Biography for
Jean-Louis Trintignant More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Height

Mini Biography

Born 1930 in Piolenc in south France as son of a wealthy industrialist. Studied law in Aix-en-Provence. Started theatrical acting in 1950, but was regarded untalented at first, until Roger Vadim discovered him for the movies. When the press stalked him 1956 because of rumors of an affair with Brigitte Bardot his partner in Et Dieu... créa la femme (1956), he fled into the army. Ten years later he had his first big success with Un homme et une femme (1966). Since then he has starred in more than 100 movies, with a special talent for the dark characters like murderers or jealous husbands. Today he prefers theater to movies.

Spouse

Trivia

Father of Marie Trintignant.

Said he didn't accept the leading role in Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972), because he didn't like the numerous nude scenes.

Was chosen to play opposite Vittorio Gassman in Il sorpasso (1962) because he looked like Jacques Perrin, who started the picture but left to do Cronaca familiare (1962) under Valerio Zurlini 's direction.

Father of Vincent Trintignant

Graduated from L'IDHEC ("La Fémis", at present)

Nephew of sport car driver Maurice Trintignant (1917-2005).

His daughter Pauline died as a baby while he and his family were on location in Rome in 1969.

His actress/daughter Marie Trintignant, who was married at the time to director/actor Samuel Benchetrit, was fatally beaten in a Lithuanian hotel in 2003 by her jealous boyfriend, Bertrand Cantat, the lead rock singer and guitarist of the group Noir Désir. Apparently he became outraged when she received a telephone call from her husband. She suffered a cerebral edema as a result of her skull fractures and died four days after the incident. In 2004, Cantat was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter, which was initially appealed by Marie's family, who wished for a heavier sentence. They later canceled their appeal and the judgment was final.

His acting career was interrupted for several years by military service in Algiers.

Lent his voice to the widely acclaimed La cité des enfants perdus (1995).

Raised in and around automobile racing, he was the natural choice of director Claude Lelouch for the role of a race car driver in Un homme et une femme (1966).

Personal Quotes

"The best actors in the world are those who feel the most and show the least."

[on Marcello Mastroianni] Mastroianni fascinates me; there are few people who are more intelligent than they wish to appear. That's Marcello exactly!

[on Gina Lollobrigida] The only leading lady who displeased me. It's wicked to say this now she's a retired old lady, but we had a completely different conception of things: between each shot she called for her hairdresser and make-up man. It was very painful to work under those conditions. And then, she was a little stupid: she understood nothing of what she was doing and completely embarrassed the director.

[on Costa-Gavras] Costa-Gavras is more the classic director of the American cinema of John Ford and those people. His films are a little linear, didactic for a character who is so complex and ambiguous. I love him! We all do, we all call him -- Nadine, myself -- when we're cutting. He can take any film and find ten more minutes to cut.

[on Anouk Aimee] No actress either, like Brigitte Bardot, but extraordinary -- the way Gary Cooper was extraordinary.

[on Catherine Deneuve] At the beginning not an extraordinary actress. But she has become a formidable one, subtle, full of nuance, sensitive, intelligent. I love working with her.

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