Pierre Richard is a popular French film actor. Also known as a director, writer and even winemaker. World fame came to him after the release of the comedy films "Unlucky", "Tall Blond in a Black Boot", "Toy", "Dad".
Childhood and youth
Pierre Richard was born in 1934 in the French city of Valenciennes. His parents dreamed that their boy would become a successful industrialist, and he would become one of the most successful comedians in the world. Date of birth of Pierre Richard - August 16, 1934.
He was born into an aristocratic family. The main hobbies of his father were women and horse racing. Because of them, the parent of Pierre Richard quickly lost his fortune of several million francs, after which he sent his wife and son to his father's estate. When the future comedian was only three years old, a ruined father had already abandoned his family.
The boy studied at a boarding school with the children of peasants and miners. At the same time, the family still remained wealthy, compared with others. For example, on Mondays, a driver brought him to a boarding house in a limousine, where Pierre Richard stayed there all week until the weekend. This went on for eight years.
In this educational institution, it was not easy for him, because classmates did not perceive the aristocrat, who was significantly higher than them in social status. They stayed away from him. To attract people to himself, Pierre Richard put on a clown mask, constantly joked and grimaced. So he first tried on the role of a comedian.
It was then that he first realized that in this way one can gain the trust and love of people. True, the teachers did not appreciate this hobby, after each trick reminding him of his high origin. Richard himself noted that inside him while two people were fighting, a refined aristocrat and the most ordinary person. Only his grandfather supported his mother, who served as a sailor. He was the only one who did not oppose his passion for acting.
At the same time, Pierre Richard, whose photo is presented in this article, spoke with his peers only at school. Any contacts outside its borders with commoners were forbidden to him. As the hero of our article later recalls, all his childhood he felt practically under house arrest. The only entertainment he could devote himself to was home concerts, where he quoted Cyrano de Bergerac.
At the age of 12, the first serious shock occurred in the biography of Pierre Richard - his grandfather died. Before his death, he predicted that the grandson would be the only one in the family who would gain recognition in life.
Early career
By the age of 18, Richard had already decided that he would go to enter the theater courses. Father was categorically against this, insisting that he become an industrialist, continuing the work of his ancestors. Finding no understanding within the family, he fled from home, completely breaking the link with his family.
Arriving in Paris, the young man went to acting classes. However, they refused to accept him, citing too unattractive external data. The hero of our article did not give up, enrolling in drama courses organized by Charles Dullen. After their graduation, he began to earn extra money in music halls, cabarets and on stage.
The first success was brought to him by concerts at a concert with Victor Lana. They could be seen almost every night in a cabaret located in the Latin Quarter. Richard compares favorably with many comedians of the time in that he himself came up with most of the plots for comedy sketches. It was on the stage of this cabaret that his classic image of a modest man was born, whose life is filled with ridiculous situations.
Big screen debut
The real popularity of the hero of our article came after he began acting in films. Photos of Pierre Richard began to appear in prestigious publications, he was idolized by spectators and critics. He got to the set quite late, at 33 years old.
The creative biography of Pierre Richard counts from the comedy of Serge Corber "The Idiot in Paris", which was released in 1967. There he first appears in an episodic role, playing an eccentric and ridiculous policeman.
The meeting with the director Yves Robert, in whom he plays for the comedy "Lucky Alexander" in 1968, becomes a landmark for him.
"Tall blond in a black boot"
The first high-profile role in the filmography of actor Pierre Richard is the 1972 comedy by Robert Tall Tall in a Black Boot. In this tape he gets the main role.
He plays a violinist named Francois Perrin, who finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy by the French secret services. He is mistaken for a secret super agent. In fact, François is an absent-minded violinist. Surveillance begins for him, bugs are installed in the house, and an employee Kristin is sent to him, who should seduce him.
Perrin, without noticing it, cleverly circumvents all the traps set for him. The film almost immediately becomes a classic of world cinema, and everyone knows about the talent of actor Pierre Richard.
