Jacques Villeret

Known for ActingBorn 1951-02-06Died 2005-01-28Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France

Jacques Villeret (6 February 1951 – 28 January 2005) was a French actor, best known internationally for his role as François Pignon in the comedy Le Dîner de Cons. During his career, he earned many awards including the prestigious medal and title of Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. Villeret was born Jacky Boufroura in Loches, Indre-et-Loire, France, to an Algerian father and a French mother. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSAD) in the same class as Louis Seigner, the grandfather of Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathilde Seigner. While he was most famous for his role as François Pignon in Le Dîner de Cons; both on the stage and in the film, his other celebrated roles included the extra terrestrial in La soupe aux choux, the autistic Mo in L'été en pente douce, and marshal Ludwig von Apfelstrudel in Papy fait de la résistance. At the time of making the film Un aller simple directed by Laurent Heynemann – a film about integration and racism and the clash of generations – he said that watching the young actors in the film, Barbara Schulz and Lorant Deutsch, reminded him of the insouciance he had had as a young man with his friends at the Conservatoire. When his career was at its height, with the success of Le Dîner de Cons, everything collapsed in a tragedy mirroring the plot of the film. Villeret separated from his wife and suffered an enormous financial downfall due to tax issues, plunging him into depression. Villeret turned to alcohol for comfort, and became an alcoholic. He isolated himself and hid away for long periods. He later said: Alcohol is a friend, but a friend who means you harm. Villeret's love of his profession helped to bring his career back from the brink. In an interview in 2001 he spoke of his admiration for performers like Johnny Hallyday and Jacques Brel for their level of commitment, and quoted the author Louis-Ferdinand Céline: When I write, I put my balls on the table. In 1979 Villeret married Irina Tarassov, an actress and writer. They separated in 1998. Tassarov wrote about their life together in her book Un jour, tout ira bien. (One day, everything will go well). In 2002 Villeret met Seny, a Senegalese-French widow descended through her grandfather, Mor Diarra N'Dao, from a long line of Sérès nobles of the ancient Kingdom of Saloum, and they fell instantly and deeply in love. They were partners for three years, and she was about to move to Paris to be with him when he died in Évreux in January 2005 of a liver haemorrhage. Seny wrote a memoir of their life together, Jacques Villeret, mon bébé blanc, which was published in Paris by Le Cherche Midi in 2005. Source: Article "Jacques Villeret" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.Read more

Movies & web series

Georges Dandin de Molière

Spécial cinéma

Midi Première

Belmondo: The Incorrigible

Merci Bernard

Mon Premier Amour

The Dinner Game

Detective Story

Le Grand Échiquier

Discorama

Strange Gardens

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président

Le Dernier Été

Numéro un

588 rue Paradis

The Children of the Marshland

The Son of the Mekong

Il était une fois Champs-Élysées

Le Rabat-joie

The Common Man

Gramps Is in the Resistance

L'Âge d'or de la pub

Bolero

Danton

Champs-Elysées

A Crime in Paradise

Jacques Villeret, drôlement tragique

Viper in the Fist

Malevil

Golden Boy

Three Years

Un fil à la patte

L'été en pente douce

Malabar Princess

Out of Whack

Grey Souls

The Cabbage Soup

Another Man, Another Chance

The Mouth Agape

Robert et Robert

A Second Chance

Keep Your Right Up

Nulle part ailleurs

Hold-up

Wacko

The Big Brother

The Drummer of Ravel's Boléro

Us Two