Michel Jacques Daniel Piccoli was the son of Henri Piccoli, violinist and Marcelle Expert-Bezançon (1892-1990), pianist and daughter of the French industrialist and politician Charles Expert-Bezançon. In 1954, Michel Piccoli married actress Éléonore Hirt with whom he had a daughter, Anne-Cordélia Piccoli. In 1966, he married the singer Juliette Gréco, then in 1978 the screenwriter Ludivine Clerc, with whom he adopted two children of Polish origin, Inord and Missia. Placed in an establishment for problem children, the commitments of the young Piccoli, are made in opposition to his maternal grandfather, senator of the Third Republic, financier of the Radical Party, and important industrial painter, accused by the trade union left and by Georges Clemenceau, of having intoxicated his workmen through lead white which causes lead poisoning. Michel Piccoli then trained as an actor first with Andrée Bauer-Théraud and then during Simon. After an appearance as an extra in "Sortilèges" by Christian-Jaque in 1945, Michel Piccoli made his film debut in "Le Point Du Jour" by Louis Daquin. In the theater he distinguished himself with the Renaud-Barrault and Grenier-Hussot companies as well as at the Théâtre de Babylone. Noticed in the film "French Cancan" in 1954, he continued on stage and worked with directors Jacques Audiberti, Jean Vilar, Jean-Marie Serreau, Peter Brook, Luc Bondy, Patrice Chéreau and André Engel, and became also know in popular TV movies. Having become an atheist after a family bereavement, he met Luis Buñuel in 1956, and ironically took on the role of a priest in "La Mort En Ce Jardin". In 1959, he shot "Le Rendez-Vous De Noël", a short film by André Michel based on the short story by Malek Ouary "Le Noël Du Petit Cireur", in Algiers. The 1960s sounded his consecration, noticed in "Le Doulos" by Jean-Pierre Melville, he was revealed internationally with "Le Mépris" by Jean-Luc Godard alongside Brigitte Bardot. From then on, he toured with the greatest French and international filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Youssef Chahine, Manoel de Oliveira... He began the 1980s with the interpretation prize at the Cannes festival in 1980, with "Le Saut Dans Le Vide" by Marco Bellocchio, and that of the Berlin festival in 1982, with "Une Étrange Affaire" by Pierre Granier-Deferre. . He worked with Jacques Doillon, Leos Carax, before trying his hand at directing. In 2001 he received the IX Europe Prize for Theatre. He was part of the jury of the 60th Cannes Film Festival in 2007, chaired by Stephen Frears. In 2011, he played in "Habemus Papam" by Nanni Moretti. The last film in which Michel Piccoli appears is the film "Le Goût Des Myrtilles", by Thomas de Thiers in 2013. Politically committed to the left, member of the Peace Movement (communist), Michel Piccoli distinguished himself by his positions against the National Front, and mobilized for Amnesty International. Michel Piccoli died on May 12, 2020 following a stroke in his mansion in Saint-Philbert-sur-Risle in Eure. His funeral takes place in Évreux on May 19, 2020, where he is cremated, his ashes are scattered within the family property.

