France’s legendary actor Michel Piccoli, who was born in Paris, has died today at the age of 94

France’s legendary actor Michel Piccoli, who was born in Paris, has died today at the age of 94

ONE of French cinema’s greatest actors, Michel Piccoli, died this morning, Monday May 18, at the age of 94 years. Michel Piccoli was born in Paris on December 27, 1925, into a family of musicians. It was at the age of 18 that he decided to become an actor and thus took acting lessons at Cours Simon. He is known in particular for his roles in ‘Le Mépris’ and ‘Habemus Papam.’ From his beginnings in the 1940s to the present, he has acted in around 200 films, but also in more than 50 plays.

In his autobiography published in 2015, Michel Piccoli already mentioned his death: “We would like it never to stop and it will stop. It is very difficult. The memory is deteriorating. And I am the victim of this disaster for an actor.” In this text published by Grasset, he hoped for one thing: “I would like not to die!”

Michel Piccoli was an actor who said what he thought. In 2015 at the dawn of his 90th birthday, when he published his autobiography, he did not hesitate to discuss difficult subjects such as old age, illness and death. “We would like it never to stop and it will stop. It is very difficult. The memory is deteriorating. And I am the victim of this catastrophe for an actor.” He explained that the world of entertainment gave him less and less work: “Sometimes I feel very good and I am indignant at not playing anymore because the doctors and the insurance companies make the decision to choose me complicated.”