# Pierre Richard-Willm

Pierre Richard-Willm (3 November 1895 – 12 April 1983) was a French stage and film actor during the 1930s and 1940s.

## Biography

Pierre Richard-Willm (originally Alexandre-Pierre Richard) was born in south-western France in the city of Bayonne. He was brought up at first in Barcelona and then, after the death of his mother Elisabeth-Fanny Willm, in Paris. In 1916 he joined the army, and fought during World War I.
After the war he became a sculptor, and in 1921 he started playing bit roles on stage. In 1924 he took part of in the sculpturing art competition of the Games of the VIII Olympiad, making a group of sculptures on rugby and skating.
In 1925 he was chosen by Ida Rubinstein to appear with her in a stage production of La Dame aux camélias at the Odéon in Paris, and other leading roles at that theatre followed. His film debut came in Toute sa vie (1930, under the direction of Alberto Cavalcanti, and in 1934 he found one of his most successful film roles in Jacques Feyder's Le Grand Jeu. Throughout the 1930s he made several films each year, often appearing as military or aristocratic characters, and he became a very popular star despite feeling sometimes ill at ease with his romantic screen persona.
One of Richard-Willm's frequent co-stars was Edwige Feuillère, and it was with her that he returned to the stage in Paris and on tour in La Dame aux Camélias in 1940/41. He also continued acting in films during World War II, including the role of Edmond Dantes in Le Comte de Monte-Cristo.
In 1946 he decided to give up working in the cinema and he went to the Théâtre du Peuple in Bussang in the Vosges, a theatre with which he had maintained a close connection ever since his first visit there as a teenager in 1911. He became its artistic director from 1946 until 1971 and in numerous new productions he worked extensively on the design of sets and costumes.
In 1975 Richard-Willm published his autobiography under the title Loin des étoiles. He died in Paris, and is buried at the cemetery in Bussang.

## Filmography

| Year | Original title | English title | Director | Role |
| 1930 | Toute sa vie | | Alberto Cavalcanti | Stanley Vanning |
| 1931 | Les Vacances du diable | The Devil's Holiday | Alberto Cavalcanti | Dr. Reynolds |
| 1931 | Un soir, au front | | Alexandre Ryder | Lieutenant Siredon |
| 1931 | Autour d'une enquête | About an Inquest | Robert Siodmak & Henri Chomette | Paul Bernt |
| 1932 | Le Petit Écart | | Reinhold Schünzel & Henri Chomette | Bernard Heller, lawyer |
| 1932 | Kiki | | Pierre Billon & Karel Lamač | Raymond Leroy |
| 1932 | Baby | | Pierre Billon & Karel Lamač | Lord Cecil |
| 1932 | Les Amours de Pergolèse | | Guido Brignone | Pergolèse |
| 1932 | Sous le casque de cuir | Under the Leather Helmet | Albert de Courville | Captain Sourvian |
| 1933 | Pour être aimé | To Be Loved | Jacques Tourneur | Gérard d'Ormoise |
| 1933 | La Fille du régiment | | Pierre Billon & Karel Lamač | Lord Robert |
| 1933 | L'Épervier | The Sparrowhawk | Marcel L'Herbier | René de Tierrache |
| 1934 | Le Prince Jean | Prince Jean | Jean de Marguenat | Prince Jean d'Axel |
| 1934 | La Maison dans la dune | The House on the Dune | Pierre Billon | Sylvain |
| 1934 | Le Grand Jeu | | Jacques Feyder | Pierre Martel |
| 1934 | Fanatisme | | Gaston Ravel & Tony Lekain | Marcel Besnard |
| 1934 | Les Nuits moscovites | Moscow Nights | Alexis Granowsky | Captain Ignatoff |
| 1935 | Stradivarius | | Géza von Bolváry & Albert Valentin | Sándor Teleky |
| 1935 | Barcarolle | | Gerhard Lamprecht & Roger Le Bon | Bianco Colloredo |
| 1935 | La Route impériale | | Marcel L'Herbier | Lieut. Brent |
| 1936 | Anne-Marie | | Raymond Bernard | L'inventeur |
| 1936 | L'Argent | | Pierre Billon | Saccard |
| 1937 | Courrier sud | Southern Mail | Pierre Billon | Jacques Bernis |
| 1937 | Un carnet de bal | Life Dances On | Julien Duvivier | Eric Irvin |
| 1937 | La Dame de Malacca | Woman of Malacca | Marc Allégret | Prince Selim |
| 1937 | Yoshiwara | | Max Ophüls | Lieutenant Serge Polenoff |
| 1937 | Au service du tsar | In the Service of the Tsar | Pierre Billon | Count Tomsky |
| 1938 | Le Roman de Werther | The Novel of Werther | Max Ophüls | Werther |
| 1938 | La Tragédie impériale | Rasputin | Marcel L'Herbier | Count Igor Kourloff |
| 1938 | La principessa Tarakanova / Tarakanowa | Princess Tarakanova | Fedor Ozep | Count Orloff |
| 1939 | La Loi du nord | Law of the North | Jacques Feyder | Robert Shaw |
| 1939 | Entente cordiale | Entente cordiale | Marcel L'Herbier | Captain Charles Roussel |
| 1941 | Les Jours heureux | Happy Days | Jean de Marguenat | Michel |
| 1942 | La Duchesse de Langeais | | Jacques de Baroncelli | Armand de Montriveau |
| 1942 | La Croisée des chemins | The Crossroads | André Berthomieu | Pascal Rouvray |
| 1943 | Le Comte de Monte-Cristo | The Count of Monte Cristo | Robert Vernay | Edmond Dantès |
| 1945 | La Fiancée des ténèbres | | Serge de Poligny | Roland Samblaca |
| 1947 | Rêves d'amour | Dreams of Love | Christian Stengel | Franz Liszt |
| 1947 | Le Beau Voyage | The Beautiful Trip | Louis Cuny | Richard |