Filmography

• 2025The Life of Mirrors
• 2024It's Not Me — (archive footage)
• 2022Romy, A Free Woman — archive footage
• 2021Marx Can Wait — Agostino (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 2017Coming Apart — (archive footage)
• 2015Our Lady of Hormones — Narrator
• 2014The Taste of Blueberries — Michel
• 2012Holy Motors — Man with the Wine Stain
• 2012Lines of Wellington — Leópold Scheitzer
• 2012The Bardot mystery
• 2012You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet — Le père
• 2011We Have a Pope — Melville
• 2009Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
• 2009Le Bel Âge — Maurice Reverdy
• 2008On War — Le grand Hou
• 2008The Dust of Time — Spyros
• 2007Beneath the Rooftops of Paris — Marcel
• 2007Boxes — Daddy
• 2007Le Roi Lear — Le roi Lear
• 2007Rencontre Unique — Nikita Khrouchtchev
• 2007The Duchess of Langeais — Vidame de Pamiers
• 2007To Each His Own Cinema — Nikita Kruschev (segment "Rencontre unique")
• 2006Belle Toujours — Henri Husson
• 2006C'est pas tout à fait la vie dont j'avais rêvé — Director, Writer
• 2006Gardens in Autumn — Marie, la mère de Vincent
• 2006Magic Mirror — Prof. Heschel
• 2005Everything's Connected — Narrator
• 2003A Man, a Real One — Michel Piccoli
• 2003Little Lili — acteur qui joue Simon
• 2003Raining Cats and Frogs — Ferdinand (voice)
• 2003That Day — Harald
• 2002Il bambino di Betlemme
• 2001I’m Going Home — Gilbert Valence
• 2001The Black Beach — Director, Writer
• 2000Actors — Michel Piccoli
• 2000Everything's Fine, We're Leaving — Louis
• 2000Kiarostami in Close up — as Self
• 1999Libero Burro — Zio Tony
• 1999Nothing About Robert — Lord Ariel Chatwick-West
• 1999París-Tombuctú — Michel des Assantes
• 1999The Happiest Place on Earth — Récitant (voice)
• 1997Alors voilà, — Director, Writer
• 1997Genealogies of a Crime — Georges Didier
• 1997Passion in the Desert — Jean-Michel Venture de Paradis
• 1996Beaumarchais the Scoundrel — Prince de Conti
• 1996Ousmane Sow — Narrateur
• 1996Party — Michel
• 1996Traveling Companion — Cosimo
• 1996Tykho Moon — Mac Bee / frère Mac Bee
• 1995One Hundred and One Nights — Simon Cinéma
• 1995Tödliches Geld — Paul Belmont
• 1994Berau, sur les traces de Joseph Conrad — Presenter
• 1994Bête de scène
• 1994The Black Angel — Georges Feuvrier
• 1994The Emigrant — Adam - Ram's father
• 1994Train de nuit — Writer, Director
• 1993Archipel — Leonard Wilde
• 1993Loonies at Large — Henri Toussaint
• 1993Rupture(s) — Paul
• 1992From Time to Time — Jules Verne
• 1992La Belle Noiseuse: Divertimento — Edouard Frenhofer
• 1992Le Bal des casse-pieds — Désiré, l'homosexuel
• 1992The Supper — Chateaubriand (voice)
• 1991La Belle Noiseuse — Edouard Frenhofer
• 1991Lest We Forget — Self (segment "Pour Nasrin Rasooli, Iran"), Director
• 1991The Children Thief — Mr. Armand
• 1991The Fate of Baron Leisenbohg — Le baron de Leisenbohg
• 1991Walking a Tightrope — Marcel Spadice
• 1990Martha and I — Ernst
• 1990May Fools — Milou
• Les Grandes Familles — Noël Schoudler
• 1989The Monkey Folk
• 1988Blanc de Chine — Batz
• 1988How Good the Whites Are — Père Jean-Marie
• 1988La Ruelle au clair de lune — Pierre Willer
• 1988Un coupable — L'avocat
• 1987La Rumba — Damien Malleville
• 1987Malady of Love — Raoul Bergeron
• 1987The Distant Land — Friedrich Hofreiter
• 1987The Veiled Man — Kassar
• 1986Mauvais Sang — Marc
• 1986My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister — Étienne Sembadel
• 1986The Nonentity — der Tölpel
• 1986The Prude — Pierre
• 1985Adieu Bonaparte — Caffarelli - كافاريللي
• 1985Death in a French Garden — Graham Tombsthay
• 1985Going and Coming Back — Simon Lerner
• 1985La Lune
• 1984Dangerous Moves — Akiva Liebskind
• 1984Le Matelot 512 — Narrator (voice)
• 1984Long Live Life — Michel Perrin
• 1984Success Is the Best Revenge — French Official
• 1983The General of the Dead Army — Benetandi, Producer
• 1983The Prize of Peril — Frédéric Mallaire
• 1982A Room in Town — Edmond Leroyer
• 1982Beyond the Door — Mr. Mutti
• 1982Godard's Passion — Michel Boulard
• 1982La Cerisaie — Léonid
• 1982Spy, Stand Up — Jean-Paul Chance
• 1982That Night of Varennes — King Louis XVI (uncredited)
• 1982The Eyes, the Mouth — Tío Agostino
• 1982The Passerby — Max Baumstein
• 1982Will the High Salaried Workers Raise Their Hands! — José Viss
• 1981Confused Feelings — Professor
