Jean-Louis Trintignant

French actor and director, also a poet, and a film and TV star who made his debut in 1956, he was born to a wealthy family of race cars drivers (like Maurice Trintignant. his uncle). He replaced Roger Vadim in Brigitte Bardot's affections in 1957 and was duly replaced himself by Sacha Distel the following year. Because of the public romance with the sex kitten, he seemed on the brink of success when a three-year absence from the screen due to military service in Algeria put his acting career on hold. Plodding his way back to the top again with occasional roles in both French and Italian productions, Trintignant was "rediscovered" with the box office success of A Man and a Woman, released in 1966. In 1969 he won the Best Actor Award at Cannes for Z. As a car driver, he participated in several rallys (since 1977) and in "Le Mans 24 hours" in 1980.

Trintignant’s first marriage was to Colette Dacheville in 1954, second with actress Stephane Audran and third to film maker Nadine Marquand, the director of several of his films. His 4th marriage was to Marriane Hoepfner, his last wife, in 2000 He suffered a leg injury from a motorbike accident in 2007.

His daughter, Marie Trintignant, died of cerebral edema in Neuilly, France on 1 August 2003, the victim of a domestic dispute. The 41-year-old actress had been in a coma since 27 July 2003 when, in a violent argument with her boyfriend in a Vilnius, Lithuania hotel room, she suffered multiple blows to the head. Her boyfriend was taken into custody.

Jean-Louis Trintignant received the Cesar for Best Actor in 2013 for his role in Amour, directed by Michael Haneke. In 2019, he ended his career after 120 films, suffering from prostate cancer since 2018. He died on 17 June 2022 at the age of 91 in Uzès, Gard, France.