Jean Rochefort

Jean Rochefort
Rochefort in 1979
Born	Jean Raoul Robert Rochefort (1930-04-29)29 April 1930 Paris, Third French Republic
Died	9 October 2017(2017-10-09) (aged 87) Paris, France
Resting place	Grosrouvre Cemetery, Grosrouvre, France
Education	CNSAD
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1953–2016
Spouses	Elisabeth Bardin ​ ​ (m. 1952; div. 1960)​ Alexandra Moscwa ​ ​ (m. 1960; div. 1981)​ Françoise Vidal ​ (m. 1989)​
Children	6

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

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 noted 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 at 41 years old a father of adult children (the young Claude Jade was already 23). To appear older, he grew a moustache, his trademark, which he later 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 became very popular. 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 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.

Personal life

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).

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.

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 in 1976 for Que La Fête Commence, Best Actor in 1978 for Le Crabe-Tambour and an honorary prize in 1999. He was nominated for many more awards.^[7]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Rencontre à Paris (Meeting in Paris)	Intern	Uncredited
1958	Une balle dans le canon (A Bullet in the Gun Barrel)	Léopold
1961	Vingt mille lieues sur la terre (20,000 Leagues Across the Land), Titre original: Леон Гаррос ищет друга (1960)	Fernand	The film is available in russian on YouTube
	Le Capitaine Fracasse	Malartic
1962	Cartouche (Swords of Blood)	La Taupe
	Le Soleil dans l'oeil (Sun in Your Eyes)[8]	Cameo appearance
	Le Masque de fer (The Iron Mask)	Lastréaumont
1963	Outpost in Indochina[9]	Sergeant Hérange
	Symphonie pour un massacre [fr] (Symphony for a Massacre)[10]	Jabeke
	The Bread Peddler	Ovide Soliveau
	La Foire aux cancres [fr] (The Blockhead Fair)	Sigoules
1964	Du grabuge chez les veuves [fr] (Trouble Among Widows)	Inspector Laforêt
	Les Pieds nickelés [fr]	Croquignol
	Angélique, Marquise des Anges	François Desgrez
	Beautiful Families	Marquis Osvaldo	(segment "Amare è un po' morire")
1965	Merveilleuse Angélique (Marvelous Angelique)	François Desgrez
	Les Tribulations d'un chinois en Chine (Up to His Ears)	Leon
1966	Angélique et le roy (Angelique and the King)	François Desgrez
	Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (Who Are You, Polly Magoo?)	Grégoire Pecque
1967	Le Dimanche de la vie [fr]	Capitain Bordeille
	À cœur joie (Two Weeks in September)	Philippe
1968	Ne jouez pas avec les Martiens (Don't Play with Martians)	René Mastier
	Pour un amour lointain	Guillaume
1969	The Devil by the Tail	Count Georges de Coustines
1970	Le Temps de mourir (The Time to Die)	Hervé Breton
	La Liberté en croupe [fr]	Moss
	Céleste [fr]	Georges Cazenave
1972	Les malheurs d'Alfred		Uncredited
	L'Œuf [fr][11] ("The Egg")	Victor Dugommier
	Les Feux de la chandeleur (Hearth Fires)	Alexandre Boursault
	Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe)	Colonel Louis Toulouse
1973	L'Héritier (The Inheritor)	André Berthier
	Le Complot [fr] (The Conspiracy)	Dominique Clavet
	Bel ordure [fr] (Lovely Swine)	Police Inspector
	Dio, sei proprio un padreterno! (Mean Frank and Crazy Tony)	Louis Annunziata
	Salut l'artiste (Hail The Artist)	Clément Chamfort
1974	L'Horloger de Saint-Paul (The Clockmaker)	Inspector Guilboud
	Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard (How to Make Good When One Is a Jerk and a Crybaby)	Foisnard
	Le fantôme de la liberté (The Phantom of Liberty)	Mr. Legendre
	Mio Dio, come sono caduta in basso! (Till Marriage Do Us Part)	Baron Henri De Sarcey
	Retour du grand blond (The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe)	Colonel Toulouse
1975	Isabelle devant le désir [fr] (Isabelle and Lust)	Mr. Vaudois
