The world of the 7th art is in mourning. This Wednesday April 13, 2022, Michel Bouquet died at the age of 96. The sacred monster of theater and cinema is ” died at the end of the morning in a Parisian hospital », Explains its press service. Famous on the boards, the Parisian actor had begun his career at the Théâtre de Chaillot when he had not yet reached majority. At the time, he was only 17 years old and his talent already announced a brilliant career. ” I was in a Robespierre costume. I had the feeling that it was true, that I was Robespierre. It made me laugh inside. They were my first sensations at the theater “, he liked to say. Words reported by France Info.
It was in 1946 that he won a place in a play by Jean Anouilh. His first major role. A decisive turning point for his career which opened the doors to the works of Pinter, Beckett, Thomas Bernhard and Camus. During his life, he will have slipped into the skin of more than 60 characters. But if he turns out to be a real chameleon, he does not hide his passion for the two authors who are Molière and Ionesco. For twenty years, he notably played Berenger I in the famous play “The King is dying”. A role ” very hard because of the heckling of the different sensations through which the actor is forced to go, from the most comic to the pure tragic “, he once expressed.
Twice César for Best Actor
In 2017, Michel Bouquet proclaimed his love for the theater by explaining that he could not imagine one day saying goodbye to the stage. However, the actor also flirted with the enemy by launching into the cinema at the end of the 60s. Years of happiness which will allow him to win, twice, the César for best actor. One for her role in Anne Fontaine’s feature film, “How I Killed My Father”. The other, for his interpretation of Renoir in the eponymous film by Gilles Bourdos. An outstanding actor who will remain forever etched in the memory of moviegoers and theatergoers.
VB
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