Robert Hossein
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Dec 30, 1927
- Died
- Dec 31, 2020 (aged 93)
- Place of birth
- Paris, France
- Credits
- 134
Robert Hossein was a French film actor of Parsi origin, director and writer. He directed the 1982 adaption of Les Misérables, and appeared in Vice and Virtue, Le Casse, Les Uns et les Autres and Venus Beauty Institute. His most recent roles include starring as Michèle Mercier's husband in the Angélique series and as a Catholic priest who falls in love with Claude Jade and becomes a communist in Prêtres interdits (Forbidden Priests) in 1973.
Hossein started directing films in 1956 with Les salauds vont en enfer from a story by Frédéric Dard whose novels and plays went on to furnish Hossein with much of his later film material. Right from the start Hossein established his characteristic trademarks: using a seemingly straightforward suspense plot and subverting its conventions (sometimes to the extent of a complete disregard of the traditional demand for a final twist or revelation) in order to concentrate on ritualistic relationships. This is the director's running preoccupation which is always stressed in his films by an extraordinary command of film space and often striking frame compositions where the geometry of human figures and set design is used to accentuate the psychological set-up of the scene. The mechanisms of guilt and the way it destroys relationships is another recurring theme, presumably influenced by Hossein's lifelong interest in the works of Dostoyevski.
Although Hossein had some modest international successes with films like Toi, le venin and Le vampire de Dusseldorf, he was much singled out for scorching criticism by the critics and followers of the New Wave for the unashamedly melodramatic frameworks of his films. The fact that he was essentially an auteur director with a consistent set of themes and an extraordinary mastery of original and unusual approaches to staging his stories, was never appreciated. He was not averse to trying his hand at widely different genres and was never defeated, making the strikingly different spaghetti western Une corde, un Colt and the low-budgeted but daringly subversive period drama J'ai tué Raspoutine. However, because of the lack of wider success and continuing adverse criticism, Hossein virtually ended his film directing career in 1970, having concentrated on theatre where his achievements were never questioned, and subsequently returning to film directing only twice. With two or three exceptions, his films remain commercially unavailable and very difficult to see.
He is the son of André Hossein a Zoroastrian French composer of Azerbaijani-Tajik descent, and a Jewish comedy actress from Kiev. He was married three times: first to Marina Vlady (he has two sons with her, Pierre and Igor), later to Caroline Eliacheff (with whom he has a son, Nicholas). He is currently married to actress Candice Patou, with whom he has one son, Julien.
According to an article written by Emannuel Peze, Hossein experienced a conversion to Catholicism in 1971 during a visit to the Marian apparition at San Damiano in Lombardo Italy.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Hossein, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968Movie
Member of Frank's Gang in Flashback (uncredited)
Rififi
1955Movie
Rémi Grutter
The Professional
1981Movie
Commissaire Rosen
Angelique
1964Movie
Jeoffrey de Peyrac
Angelique and the King
1966Movie
Jeoffrey de Peyrac
Venus Beauty Institute
1999Movie
L'aviateur
Filmography
Picking Strawberries
2025Movie
Raymond Devos dans tous ses sens
2022Movie
Self
Belmondo: The Incorrigible
2022Movie
Love Is Better Than Life
2022Movie
Robert Prat
Hossein, Ronet, Trintignant : Confidences de trois acteurs inoubliables
2021Movie
Self (archive footage)
Noni : Le Fruit de l'espoir
2020Movie
Le grand-père d'Angeli
Aznavour by Charles
2019Movie
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Belmondo by Belmondo
2016Movie
Self
Marie-France Pisier, une femme sous influence
2014Movie
Self
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
2011Movie
Self
Une femme nommée Marie
2011Movie
Narrator (voice)
Belmondo, itinéraire...