• 1981Du crime considéré comme un des beaux-arts. — Morrand
• 1981Strange Affair — Bertrand Malair
• 1981The Prodigal Daughter — Le père
• 1980A Leap in the Dark — Mauro Ponticelli
• 1980Atlantic City — Joseph
• Docteur Teyran — Jean Teyran
• 1980The Price of Survival — René Winterhalter, Producer
• 1979Atrocious Tales of Love and Death — Victor Navarro
• 1979Le Divorcement — Philippe
• 1979The Bit Between the Teeth — Pierre Chazerand
• 1978Fire's Share — Robert Hansen
• 1978Little Girl in Blue Velvet — Conrad Brukner
• 1978Strauberg ist da — Strauberg
• 1978Sugar — Grezillo
• 1978The Savage State — Orlaville, Producer
• 1977Rene the Cane — Ispettore Marchand
• 1977Spoiled Children — Bernard Rougerie, Producer
• 1977That Obscure Object of Desire — Mathieu Faber (voice) (uncredited)
• 1977The Accuser — Saint-Ramé
• 1976F as in Fairbanks — Etienne
• Henry James Stories — Captain Roger
• 1976Mado — Simon Léotard
• 1976One Way or Another — Him
• 1976The Last Woman — Michel
• 1975Leonor — Richard, Producer
• 1975Seven Deaths by Prescription — Dr Losseray, Associate Producer
• 1975Weak Spot — L'enquêteur, Co-Producer
• 1974Don't Touch the White Woman! — Buffalo Bill, Producer
• 1974Life Size — Michel, Producer
• 1974Loving in the Rain — Mr. Dellerue (voice)
• 1974The Infernal Trio — Georges Sarret
• 1974The Phantom of Liberty — Police Prefect #2
• 1974The Voyage Into the Whirlpool Has Begun
• 1974Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others — François, médecin
• 1973Far West — Indian chief
• 1973La Grande Bouffe — Michel
• 1973The Woman in Blue — Pierre
• 1973Themroc — Themroc
• 1973Wedding in Blood — Pierre Maury
• 1972Cesar and Rosalie — Narrator (voice)
• 1972Liza — Giorgio's friend
• 1972The Assassination — Colonel Kassar
• 1972The Audience — Padre Amerin
• 1972The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie — Interior Minister
• 1971Max and the Junkmen — Max, inspector
• 1971Ten Days' Wonder — Paul Regis
• 1971Touch and Go — Valentin
• 1970Invasion — Marcello
• 1970The Things of Life — Pierre Bérard
• 1969Dillinger Is Dead — Glauco
• 1969The Milky Way — Marquis de Sade
• 1969The Uninvited — François Desailly
• 1969Topaz — Jacques Granville
• 1968Danger: Diabolik — Inspector Ginko
• 1968Délire à deux — Him
• 1968Heartbeat — Charles
• 1968The Diary of an Innocent Boy — Count Philippe
• 1968Woman in Chains — L'invité pressé au vernissage (uncredited)
• 1967Belle de Jour — Henri Husson
• 1967My Love, My Love — Marrades
• 1967Shock Troops — L'homme de trop
• 1967The Dinosaur and the Baby — Paul Javal (archive footage)
• 1967The Young Girls of Rochefort — Simon Dame
• 1966Elsa the Rose — Narrator (voice)
• 1966Is Paris Burning? — Edgar Pisani
• 1966La Voleuse — Werner Kreuz
• 1966Le Coup de grâce — Capri / Bruno
• 1966The Creatures — Edgar Piccoli
• 1966The Devil's Tricks — L'antiquaire
• 1966The Game Is Over — Alexandre Saccard
• 1966The War Is Over — Inspector #1
• 1965Dom Juan — Dom Juan
• 1965Lady L — Lecoeur
• 1965Masquerade — Georges Sarrassin
• 1965The Sleeping Car Murders — René Cabourg, l'employé besogneux (Victime #2)
• 1964All About Loving — Raoul
• 1964Café tabac — Récitant (voice)
• 1964Chance at Love — Philippe Decharme (segment "Lucky la chance")
• 1964Diary of a Chambermaid — Monsieur Monteil
• 1964L'Été en hiver — Jean, the Reporter
• 1964Luis Buñuel : Un cinéaste de notre temps — Narrator (voice)
• 1964Marie Soleil — Kafka
• 1964Paparazzi — Texte dit par (voice), Writer
• 1963Contempt — Paul Javal
• 1963Hello Cubans — Narrator (voice)
• 1963The Day and the Hour — Antoine
• 1962Adieu Philippine — Izquierdo dans l'émission de télévision 'Montserrat' (uncredited)
• 1962Climates of Love — François
• 1962Le Doulos — Nuttheccio
• 1962Le Temps des assassins — Récitant (voice)
• 1962Parisienne... Parisiennes — Récitant (voice)
• 1961Amazons of Rome — Console Publicola
• 1961Fumée, histoire et fantaisie
• 1961Hauteclaire — Serlon de Savigny
• 1961La Chevelure — L'homme
• 1961Quarante fontaines — Récitant (voice)
• 1961Rendezvous — Paul
• 1960Danger in the Middle East — Brian Cannon
• 1960La dragée haute — Hugo Barsac
• 1960Le Rendez-vous de Noël
• 1960Les Joueurs — Chvokhniev
• 1959Beast at Bay — Commissioner Jacques Guimard
• 1959La Nuit de Tom Brown — Tom Brown, jeune
• 1959Le Chalet sous la neige — Robert
• 1958Sinners of Paris — L'inspecteur Vardier, de la P.J.
