Jean-Louis Richard

For over four decades, anyone going to the movies in France would have found it hard to avoid Jean-Louis Richard. Starting from his first film appearance in 1960, he was a regular and constant presence in that country's films--acting in, writing, and occasionally directing some of its most famous cinematic offerings. He started out very well, taking bit parts in Jean-Luc Godard's classic existential crime drama "Breathless" ('59) and François Truffaut's World War I-era romantic triangle saga, "Jules et Jim" ('62), which featured Richard's first wife, Jeanne Moreau, in a starring role. Following these appearances, the bit-part actor planted himself behind a typewriter to write scripts. He made an auspicious opportunity in this area when Truffaut enlisted him to adapt the Ray Bradbury science-fiction dystopia, "Farenheit 451," in '66. The collaboration apparently went smoothly, because Richard also helped write the director's subsequent effort, "The Bride Wore Black" ('68), and, later did the script for the '73 movie-business drama "Day for Night." Never staying completely in the same job role for too many films in a row, Richard continued to write, act, and even direct throughout his career. His eclectic oeuvre includes the popular soft-core film "Emmanuelle" ('74), which he wrote, and the tense thriller "The Click," which he directed.