Pierre Richard

Biography

Pierre Richard (born in Valenciennes in 1934) is a French actor, director and screenwriter best known for comedies in which he plays clumsy, dreamy misfits. Alongside Louis de Funès and Gérard Depardieu, he is often counted among the most gifted comedians in French cinema of the past several decades. He has also recorded occasional songs and built a business life outside the screen, running a Parisian restaurant and a vineyard in southern France.

He came to film from the stage. Before committing fully to acting, he trained as a kinesiotherapist as a fallback and even ran a short-lived practice. After a brief spell as an extra at the Théâtre National Populaire, he formed a comedy duo with Victor Lanoux, performing sketches in Paris cabarets and music halls. His first significant film role came in 1968 with Yves Robert's Alexandre le Bienheureux, where Robert told him he was not an actor but a character. That remark pushed him toward writing and directing his own material.

His breakthrough was Le Distrait (1970), which he directed and starred in, built on a lanky, jerky physical style drawn from Jacques Tati, Jerry Lewis and the Marx Brothers. That same year began his partnership with Yves Robert, and The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972) became an international hit that made him France's new comic star. The Return of the Tall Blond Man followed in 1974, along with a run of comedies that leaned into his image as a blunderer. In 1976 he starred in The Toy, the directing debut of Francis Veber, who had written both Robert films. Veber gave Richard's hapless characters names like François Pignon or François Perrin.

In the 1980s he teamed with Gérard Depardieu in three Veber comedies: La Chèvre (1981), Les Compères (1983) and Les Fugitifs (1986). He also tried to break type, notably in The Twin (1984). His box-office standing in France declined in the 1990s, when he moved toward more dramatic roles and a lower profile. He returned to directing with On peut toujours rêver (1991) and Droit dans le mur (1997), and in 2006 the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma gave him a César for lifetime achievement.

His legacy is tied to French physical comedy and to his work with Veber and Depardieu, whose films were remade in America. He still appears on screen regularly, with recent credits including Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom and Jeanne du Barry, both from 2023.

Key films

• The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972): his international breakthrough with Yves Robert, which made him a star.
• The Toy (1976): Francis Veber's directing debut, with Richard in the lead.
• La Chèvre (1981): the first of three Veber comedies with Gérard Depardieu.
• Les Compères (1983): a Veber comedy that reunites him with Depardieu.
• Les Fugitifs (1986): the closing chapter of the trilogy, popular in its day.