Actor Jean-Louis Trintignant dies | The Press

(Paris) Key figure in French cinema and theatre, famous for his role in A man and a womanJean-Louis Trintignant died on Friday at the age of 91.

The actor of And God created the woman and Lovewho was said to be seriously ill, died “peacefully, of old age, this morning, at his home, in the Gard (south of France), surrounded by his loved ones”, indicated his wife and members of his family in a statement sent to AFP.

His funeral will take place privately.

The life of the actor, with the enveloping voice, was marked by several dramas, including the death of his daughter Marie, actress, killed in 2003 under the blows of her companion, the singer Bertrand Cantat. Drama that had caused a stir and from which he had never recovered.

“Inside of me, everything is destroyed”, he confided after the tragedy which had led him to move away from the sets for ten years.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday hailed the memory of a “tremendous artistic talent” who “has accompanied our lives a little through French cinema”. “It’s a page that turns,” added the head of state, referring to the “soft voice” of the actor.

Entered the history of cinema with A man and a woman by Claude Lelouch, where he played a racing driver in love with Anouk Aimée on the beach at Deauville, Jean-Louis Trintignant won an interpretation prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Z by Costa-Gavras in 1969 and a César for best actor for Love by Michael Haneke, Palme d’or 2012.

His last appearance on the big screen was in 2019 with The best years of a lifewhere he found his partner Anouk Aimée and director Claude Lelouch.

He also made a quick appearance, in front of the camera, during the Cesars 2021 ceremony, where he appeared very diminished.

A voice and a smile

“He was the first actor who said yes to me. Seven films, seven times he offered me his talent”, said Claude Lelouch with emotion on RTL radio, praising “the most beautiful voice we have heard in theater and cinema”. “He gave us his scars. He was a remarkable man […] I owe him everything,” he continued.

“After Belmondo, another brother who leaves and I am upset”, reacted to AFP Alain Delon, 86, who had filmed with him in Cop Story by Jacques Deray (1975).

“He was someone rare, confusing in a good way. A great actor. He worked all his life with his tape recorder in his hand saying poems and at the end of his life, well the last four years, he shocked everyone by saying marvelous poems and in a marvelous way. And he made great films, of course Lelouch, but there is also The conformist, Redfinally superb films ”, reacted on BFMTV his ex-wife Nadine Trintignant, mother of his children.

“He embodied role by role all the passions and all the torments of humanity”, reacted on Twitter the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak.

His phlegm, his voice and his magnetism make his presence recognizable for millions of spectators around the world.

Born on December 11, 1930 in Piolenc, in the south of France, this son of an industrialist took Charles Dullin’s comedy lessons in Paris, before debuting on stage in 1951.

It’s the movie And God created the woman (1956), by Roger Vadim, which reveals it resoundingly. Him and Brigitte Bardot, his playing partner. He plays a husband stung to the quick. In real life, however, the opposite is happening. A love passion is born with “BB”.

He will then chain successful films alongside all the leading directors of cinema: Costa-Gavras, Claude Lelouch, Éric Rohmer, Michael Haneke, Claude Chabrol, or Patrice Chéreau. In total, he has acted in nearly 120 films.

He had left the cinema after receiving the César for his role in Love.