Peter Richard Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Professions Actor , Screenwriter , Director more
Birth name Pierre Defays
Nationality French
Birth August 16, 1934 (Valenciennes, North, France)

BIOGRAPHY
Coming from a large family of entrepreneurs who naturally predestined him to take over the business, Pierre Richard, whose real name is Pierre Defays, preferred to take drama classes at the Center Dullin and with Jean Vilar . He began his artistic life in Maurice Bejart ‘s troupe , from where he drew this acute sense of choreographed gestures which would characterize his most famous characters. It was at the cabaret, in the company of Victor Lanoux , that he created the image of a weirdo who was both shy and distracted and would stay with him throughout his career.

Pierre Richard debuted in cinema in 1967 with a small role in Alexandre le Bienheureux by Yves Robert , alongside Philippe Noiret . It was not until 1970 and Le Distrait , which he wrote, performed and directed himself, that the actor achieved recognition. His goofball character met with immediate success. After Les Misfortunes d’Alfred , where he again held three hats, Pierre Richard triumphed in 1972 with Grand Blond avec une chaussures noir , directed by Yves Robert , definitively imposing his style. The film had a sequel two years later, entitled The Return of the Tall Blonde .

Taking advantage of the success, Pierre Richard became one of the pillars of popular French comedy of the 70s and 80s. He continued directing ( I don’t know anything but I’ll say everything , I’m shy, but I take care of myself ), plays for Claude Zidi ( La Moutarde monte au nose , La Course à l’échalote ), Gérard Oury ( La Carapate ) and Yves Robert ( Le Jumeau ). In 1981, Francis Veber pitted the actor against Gérard Depardieu in La Chèvre . The film was a huge success, and the duo reunited twice under the direction of the same filmmaker for Les Compères (1983) and Les Fugitifs (1986).

Idolized in Eastern countries thanks to the re-release of his films, Pierre Richard agreed to star in a Franco-Georgian co-production, The Thousand and One Recipes of the Cook in Love , presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 1996 and which earned an Interpretation Prize at the Karlovy Vary festival. The following year, he returned to directing with the confidential Droit dans le mur. After a long absence, during which he nevertheless achieved great success by playing Vitalis in a television adaptation of the novel Sans Famille , Pierre Richard returned to the forefront in 2003 with Married but not too much .

After Waiting for the Flood in 2004, Pierre Richard returned to comedy by playing an old hippie in Le Cactus or by playing lit characters under the direction of Pierre-François Martin-Laval in Essaye-moi and King Guillaume . Both on the poster for the popular Faubourg 36 and the dark Le Serpent , the actor, who lends his voice to animated characters from Rois de la sliding and Mia et le Migou , is back at the top of the bill. In 2009, he played Victor , an “octogenarian to adopt” in the new comedy by Thomas Gilou , then appeared in Cinéman by Yann Moix alongside Franck Dubosc .

Juggling between theater and cinema, the actor begins this new decade with a busy schedule. On the big screen side, we find him in 2010 alongside Sylvie Testud in Le Bonheur de Pierre by Robert Ménard , then, two years later, in the new film by Stéphane Robelin , Et si we all lived together? , in which he notably shares the poster with Jane Fonda and Guy Bedos . Rarer on screens in the years to come, we can still see him in the fantastic comedy Les Ames de papier and in Fui Banquero via the role of the father of the main character played by Robinson Stévenin .

Pierre Richard then moves on to mainstream comedies at a sustained pace. He thus portrays a septuagenarian who tastes the joys of dating sites in the romantic comedy A profile for two (2017). The same year, he slipped into the role of Grand Papy in Le Petit Spirou . At the start of 2018, the actor is starring in two other comedies: La Ch’tite famille by Dany Boon , Les Vieux fourneaux by Christophe Duthuron and Mme Mills, une neighbor si parfait by Sophie Marceau. In the latter, he plays a conman who disguises himself as an eccentric old American woman to steal a valuable object.

After two supporting roles in Because of the Girls…? (2019) and Brutus vs Caesar (2020), Pierre Richard reprises his character of Pierrot in The Old Fourneaux 2: Good for the Asylum (2022). At the beginning of 2023, we will see him in the shoes of Panoramix in the highly anticipated Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom directed by Guillaume Canet . For the occasion, the native of Valencienne succeeds Claude Piéplu , Claude Rich and Jean-Pierre Cassel in the role of the famous druid.