Trintignant, Jean-Louis

(December II, 1930, Piolenc, Vaucluse, France - )

   The son of a manufacturer, he loved poetry since his childhood. He briefly studied law in Aix-en-Provence. After seeing Charles Dullin in LAvare in December 1949, he decided to become an actor. Having arrived in Paris in 1950, he attended acting courses with Tania Balachova. He made his stage debut in A chacun selon sa Faim, a play by Jean Mogin, directed by Raymond Hermantier (1951), and entered films, appearing in a short (1955 Péchiney, Marcel Ichac) and playing a supporting role in Si tout les Gars du Monde . . . / S.O.S. Lutezia / UK: Race for Life / USA: If All the Guys in the World . . . (Christian-Jaque, France / Italy). His performance in Et Dieu . . . créa la Femme / E Dio creo la donna / Piace a troppi / UK: And Woman . . . Was Cre­ated / USA: . . . And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, France / Italy) and his love story with the star of the movie, Brigitte Bardot, made him famous. He soon became one the finest and most praised French lead­ing actors. Among the 130 films in which he starred or co-starred, several were international successes: Il sorpasso / Le Fanfaron / USA: The Easy Life (Dino Risi, Italy / France, 1962); Un Homme et une Femme / UK and USA: A Man and a Woman (Claude Lelouch, 1966); Z (Costa-Gavras, France / Algeria, 1969); Ma Nuit chez Maud / UK: My Night with Maud / USA: My Night at Maud's (Eric Rohmer, 1969); Il conformista / Le Conformiste / Der Konformist / Der grosse Intum / UK and USA: The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy / France / West Germany, 1970). Often approached by American directors (including Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg), he declined most of their of­fers, but he worked with Frank Borzage and Edgar G. Ulmer (1961 L'Atlantide / Antinea, l'amante della cità sepolta / USA: Journey Beneath the Desert / Siren of Atlantis, France / Italy) and played a supporting role in Under Fire (Roger Spottiswoode, 1983). He directed two unconventional comedies that failed at the box office, but the first one was a masterpiece of black humor. He was formerly married to actress Stéphane Audran and directress Nadine Trintignant (1961-1976). His daughter was actress Marie Trintignant (1962-2003).

 Filmography

1973 ◘ Une Journée bien remplie / Una giornata spesa bene / Una giornata spesa bene ovvero nove strani omicidi commessi in una sola giornata da uno che non è il mestiere (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, voice; France / Italy)

1979 ◘ Le Maître nageur (also actor)