaire Guilboud (Character) | - | 1974 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Return of the Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe | Colonel Louis (Character) | - | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Till Marriage Do Us Part | Henry de Sarcey (Character) | - | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Salute to the Artist | Clément Chamfort (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Inheritor | Le nonce (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Salut L'Artiste | Clément Chamfort (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Le complot | Unknown (Character) | - | 1973 |
67% |
|
The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe | Le colonel Louis Marie Alphonse Toulouse (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hearth Fires | Unknown (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Devil by the Tail | Husband (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | For a Distant Love | Guillaume (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet |
|
Two Weeks in September | Philippe (Character) | - | 1967 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Don't Play With Martians | René Mastier (Character) | - | 1967 |
No Score Yet |
|
Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? | Grégoire Pecque (Character) | - | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Angélique and the King | Desgrez (Character) | - | 1966 |
No Score Yet |
|
Up to His Ears | Leon (Character) | - | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Angelique: The Road to Versailles | Desgrez (Character) | - | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Angélique | François Desgrez (Character) | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Symphony for a Massacre | Jabeke (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet |
|
Swords of Blood | La Taupe (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Man in the Iron Mask | Lastréaumont (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Outpost in Indochina | Unknown (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Iron Mask | Lastreaumont (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Le capitaine Fracasse | Malartic (Character) | - | 1961 |