Philippe Léotard (his full name was Ange Philippe Paul André Léotard-Tomasi; 28 August 1940 – 25 August 2001) was a French actor, poet and singer.

Biography

He was born in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionFrançois Léotard. His childhood was normal except for an illness ( rheumatic fever) which struck him and forced him to spend days in bed during which time he read a great many books. He was particularly fond of the poets - Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Lautréamont, Blaise Cendrars. He met Ariane Mnouchkine at the Sorbonne and in 1964. Together with students of the '' L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq'', they formed the Parisian

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

stage ensemble, Théâtre du Soleil. He played Philippe, the tormented son of a woman with terminal illness in the 1974

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

'' La Gueule ouverte'' by the controversial director Maurice Pialat. He won a César Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1982 movie '' La Balance''. One of his few English-language roles was a cameo in the 1973 thriller '' The Day of the Jackal'' and he co-starred as "Jacques" in the 1975 John Frankenheimer movie '' French Connection II'' which starred Gene Hackman and Fernando Rey, (sequel to '' The French Connection''). Léotard died of

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a r ...

in Paris on 25 August 2001, three days before his 61st birthday. He was buried at the

Montparnasse Cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...

in Paris.

Filmography

Discography

* 1990: ''À l'amour comme à la guerre'' * 1994: ''Philippe Léotard chante

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released ...

'' (tribute album) * 1996: ''Je rêve que je dors'' * 2000: ''Demi-mots amers''

References

External links

BBC News obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leotard, Philippe 1940 births 2001 deaths Lycée Henri-IV alumni University of Paris alumni Male actors from Nice, France French people of Corsican descent Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery 20th-century French male actors French male film actors French male television actors French male stage actors Deaths from respiratory failure Best Actor César Award winners