Gérard Jugnot

Over the course of his decades-long career, French actor Gerard Jugnot has acted in over 100 films, including the 2004 surprise hit "The Chorus," and directed over a dozen of his own comedic scripts. After taking several acting classes in the early '70s, Jugnot, with help from his childhood friends Michel Blanc and Christian Clavier, helped found the influential comedy theater troupe Le Splendid. After making his film debut in the episodic labor comedy "The Year 01," Jugnot reunited with his Le Splendid co-stars in the 1978 adaptation of their hit stage production "Les Bronzes," which follows the romantic adventures of a group of friends at a posh Club Med resort. The film proved so successful that it spawned two sequels, "Les Bronzes font du ski" and "Le Pere Noel est une ordure." He earned his first Cesar nomination for his role in the bitter comedy "Tandem" as Rivetot, a loyal assistant who dreads being the bearer of bads news, and later scored a critical and commercial success with the social drama "Une epoque formidable," which he wrote, directed and starred in. After appearing in the World War II drama "Marthe," Jugnot was cast in the Oscar-nominated "The Chorus" as Clement Mathieu, a kindly boarding school teacher who organizes his unruly pupils into a choir. He has since directed and starred in the well-received drama "Monsieur Batignole," about a Parisian grocer who saves the lives of several Jewish children during the Holocaust.