Robert Hossein
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 30, 1927
- Died
- December 31, 2020 (aged 93)
- Birthplace
- Paris, France
Biography
Robert Hossein was a French film actor of Parsi origin, director and writer. He directed the 1982 adaption of Les Misérables, and appeared in Vice and Virtue, Le Casse, Les Uns et les Autres and Venus Beauty Institute. His most recent roles include starring as Michèle Mercier's husband in the Angélique series and as a Catholic priest who falls in love with Claude Jade and becomes a communist in Prêtres interdits (Forbidden Priests) in 1973. Hossein started directing films in 1956 with Les salauds vont en enfer from a story by Frédéric Dard whose novels and plays went on to furnish Hossein with much of his later film material. Right from the start Hossein established his characteristic trademarks: using a seemingly straightforward suspense plot and subverting its conventions (sometimes to the extent of a complete disregard of the traditional demand for a final twist or revelation) in order to concentrate on ritualistic relationships. This is the director's running preoccupation which is always stressed in his films by an extraordinary command of film space and often striking frame compositions where the geometry of human figures and set design is used to accentuate the psychological set-up of the scene. The mechanisms of guilt and the way it destroys relationships is another recurring theme, presumably influenced by Hossein's lifelong interest in the works of Dostoyevski. Although Hossein had some modest international successes with films like Toi, le venin and Le vampire de Dusseldorf, he was much singled out for scorching criticism by the critics and followers of the New Wave for the unashamedly melodramatic frameworks of his films. The fact that he was essentially an auteur director with a consistent set of themes and an extraordinary mastery of original and unusual approaches to staging his stories, was never appreciated. He was not averse to trying his hand at widely different genres and was never defeated, making the strikingly different spaghetti western Une corde, un Colt and the low-budgeted but daringly subversive period drama J'ai tué Raspoutine. However, because of the lack of wider success and continuing adverse criticism, Hossein virtually ended his film directing career in 1970, having concentrated on theatre where his achievements were never questioned, and subsequently returning to film directing only twice. With two or three exceptions, his films remain commercially unavailable and very difficult to see. He is the son of André Hossein a Zoroastrian French composer of Azerbaijani-Tajik descent, and a Jewish comedy actress from Kiev. He was married three times: first to Marina Vlady (he has two sons with her, Pierre and Igor), later to Caroline Eliacheff (with whom he has a son, Nicholas). He is currently married to actress Candice Patou, with whom he has one son, Julien. According to an article written by Emannuel Peze, Hossein experienced a conversion to Catholicism in 1971 during a visit to the Marian apparition at San Damiano in Lombardo Italy. Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Hossein, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Picking Strawberries
Movie
Love Is Better Than Life
Movie · as Robert Prat
Raymond Devos dans tous ses sens
Movie · as Self
Belmondo: The Incorrigible
Movie
Hossein, Ronet, Trintignant : Confidences de trois acteurs inoubliables
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Noni : Le Fruit de l'espoir
Movie · as Le grand-père d'Angeli
Aznavour by Charles
Movie · as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Belmondo by Belmondo
Movie · as Self
Marie-France Pisier, une femme sous influence
Movie · as Self
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
Movie · as Self
Belmondo, itinéraire...
Movie · as Self
Une femme nommée Marie
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
A Man and His Dog
Movie · as Un homme a la soupe populaire
Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju
Movie · as Self
Du rififi chez les hommes - Jules Dassin, l'élégance du noir
Movie · as Himself
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
TV · as Simon
Annie Girardot, ainsi va la vie
Movie · as Self
Trivial
Movie · as Antoine Bérangère
Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern
Movie · as Self
Petits Meurtres en famille
TV · as Simon · 4 eps
Le Juge
TV · as Roger Marino · 2 eps
San Antonio
Movie · as Le ministre de l'intérieur / The Minister
Antigone
Movie · as Créon
Venus Beauty Institute
Movie · as L'aviateur
Scandalous Crimes
Movie · as Judge Bocchi
Vivement dimanche
TV · as Self · 10 eps
The Wax Mask
Movie · as Boris Volkoff
Les Miserables
Movie · as Le maître de cérémonie