• 1958Tabarin — Jacques Forestier
• 1957Le Plus Heureux des trois — Pianist
• 1957Le Quadrille des diamants — Richard Burke
• 1957Nathalie — Franck Marchal
• 1957Sunday Buddies — Le directeur de l'aéro-club
• 1957The Witches of Salem — James Putnam
• 1956Death in the Garden — Father Lizzardi
• 1956La France romane — Récitant (voice)
• 1955Bad Liaisons — un inspecteur
• 1955Croissance de Paris — Récitant (voice)
• 1955Ernst Thälmann – Leader of the Working Class — Maurice Rouger
• 1955French Cancan — Le Capitaine Valorgueil
• 1955Price of Love — Georges
• 1955The Grand Manoeuvre — Officer (uncredited)
• 1954Daughters of Destiny — Pasquerel (segment "Jeanne")
• 1954Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances — Gérard
• 1954Tout chante autour de moi — Reverdier
• 1953Horizons... — un ouvrier
• 1952Torticola versus Frankensberg — Torticola
• 1951Chicago Digest — Slim Spring
• 1951La Leçon d'humour dans un parc
• 1951Terreur en Oklahoma — Tommy Goudchote
• 1951Without Leaving an Address — Un journaliste aux archives (uncredited)
• 1949The Mark of the Day — Georges Gohelle
• 1949The Perfume of the Lady in Black — Lebel
• 1945The Bellman — Un villageois

Appearances as themselves (42)

• 2023Godard by Godard — Self (archive footage)
• Il était une fois Champs-Élysées — Self (archive footage)
• 2022La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président — Self (archive footage)
• 2021François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story — Self (archive footage)
• 2019Claude Chabrol, the Maverick — Self - Actor (archive footage)
• 2018Dios de monoambiente — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Claude Sautet, Romy, Yves, Michel et les autres — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Marco Ferreri: Dangerous But Necessary — Self (archive footage)
• 2017The Incredible Mr. Piccoli — Self - Actor (archive footage)
• 2011Agnès Varda: From Here to There — Self
• Agnès Varda: From Here to There — Self
• 2011Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres — Self
• 2010Portrait Of My Father — Self
• 2009Once Upon a Time… Contempt — Self
• 20082 x 50 Years of French Cinema — Self
• 2008The Beaches of Agnès — Self (archive footage)
• 2006Otar Iosseliani, le merle siffleur — Self
• 2004Un divertissement et Michel Piccoli — Self
• 2002Brook by Brook — Self
• 2002Romy Schneider, étrange étrangère — Self
• 2000Speaking of Buñuel — Self
• 1998Les paradoxes de Buñuel — Self
• Vivement dimanche — Self
• 1995The World of Jacques Demy — Self
• 1993The Young Girls Turn 25 — Self (archive footage)
• Nulle part ailleurs — Self
• Champs-Elysées — Self
• 1982Scénario du film Passion — Self
• Wetten, dass..? — Self
• Chili Impressions — Self - Le lecteur des écrits d'A. Pinochet (voice)
• Ciné regards — Self
• Apostrophes — Self
• Les Rendez-vous du dimanche — Self
• Midi Première — Self
• Spécial cinéma — Self
• Midi trente — Self
• Samedi soir — Self
• V.I.P. Schaukel — Self
• Treffpunkte — Self
• 1967Romy: Anatomy of a Face — Self
• 1964Bardot et Godard — Self
• German Film Award — Self