# Philippe Léotard

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, one of seven children - four girls, then three boys, of which he was the oldest - and was the brother of politician François 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 stage ensemble, Théâtre du Soleil.
He played Philippe, the tormented son of a woman with terminal illness in the 1974 drama film 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 in Paris on 25 August 2001, three days before his 61st birthday. He was buried at the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1957 | Paths of Glory | A Poilu | Stanley Kubrick | Uncredited |
| 1970 | Bed and Board | the drunkard | François Truffaut | Uncredited |
| 1971 | Max et les Ferrailleurs | Losfeld | Claude Sautet | |
| 1971 | Two English Girls | Diurka | François Truffaut | |
| 1971 | Le mot frère et le mot camarade | | | |
| 1972 | Rak | Lucien | Charles Belmont | |
| 1972 | To Be Twenty in the Aures | Lt. Perrin | René Vautier | |
| 1972 | Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me | Clovis Bliss | François Truffaut | |
| 1972 | Le franc-tireur | Michel Perrat | Jean-Max Causse | |
| 1973 | Kamouraska | Antoine Tassy | Claude Jutra | |
| 1973 | The Day of the Jackal | Gendarme | Fred Zinnemann | |
| 1974 | Juliette and Juliette | Le dragueur de Juliette Vidal | Rémo Forlani | |
| 1974 | The Mouth Agape | Philippe | Maurice Pialat | |
| 1974 | The Middle of the World | Paul | Alain Tanner | |
| 1975 | Pas si méchant que ça | Julien | Claude Goretta | |
| 1975 | The Track | Paul Danville | Serge Leroy | |
| 1975 | French Connection II | Jacques | John Frankenheimer | |
| 1975 | La guerre du pétrole n'aura pas lieu | Padovani | Souheil Ben-Barka | |
| 1975 | Le Chat et la souris | Pierre Chemin | Claude Lelouch | |
| 1976 | The Good and the Bad | Le vendeur de Citroën | Claude Lelouch | |
| 1976 | Les conquistadores | | Marco Pauly | |
| 1977 | Le Juge Fayard dit Le Shériff | Inspecteur Marec | Yves Boisset | |
| 1977 | Solemn Communion | Jacques Gravet | René Féret | |
| 1977 | Shadow of the Castles | Luigi | Daniel Duval | |
| 1977 | La comédie du train des pignes | | François de Chavanes | |
| 1978 | Va voir maman, papa travaille [fr] | Vincent | François Leterrier | |
| 1978 | Judith Therpauve | Jean-Pierre Maurier | Patrice Chéreau | |
| 1979 | La Mémoire courte | Frank Barila | Eduardo de Gregorio | |
| 1980 | L'Empreinte des géants | Lucien Chabaud | Robert Enrico | |
| 1980 | A Week's Vacation | Doctor Sabouret | Bertrand Tavernier | |
| 1980 | La Petite Sirène | Georges Maréchal | Roger Andrieux | |
| 1981 | Les Babas Cool | Blaise | François Leterrier | |
| 1982 | Le Choc | Félix | Robin Davis | |
| 1982 | Paradis pour tous | Marc Lebel | Alain Jessua | |
| 1982 | La Balance | Dede Laffont | Bob Swaim | |
| 1982 | Mora | Mora | Léon Desclozeaux | |
| 1983 | Winter 1960 | André | Thierry Michel | |
| 1983 | So Long, Stooge | Bauer | Claude Berri | |
| 1984 | Femmes de personne | Antoine | Christopher Frank | |
| 1984 | Les Fauves [fr] | Léandro Santini | Jean-Louis Daniel | |
| 1984 | The Pirate | Number 5 | Jacques Doillon | |
| 1984 | Une rébellion à Romans | Jean Serve, dit 'Paulmier' | Philippe Venault | |
| 1985 | Tangos, l'exil de Gardel | Pierre | Fernando E. Solanas | |
| 1985 | Rouge-gorge | Louis Ducasse | Pierre Zucca | |
| 1985 | Farewell Blaireau | Fred | Bob Decout | |
| 1985 | Tangos, the Exile of Gardel | Pierre | Fernando E. Solanas | |
| 1986 | Dawn | Gad | Miklós Jancsó | |
| 1986 | Exit-exil | Duke | Luc Monheim | |
| 1986 | Le Paltoquet [fr] | The Honourable Tradesman | Michel Deville | |
| 1986 | State of Grace | Pierre-Julien | Jacques Rouffio | |
| 1986 | Ça n'arrive jamais | | | |
| 1987 | Si le soleil ne revenait pas | Anzerul | Claude Goretta | |
| 1988 | Le testament d'un poète juif assassiné | Bernard Hauptmann | Frank Cassenti | |
| 1988 | Jane B. par Agnès V. | Le peintre / Murderer | Agnès Varda | |
| 1988 | South | Roberto | Fernando Ezequiel Solanas | |
| 1988 | The Abyss | Henri-Maximilien | André Delvaux | |
| 1988 | Snack Bar Budapest | Sapo | Tinto Brass | |
| 1988 | Ada dans la jungle | Rudi | Gérard Zingg | |
| 1988 | La Couleur du vent | Pierre | Pierre Granier-Deferre | |
| 1990 | Le grand ruban (Truck) | Jeff | Philippe Roussel | |
| 1990 | Il y a des jours... et des lunes | Le chanteur abandonné / The abandoned singer | Claude Lelouch | |
| 1990 | Le dénommé (Oublie que tu es un homme) | Auclair | Jean-Claude Dague | |
| 1990 | In the Eye of the Snake | Phil Anzer - Marc's Father | Max Reid | |
| 1990 | Death of a Schoolboy [de] | Dr. Levin | Peter Patzak | |
| 1991 | The Flesh | Nicola | Marco Ferreri | |
| 1992 | Ville à vendre | Jean Boulard - un kinésithérapeute | Jean-Pierre Mocky | |
| 1994 | Élisa | Jeff | Jean Becker | cameo appearance |
| 1995 | Pandora | Raúl | António da Cunha Telles | |
| 1995 | Élisa | Gitane Smoker | Jean Becker | |
| 1995 | Les Misérables | Thénardier | Claude Lelouch | |
| 1995 | Philippe Léotard chante et parle | Himself | Nils Tavernier | |
| 1997 | Black Dju | Inspecteur Plettschette | Pol Cruchten | |
| 1997 | Gueules d'amour | Philippe Dajoux | | |

## Discography

* 1990: À l'amour comme à la guerre
* 1994: Philippe Léotard chante Léo Ferré (tribute album)
* 1996: Je rêve que je dors
* 2000: Demi-mots amers