	Que la fête commence... (Let Joy Reign Supreme)	Dubois
	Les innocents aux mains sales (Innocents with Dirty Hands)	Albert Légal
	Un divorce heureux (A Happy Divorce)	Jean-Baptiste Morin
1976	Les vécés étaient fermés de l'intérieur [fr]	Commissioner Pichard
	Calmos (Cool, Calm and Collected)	Albert
	Les Magiciens (Death Rite)	Edouard
	Pardon Mon Affaire (An Elephant Can Be Extremely Deceptive)	Étienne Dorsay
1977	Le Diable dans la boîte [fr][12] (The Devil in the Box)	Alain Brissot
	Nous irons tous au paradis (We Will All Meet in Paradise)	Étienne Dorsay
	Le Crabe-tambour (Drummer-Crab)	The Captain
1978	Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?	Auguste Grandvilliers	English language
1979	Le Cavaleur [fr] (Practice Makes Perfect)	Édouard Choiseul
	Grandison [fr][13]	Carl Grandison
	Courage - Let's Run	Martin Belhomme
	French Postcards	Mr. Tessier
1980	Chère inconnue [fr] (Sent a Letter to My Love)	Gilles Martin
	Odio le bionde (I Hate Blondes)	Donald Rose
1981	Un étrange voyage	Pierre
	Il faut tuer Birgitt Haas (Birgitt Haas Must Be Killed)	Charles-Philippe Bauman
1982	L'Indiscrétion [fr]	Alain Tescique
	Le Grand Frère (The Big Brother)	Charles-Henri Rossi
1983	Un dimanche de flic [fr][14] ("A Cops' Sunday")	Rupert
	L'Ami de Vincent [fr] (A Friend of Vincent)	Vincent Lamarre
1984	Frankenstein 90	Victor Frankenstein
	Réveillon chez Bob [fr]	Louis Alban
1985	David, Thomas et les autres[15] ("A Volley for a Black Buffalo")	Mr. Louis
1986	La Galette du roi [fr]	Arnold
1987	Le Moustachu [fr] (The Field Agent)	Capitain Duroc
	Tandem	Michel Mortez
	My First Forty Years (also known as My Wonderful Life)	Prince Riccio
1989	Je suis le seigneur du château (I'm the King of the Castle)	Jean Bréaud
1990	Le Mari de la coiffeuse (The Hairdresser's Husband)	Antoine
	Le Château de ma mère (My Mother's Castle)	Loïs de Montmajour / Adolphe Cassignole
1991	Amoureux fou ("Love Crazy" or "Madly in Love")	Rudolph
1992	Le Bal des casse-pieds [fr]	Henri Sauveur
	El largo invierno	Jordi Casals
	The Timekeeper	Louis XV of France	Short
	L'Atlantide[16]	Le Meige
1993	Tango	Bellhop
	Cible émouvante [fr] (Wild Target)	Victor Meynard
	La prossima volta il fuoco[17] ("Next Time the Fire")	Amedeo
	Tombés du ciel (Lost in Transit)	Arturo Conti
1994	Tutti gli anni una volta l'anno (Once a Year, Every Year)	Raffaele
	Prêt-à-Porter	Inspector Tantpis
1995	Tom est tout seul[18]	Jean-Pierre
	Palace[19]	Thomas Fausto
1996	Les Grands Ducs	Eddie Carpentier
	Ridicule	Marquis of Bellegarde
	Never Ever	Gerard Panier
1997	Barracuda [fr]	Mr. Clément
1998	Le Serpent a mangé la grenouille[20]	Mr. Moreau
	Le Comte de Monte Cristo[21] ("The Count of Monte Cristo")	Fernand de Morcerf	4 episodes
	El viento se llevó lo qué [it][22] ("Wind with the Gone")	Edgar Wexley
1999	Rembrandt	Nicolaes Tulp
2001	Le Placard	Kopel
	Honolulu Baby[23]	Cri Cri
	La Vie sans secret de Walter Nions[24]	Walter Nions	Short
2002	L'homme du train (The Man on the Train)	Manesquier
	Blanche [fr]	Cardinal Mazarin
	Lost in La Mancha	Himself	Uncredited
2003	Fanfan la tulipe	Narrator	Voice
	Il était une fois Jean-Sébastien Bach	Narrator	Voice
	Les Clefs de bagnole (The Car Keys)	Himself	cameo appearance
2004	RRRrrrr!!!	Lucie
	Les Dalton (The Daltons)	Jolly Jumper	Voice
2005	Akoibon [fr]	Chris Barnes
	L'enfer (Hell)	Louis
2006	Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One)	Gilbert Neuville
	Désaccord parfait [fr]	Louis Ruinard
2007	Mr. Bean's Holiday	Head Waiter
	I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster	Jean
	La clef	Joseph Arp
2008	id - Identity of the Soul	Narrator
	Agathe Cléry	Louis Guignard
2011	Titeuf	Pépé	Voice
2012	The Artist and the Model	Marc Cros
	Astérix et Obélix: Au service de sa Majesté (Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia)	Lucius Fouinus
2013	Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart	Méliès	Voice
	Jappeloup	Himself	Uncredited
2015	April and the Twisted World	Pops	Voice
	Floride	Claude Lherminier

