Francis Huster
Francis Huster (born 8 December 1947) is a French stage, film and television actor, director and scriptwriter. Biography. Francis Huster was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. His father is Charles Huster, commercial director at Lancia, and his Polish Jewish mother is Suzette Cwajbaum—who, during the Nazi era succeeded in persuading the Gestapo commandant in Paris to release her father, who had been arrested. However, her father refused to leave Paris, and was shot dead by the SS in Auschwitz as Soviet troops approached at the end of the war. He has two siblings; his older brother Jean -Pierre is a noted writer, and his younger sister, Muriel, is an actress, photographer and songwriter. He studied acting at the "Conservatoire" of the 17th arrondissement of Paris, at the Cours Florent and at the Conservatoire national (1968), where he had René Simon and later Antoine Vitez as teachers. In the Cours Florent, later, he was teacher. Among his students, there was actor & photographer Gregory Herpe, director of the Comédie Française Eric Ruf, actors Jeanne Balibar, Elsa Zylberstein, Sandrine Kiberlain. Awards. Francis Huster became Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur in 1991, and was awarded the rank of "Officier" by Jacques  Chirac in 2006. M Chirac commented: "C'est un comédien absolument exceptionnel qui se donne sans réserve à son art" ("He is an absolutely exceptional actor who dedicates himself totally to his art").