Jean-Louis Trintignant

Born: 11 December 1930
Where: Piolenc, France

With over one hundred movie credits, Jean-Louis is a grand monsieur of French cinema.

His busy career has seen such highlights as a hilariously deadpan turn in Alain Robbe Grillet's delirious Trans-Europ-Express (1967); a convincing portrayal of a romantically torn clerk in Eric Rohmer's My Night at Maud's (1969); and a terrifying portrait of an individual seduced by fascism in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist (1971).

He put a hold on his acting career in 1956 after the press stalked him because of rumours he was having an affair with Brigitte Bardot, his co-star in And God Created Woman.

He fled to the army to escape and it wasn't until 10 years later that he had his first big screen success.

In 1966 he made his biggest impression on American audiences, playing a racing-car driver intimately involved with Anouk Aimée, in the art-house classic A Man And A Woman.

In more recent years his most notable performance was his role as the bitter and reclusive judge in Three Colours: Red (1994).