Theater

• 1953: Azouk by Alexandre Rivemale, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre Fontaine
• 1953: L'Huitre et la perle by William Saroyan, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre Fontaine
• 1953: Les Images d'Épinal by Albert Vidalie, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Cabaret La Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons
• 1954: Responsabilité limitée by Robert Hossein, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre Fontaine
• 1954: L’Amour des quatre colonels by Peter Ustinov, adaptation Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre Fontaine
• 1957: Romanoff et Juliette by Peter Ustinov, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre Marigny
• 1957: L’Amour des quatre colonels by Peter Ustinov, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique
• 1958: Tessa by Jean Giraudoux from the work of Basil Dean and Margaret Kennedy, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre Marigny
• 1958: L’Étonnant Pennypacker by Liam O'Brien, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre Marigny
• 1960: Champignol malgré lui by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières, staging Jean-Pierre Grenier, Théâtre Marigny
• 1960: Le Comportement des époux Bredburry by François Billetdoux, staging by the author, Théâtre des Mathurins
• 1960: Génousie by René de Obaldia, staging Roger Mollien, TNP Théâtre Récamier
• 1961: Loin de Rueil by Maurice Jarre and Roger Pillaudin from the work of Raymond Queneau, staging Maurice Jarre and Jean Vilar, TNP Théâtre national de Chaillot
• 1962: Frank V by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, staging André Barsacq, Théâtre de l'Atelier
• 1964: Cet animal étrange by Gabriel Arout from the work of Anton Tchekhov, staging Claude Régy, Théâtre Hébertot
• 1965: La Collection and L’Amant by Harold Pinter, staging Claude Régy, Théâtre Hébertot
• 1966: La prochaine fois je vous le chanterai by James Saunders, staging Claude Régy, Théâtre Antoine
• 1969: Le Prix by Arthur Miller, staging Raymond Rouleau, Théâtre Montparnasse
• 1970: Un jour dans la mort de Joe Egg by Peter Nichols, staging Michel Fagadau, Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse
• 1971: C'était hier by Harold Pinter, staging Jorge Lavelli, Théâtre Montparnasse
• 1982: L'Étrangleur s'excite by Éric Naggar, staging Jean Rochefort, Théâtre Hébertot
• 1985: Boulevard du mélodrame by Juan Pineiro and Alfredo Arias, staging Alfredo Arias, National Dramatic Center of Aubervilliers^[25]
• 1988: Une vie de théâtre by David Mamet, adaptation Pierre Laville, staging Michel Piccoli, Théâtre des Mathurins
• 1988: La femme à contre-jour by Éric Naggar, staging Jean Rochefort, Théâtre des Mathurins
• 1988: Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) by Igor Stravinsky, staging Jean Rochefort, Théâtre de Paris
• 1988: Le Carnaval des animaux musique Camille Saint-Saëns
• 1989: Une vie de théâtre by David Mamet, staging Michel Piccoli
• 1991: Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) by Igor Stravinsky, staging Jean Rochefort
• 1995: Oraison funèbre sur la mort de Condé by Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, music Jean-Baptiste Lully, direction Hervé Niquet, Royal Chapel of the Château de Versailles
• 1996: Le Petit Tailleur music Tibor Tibor Harsányi and Le Carnaval des animaux music Camille Saint-Saëns, Théâtre du Châtelet, Bruxelles
• 1998: Art by Yasmina Reza, staging Patrice Kerbrat, with Pierre Vaneck and Jean-Louis Trintignant, Théâtre Hébertot
• 2004: Heureux ? sketches by Fernand Raynaud, with Bruno Fontaine, Comédie des Champs-Élysées
• 2006: Mousquetaires de Richelieu, show of the Puy du Fou
• 2007: Entre autres, a one-man show with Lionel Suarez playing accordion, in which he pays a tribute to the authors who influenced him, from Roland Barthes to Jean Yanne, notwithstanding Fernandel, Verlaine, Boby Lapointe or Primo Levi, Théâtre de la Madeleine
• 2007 at the Olympia: where he sang "Félicie aussi", a song by Fernandel, during the last three concerts of Vincent Delerm's tour 30 and 31 May 2007 and 1 June 2007

Audio book

• Le Pont de la rivière Kwaï (The Bridge over the River Kwai) by Pierre Boulle

Notes

1. Source : Who's Who. Jean Rochefort was not born in Dinan, but his parents were living there.
2. "Lycée Pierre Corneille de Rouen - The Lycée Corneille of Rouen". lgcorneille-lyc.spip.ac-rouen.fr.
3. Jacques Lafitte, Stephen Taylor (1999). Qui est qui en France. J. Lafitte. p. 1471.
4. "Jean ROCHEFORT". Festival de Cannes (in French). 17 May 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
5. "French acting legend Jean Rochefort has died". The Independent. 9 October 2017. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017.
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. "Jean Rochefort". IMDb. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
8. "Le soleil dans l'oeil". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
9. "Fort-du-fou". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
10. "Symphonie pour un massacre". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
11. "L'oeuf". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
12. "Le Diable dans la boîte". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
13. "Grandison". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
14. "Un dimanche de flic". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
15. "Sortüz egy fekete bivalyért". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
16. "l'Atlantide". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
17. "La prossima volta il fuoco". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
18. "Tom est tout seul". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
19. "Palace (1995)". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
20. "Le serpent a mangé la grenouille". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
21. "Le Comte de Monme Cristo". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
22. "El viento se llevó lo qué". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
23. "Honolulu Baby". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
24. "La Vie sans secret de Walter Nions". Retrieved 9 March 2012.
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)

External links

• Jean Rochefort at IMDb
• Jean Rochefort at the TCM Movie Database