// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Pierre Clémenti say to the baker? "Knead" to act.
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Pierre Clémenti | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Pierre André Clémenti 28 September 1942 |
| Died | 27 December 1999 (aged 57) Paris, France |
| Occupations | Actor, filmmaker, writer |
| Children | 2 |
Pierre André Clémenti (28 September 1942 – 27 December 1999) was a French actor, filmmaker, and writer.[1][2] He was known for his work with several prominent European auteurs during the 1960s and '70s, including Luis Buñuel, Jacques Rivette, Luchino Visconti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dušan Makavejev. He was regarded as something of a countercultural figure in his time, and one retrospective described him as the "ideal embodiment of all the adventures of cinematic modernity."[3]
Early life
[edit]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 at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier and ENSATT.
Career
[edit]After beginning his acting career in theatre, Clémenti secured his first minor screen roles in Yves Allégret's Jack of Spades ("Chien de pique", 1960), performing alongside Eddie Constantine. Possibly his best remembered role was as the gangster lover/client of the bourgeois prostitute (Catherine Deneuve) in Belle de Jour (1967) directed by Luis Buñuel, 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 (Luchino Visconti, 1963), Pigsty (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1969) and The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970, and Bertolucci's Partner, 1968). Other directors he worked with include Liliana Cavani, Glauber Rocha, Miklós Jancsó, Jacques Rivette, and Philippe Garrel.
After a stint in prison, he played the ever-optimistic sailor of the Potemkin in Dusan Makavejev's Sweet Movie (1974) and the role of Pablo, the seductive saxophone player, in Fred Haines's Steppenwolf (also 1974) adapted from the novel by Hermann Hesse. Throughout his career he continued to be active in the theatre, notably in the company of Marc'O.[4]
Clémenti was also involved with the French underground film 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.
Personal life
[edit]Clémenti 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.
Legal issues
[edit]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 the book A Few Personal Messages about his time in prison, where he maintains that he was innocent of the charges. The book was published in French in 1973; in 2022, the book was translated into English by Claire Foster and re-released.[5]
Death
[edit]Clémenti died of liver cancer in Paris on 27 December 1999.
Legacy
[edit]Clementi had a retrospective at the Cinémathèque française in March 1998,[3] and at the 2019 Festival Toute la mémoire du monde.[6]
Selected filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role(s) | Director(s) | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Jack of Spades | Paco | Yves Allégret | |
| 1963 | The Leopard | Francesco Paolo | Luchino Visconti | |
| 1967 | Belle de Jour | Marcel | Luis Buñuel | |
| 1968 | Benjamin | Benjamin | Michel Deville | |
| 1969 | Pigsty | Young cannibal | Pier Paolo Pasolini | |
| 1969 | The Year of the Cannibals | Tiresia | Liliana Cavani | |
| 1970 | The Conformist | Lino | Bernardo Bertolucci | |
| 1971 | The Designated Victim | Count Matteo Tiepolo | Maurizio Lucidi | |
| 1972 | The Inner Scar | Horseman/Archer | Philippe Garrel | |
| 1974 | The Irony of Chance | Antoine Desvrières | Édouard Molinaro | |
| 1981 | Le Pont du Nord | Julien | Jacques Rivette | |
| 1987 | Un bambino di nome Gesù | Sefir | Franco Rossi | |
| 1989 | Hard to Be a God | King | Peter Fleischmann |
Bibliography
[edit]- 1973 Carcere italiano. Milan: Il Formichiere.
- 2005 Quelques messages personnels. Paris: Gallimard. ISBN 978-2-07-030748-7
- 2007 Pensieri dal carcere. Fagnano Alto: il Sirente. ISBN 978-88-87847-12-3
References
[edit]- ↑ Pierre Clémenti at the British Film Institute[better source needed]
- ↑ "Pierre Clémenti - Bio". Première (in French).
- 1 2 "Pierre Clémenti - L'ange noir | Les Inrocks". www.lesinrocks.com (in French). Archived from the original on 2025-02-16. Retrieved 2026-09-10.
- ↑ "Pierre Clémenti, peindre « tout à la fois » : Photo-portrait - La Cinémathèque française". www.cinematheque.fr (in French). Retrieved 2026-09-10.
- ↑ "Pierre Clémenti, Rebel With a Cause". Hyperallergic. 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2026-06-04.
- ↑ "Ciné: Pierre Clémenti, psyché délices". Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-12-26. Retrieved 2026-09-10.