In 1974, "The Return of the Tall Blond" was released, which was no less successful than the first film.
Director's experiments
It is interesting that already at that time Richard was trying himself as a director. In 1970, he directed the comedy "Scattered", in which he himself plays the main role. The following year, a hilarious picture of Alfred’s Misfortune comes out about a man who cannot commit suicide in any way.
Also among his directorial works are films such as “I don’t know anything, but I’ll say it anyway”, “I’m timid, but I’m being treated!”, “It’s not me, it’s him!”, “Dreaming is not harmful”, “Directly into the wall. "
"Toy"
Many of the images created by Richard are imbued not only with humor, but also with gentle lyrics. Such, for example, an unemployed journalist from the comedy Francis Weber "Toy", which appears on the screens in 1976.
The son of a millionaire announces that he will turn into his toy, and brings him to his chic mansion. Protester Perren is persuaded to stay for several days so as not to upset the moody teenager. Having become involved in this game, he realizes that everything is not so simple in the family, and the child lacks the affection and attention that parents cannot give him.
Worldwide success
After this work, Richard becomes a world famous actor. Almost every film of his is a success with the viewer. In 1978, Gerard Uri's comedy "Escape" was released, in which the hero of our article plays a lawyer who unwittingly goes on the run with his client.
Uri's next big hit is another Umbrella film, In which he plays the unsuccessful actor Gregoire Leconte, who mistakenly signed an agreement with the mafia, thinking that he is concluding an agreement with the film producer.
In 1981, Richard appeared on the screen together with Gerard Depardieu in the adventure comedy "Unlucky". This tandem becomes so famous that the directors then release two more films with their participation - "Dad" and "Runaways".
An interesting fact about Pierre Richard is that in 1982 he took part in a unique project by Yves Robber, playing two roles in the movie "Twin" at once - Mattias and his invented brother Matthew, who meet with rich twin sisters.
In the 90s, the films “Psychos at Liberty” and “Marital Love” were released. In 1996, the actor starred in the tape of the Georgian director Nana Jorjadze "A Thousand and One Recipe for the Culinary Specialist in Love". She is even nominated for an Academy Award.
In 2000, Richard tries himself in the role of a drama actor in the drama of Jean-Daniel Verhak, playing a wandering artist Vitalo Pedrotti. And in 2003, appears in a modern interpretation of the image of "Robinson Crusoe", which the rebellious workers planted on a desert island. In 2004, he performs another notable dramatic role of the aristocrat Jean-René in the tape of Damien Odul "When We Will Be Die".
Family and hobbies
Little is known about Pierre Richard's personal life, he prefers not to extend to this topic. It is known that his first wife was a ballerina Daniel Minazzoli, from whom he has two sons - bassist Christoph and saxophonist Olvier. Both perform under the name Defe.
After a divorce from Daniel, he had several novels, recently he has often been met in the company of the Brazilian model of Sale, who is 40 years younger than him.
Among the hobbies of the hero of our article is winemaking. He has 20 hectares of vineyards in the south of France, where Pierre regularly spends the end of summer. He is also interested in fishing, travel, car racing and tennis, and still rides a motorcycle that is already 40 years old.
The actor notes that his parents laid an entrepreneurial grip in his character, therefore, in order to achieve his goal, he is actually ready to "go to her corpses."
Recent work
Richard is now 84 years old, but he still continues to work. For example, in 2017, he starred in the comedy of Miracles in Paris by Dominic Abel and Fion Gordon. He played a small, but vivid and memorable role of the eccentric old man Duncan in the story about the girl Dominica, who goes in search of her grandmother Fiona and finds true love.
Also among his latest projects are the pictures “Baby Spiru”, “Mr. Stein goes online”, “You won’t run away from your family”. In the melodrama "One Profile for Two", the comedian plays the role of an elderly romantic who loses the meaning of life after the death of his wife. A daughter buys him a computer in order to save his father from depression, and he finds new love on social networks.