Paradjanov, le dernier collage
Movie · as Self
L'Affaire
Movie · as Paul Haslans
Stranger in the House
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Le Gorille
TV · as Joseph Beaucis · 13 eps
Stars 90
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Children of Chaos
Movie · as Robert
La croisade des enfants
Movie · as Philippe-Auguste
Levy & Goliath
Movie · as Goliath customer (uncredited)
Nulle part ailleurs
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Téléthon
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Sacrée soirée
TV · as Self · 3 eps
A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later
Movie · as Robert Hossein
Le Caviar rouge
Movie · as Alex
Surprise Party
Movie · as André Auerbach
The Big Pardon
Movie · as Manuel Carreras
Champs-Elysées
TV · as Self · 3 eps
The Professional
Movie · as Commissaire Rosen
Bolero
Movie · as Simon Meyer / Robert Prat
Démons de midi
Movie · as Metteur en scène de théâtre
Henry James Stories
TV · as Peter Quint · 1 ep
The Phoney
Movie · as Kaminsky
Apostrophes
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Protector
Movie · as Arnaud
Le Tour d'Écrou
Movie · as Peter Quint
Spécial cinéma
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Prêtres interdits
Movie · as Jean Rastaud
Don Juan or If Don Juan Were a Woman
Movie · as Louis Prévost
A Police Officer Without Importance
Movie · as Pierre Fresse
A Murder Is a Murder
Movie · as Jean Carouse
Hellé
Movie · as Kleber
Le Grand Échiquier
TV · as Self, Self - Main Guest · 6 eps
Midi trente
TV · as Self · 3 eps
The Burglars
Movie · as Ralph
Judge Roy Bean
Movie · as Black Bird
The Lion's Share
Movie · as Maurice Ménard
Samedi soir
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Versatile Lovers
Movie · as Serge Belaïeff
Time of the Wolves
Movie · as Dillinger
Falling Point
Movie · as Le Caïd
Cemetery without Crosses
Movie · as Manuel
The Battle of El Alamein
Movie · as Erwin Rommel
The Conspirators
Movie · as Leonida Montanari
Desert Assault
Movie · as Capitaine Curd Heinz (Rudi en Français)
The Scarlet Lady
Movie · as Julien
Misdeal
Movie · as Martin von Klaus
Life Love Death
Movie · as Man in the movie
Crime Thief
Movie · as Tian
Angelique and the Sultan
Movie · as Joffrey de Peyrac "Le Rescator"
A Little Virtuous
Movie · as Louis Brady
Tender Moment
Movie · as Enrico Fontana
OSS 117 Murder for Sale
Movie · as Dr. Saadi
Once Upon a Time in the West
Movie · as Member of Frank's Gang in Flashback (uncredited)
Untamable Angelique
Movie · as Joffrey de Peyrac, 'Le Rescator'
La Musica
Movie · as Him
I Killed Rasputin
Movie · as Serge Sukhotin
Lamiel
Movie · as Roger Valber
The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia
Movie · as Maître Bianchini
Angelique and the King
Movie · as Jeoffrey de Peyrac
Long March
Movie · as Carnot
Mademoiselle de Maupin
Movie · as Captain Alcibiade
The Other Truth
Movie · as Pierre Montaud, the Advocate
Brigade Anti Gangs
Movie · as Chief Commissioner Le Goff
The Vampire of Dusseldorf
Movie · as Peter Kuerten
God's Thunder
Movie · as Marcel
Marco the Magnificent
Movie · as Prince Nayam
The Dirty Game
Movie · as Dupont
Le commissaire mène l’enquête
Movie · as The lover (segment "Pour qui sonne le ...")
Angelique
Movie · as Jeoffrey de Peyrac
Death of a Killer
Movie · as Pierre Massa
Marked Eyes
Movie · as Franz
Why Paris?
Movie
Shadow of Evil
Movie · as Dr. Sinn
Highway Pick-Up
Movie · as Daniel Boisset
Enough Rope
Movie · as Inspektor Corby
Vice and Virtue
Movie · as SS Oberst Erik Schörndorf
Of Flesh and Blood
Movie · as Samuel
Love on a Pillow
Movie · as Renaud Sarti
Paris Pick-Up
Movie · as Robert Herbin
Hitch-Hike
Movie · as Edouard, le fou
The Game of Truth
Movie · as L'inspecteur de police
The Taste of Violence
Movie · as Perez
Madame
Movie · as Le sergent François-Joseph Lefebvre
The Menace
Movie · as Savary
The Wretches
Movie · as Jess Rooland
Take Me As I Am
Movie · as Ed Dawson
Blonde in a White Car
Movie · as Pierre Menda
Riff Raff Girls
Movie · as Marcel Point-Bleu
The Verdict
Movie · as Georges Lagrange
The Road to Shame
Movie · as Pierre Rossi
Double Agents
Movie · as Lui
Stars Meet in Moscow
Movie · as Self
Provisional Liberty
Movie · as Jean-Paul Viberty / Jean Rungis
Young Girls Beware
Movie · as Raven
No Sun in Venice
Movie · as Sforzi
Crime and Punishment
Movie · as René Brunel
Forgive Our Trespasses
Movie · as (uncredited)
Cinépanorama
TV · as Self · 4 eps
Rififi
Movie · as Rémi Grutter
The Wicked Go to Hell
Movie · as Fred
Série noire
Movie · as Jo
Quai des blondes
Movie · as Chemise Rose
Reflets de Cannes
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Maya
Movie · as Un témoin du meurtre qui n'a rien vu (uncredited)
Sextette
Movie
The Devil Who Limped
Movie · as Guest in white (uncredited)
In the Eyes of Memory
Movie · as A student from the Simon course