Pierre André Clémenti (28 September 1942 – 27 December 1999) was a French actor.

Life and career

Born in Paris to an unknown father and Rose Clémenti, a Corsican concierge whose surname he took, Clémenti had a difficult childhood and took refuge in literature and the theatre. He studied drama and began his acting career in the theatre. He secured his first minor screen roles in

Yves Allégret Yves Allégret (13 October 1905 – 31 January 1987) was a French film director, often working in the film noir genre. He was born in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine and died in Paris. He was an assistant to film directors such as his brothe ...

's '' Jack of Spades'' ("Chien de pique", 1960), performing alongside

Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine (born Israel Constantine; October 29, 1913 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of secret agent L ...

. Possibly his best remembered role was as the gangster lover/client of the bourgeois prostitute (

Catherine Deneuve Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress. She is considered one of the greatest European actresses on film. In 2020, ''The New York Times'' ranked her as one of th ...

) in '' Belle de Jour'' (1967) directed by

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

, in whose other film '' The Milky Way'' (1969) he played the Devil. He worked with several other European directors, including in highly regarded films of the era, such as ''

The Leopard ''The Leopard'' ( ) is a novel by Italian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, which chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the ''Risorgimento''. Published posthumously in 1958 by Feltrinelli, after two rejections by the ...

'' (

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...

, 1963), ''

Pigsty A sty or pigsty is a small-scale outdoor enclosure for raising domestic pigs as livestock. It is sometimes referred to as a hog pen, hog parlor, pigpen, pig parlor, or pig-cote, although pig pen may refer to pens confining pigs that are kep ...

'' (

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

, 1969) and '' The Conformist'' (

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci ( ; ; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved inte ...

, 1970, and Bertolucci's '' Partner'', 1968). Other directors he worked with include

Liliana Cavani Liliana Cavani (born 12 January 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature film ''Il portiere di notte'' ('' The Night Porter''). Her films have historical concerns ...

Glauber Rocha Glauber de Andrade Rocha (; 14 March 1939 – 22 August 1981) was a Brazilian film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most influential moviemakers of Brazilian cinema and a key figure of Cinema Novo. His films '' Black God, Whi ...

Miklós Jancsó Miklós Jancsó (; 27 September 192131 January 2014) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian film director and screenwriter. Jancsó achieved international prominence starting in the mid-1960s with works including ''Szegénylegények, The Round-Up'' ...

Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'Amour fo ...

, and Philippe Garrel. In 1972, Clémenti's career was derailed after he was sentenced to prison for allegedly possessing or using drugs. Due to insufficient evidence, he was released after 17 months; later he wrote a book about his time in prison. After his release he played the ever-optimistic sailor of the Potemkin in

Dusan Makavejev Dusan may refer to: * Dušan, a Slavic given name * Dusan, a son of Ra's al Ghul * Stefan Dušan Stephen (honorific), Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан), also known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr-Cyrl, Душан ...

's '' Sweet Movie'' (1974) and the role of Pablo, the seductive saxophone player, in

Fred Haines Fred Haines (February 27, 1936 – May 4, 2008) was an American screenwriter and film director. Early life Haines was born in Los Angeles in 1936, and later moved to Tucson, Arizona with his family. He joined the United States Navy, U.S. Nav ...

's '' Steppenwolf'' (also 1974) adapted from the novel by

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

. Throughout his career he continued to be active in the theatre. Clémenti was also involved with the French

underground film An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre or financing. Notable examples include John Waters' ''Pink Flamingos'', David Lynch's ''Eraserhead'', Andy Warhol's ''Blue Movie'', Rosa von Praunheim's ''Tal ...

movement, directing several of his own films which often featured fellow underground filmmakers and actors. ''Visa de censure no X'' was an experimental work composed of two films. '' New Old'' was a feature-length work starring Viva released in 1978. He went on to direct ''La Révolution ce n'est qu'un début, continuons le combat'', ''In the Shadow of the Blue Rascal'' and ''Sun''. He married actress Margareth Clémenti (née Le-Van, 1948), mother of his son Balthazar, born in July 1965. Later he was married to Nadine, mother of his second child, Valentin Clémenti-Arnoult. He died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

in 1999.

Selected filmography

Bibliography

*1973 ''Carcere italiano''.

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

: Il Formichiere. *2005 ''Quelques messages personnels''.

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

: Gallimard. *2007 ''Pensieri dal carcere''.

Fagnano Alto Fagnano Alto is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Transport Fagnano has a station on the Terni–Sulmona railway, with trains to L'Aquila and Sulmona Sulmona (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in ...

: il Sirente.

References

External links

*
DVD Pierre Clémenti film-maker

Pierre Clémenti, cinéaste, by Doris Peternel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clementi, Pierre 1942 births 1999 deaths Male actors from Paris Deaths from liver cancer in France French male stage actors French male film actors French male television actors French people of Italian descent 20th-century French male actors French people of Corsican descent