2011Movie
Self
Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju
2009Movie
Self
A Man and His Dog
2009Movie
Un homme a la soupe populaire
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
2009TV
Simon
Du rififi chez les hommes - Jules Dassin, l'élégance du noir
2009Movie
Himself
Annie Girardot, ainsi va la vie
2008Movie
Self
Trivial
2007Movie
Antoine Bérangère
Petits Meurtres en famille
2006TV
Simon
Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern
2006Movie
Self
Le Juge
2005TV
Roger Marino
San Antonio
2004Movie
Le ministre de l'intérieur / The Minister
Antigone
2003Movie
Créon
Scandalous Crimes
1999Movie
Judge Bocchi
Venus Beauty Institute
1999Movie
L'aviateur
Vivement dimanche
1998TV
Self
The Wax Mask
1997Movie
Boris Volkoff
Les Miserables
1995Movie
Le maître de cérémonie
Paradjanov, le dernier collage
1995Movie
Self
L'Affaire
1994Movie
Paul Haslans
Stranger in the House
1992Movie
Narrator (voice)
Stars 90
1990TV
Self
Le Gorille
1990TV
Joseph Beaucis
Children of Chaos
1989Movie
Robert
La croisade des enfants
1988Movie
Philippe-Auguste
Téléthon
1987TV
Self
Sacrée soirée
1987TV
Self
Nulle part ailleurs
1987TV
Self
Levy & Goliath
1987Movie
Goliath customer (uncredited)
A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later
1986Movie
Robert Hossein
Le Caviar rouge
1986Movie
Alex
Surprise Party
1983Movie
André Auerbach
The Big Pardon
1982Movie
Manuel Carreras
Champs-Elysées
1982TV
Self
The Professional
1981Movie
Commissaire Rosen
Bolero
1981Movie
Simon Meyer / Robert Prat
Démons de midi
1979Movie
Metteur en scène de théâtre
Henry James Stories
1976TV
Peter Quint
The Phoney
1975Movie
Kaminsky
Apostrophes
1975TV
Self
Spécial cinéma
1974TV
Self
The Protector
1974Movie
Arnaud
Le Tour d'Écrou
1974Movie
Peter Quint
Prêtres interdits
1973Movie
Jean Rastaud
A Police Officer Without Importance
1973Movie
Pierre Fresse
Don Juan or If Don Juan Were a Woman
1973Movie
Louis Prévost
A Murder Is a Murder
1972Movie
Jean Carouse
Hellé
1972Movie
Kleber
Midi trente
1972TV
Self
Le Grand Échiquier
1972TV
Self, Self - Main Guest
The Burglars
1971Movie
Ralph
The Lion's Share
1971Movie
Maurice Ménard
Judge Roy Bean
1971Movie
Black Bird
Samedi soir
1971TV
Self
Falling Point
1970Movie
Le Caïd
Versatile Lovers
1970Movie
Serge Belaïeff
Time of the Wolves
1970Movie
Dillinger
The Conspirators
1969Movie
Leonida Montanari
Desert Assault
1969Movie
Capitaine Curd Heinz (Rudi en Français)
Crime Thief
1969Movie
Tian
The Scarlet Lady
1969Movie
Julien
Misdeal
1969Movie
Martin von Klaus
Life Love Death
1969Movie
Man in the movie
Cemetery without Crosses
1969Movie
Manuel
The Battle of El Alamein
1969Movie
Erwin Rommel
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968Movie
Member of Frank's Gang in Flashback (uncredited)
Tender Moment
1968Movie
Enrico Fontana
OSS 117 Murder for Sale
1968Movie
Dr. Saadi
Angelique and the Sultan
1968Movie
Joffrey de Peyrac "Le Rescator"
A Little Virtuous
1968Movie
Louis Brady
Untamable Angelique
1967Movie
Joffrey de Peyrac, 'Le Rescator'
Lamiel
1967Movie
Roger Valber
The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia
1967Movie
Maître Bianchini
I Killed Rasputin
1967Movie
Serge Sukhotin
La Musica
1967Movie
Him
Brigade Anti Gangs
1966Movie
Chief Commissioner Le Goff
Long March
1966Movie
Carnot
The Other Truth
1966Movie
Pierre Montaud, the Advocate
Angelique and the King
1966Movie
Jeoffrey de Peyrac
Mademoiselle de Maupin
1966Movie
Captain Alcibiade
God's Thunder
1965Movie
Marcel
Marco the Magnificent
1965Movie
Prince Nayam
Le commissaire mène l’enquête
1965Movie
The lover (segment "Pour qui sonne le ...")
The Dirty Game
1965Movie
Dupont
The Vampire of Dusseldorf
1965Movie
Peter Kuerten
Angelique
1964Movie
Jeoffrey de Peyrac
Marked Eyes
1964Movie
Franz
Why Paris?
1964Movie
Shadow of Evil
1964Movie
Dr. Sinn
Death of a Killer
1964Movie
Pierre Massa
Highway Pick-Up
1963Movie
Daniel Boisset
Of Flesh and Blood
1963Movie
Samuel
Vice and Virtue
1963Movie
SS Oberst Erik Schörndorf
Enough Rope
1963Movie
Inspektor Corby
Love on a Pillow
1962Movie
Renaud Sarti
Paris Pick-Up
1962Movie
Robert Herbin
Hitch-Hike
1962Movie
Edouard, le fou
Madame
1961Movie
Le sergent François-Joseph Lefebvre
The Game of Truth
1961Movie
L'inspecteur de police
The Taste of Violence
1961Movie
Perez
The Menace
1961Movie
Savary
The Wretches
1960Movie
Jess Rooland
Take Me As I Am
1960Movie
Ed Dawson
The Verdict
1959Movie
Georges Lagrange
Double Agents
1959Movie
Lui
Stars Meet in Moscow
1959Movie
Self
Riff Raff Girls
1959Movie
Marcel Point-Bleu
The Road to Shame
1959Movie
Pierre Rossi
Blonde in a White Car
1959Movie
Pierre Menda
Provisional Liberty
1958Movie
Jean-Paul Viberty / Jean Rungis
Young Girls Beware
1957Movie
Raven
No Sun in Venice
1957Movie
Sforzi
Crime and Punishment
1956Movie
René Brunel
Forgive Our Trespasses
1956Movie
(uncredited)
Cinépanorama
1956TV
Self
The Wicked Go to Hell
1955Movie
Fred
Rififi
1955Movie
Rémi Grutter
Série noire
1955Movie
Jo
Quai des blondes
1954Movie
Chemise Rose
Reflets de Cannes
1954TV
Self
Maya
1949Movie
Un témoin du meurtre qui n'a rien vu (uncredited)
In the Eyes of Memory
1948Movie
A student from the Simon course
Sextette
1948Movie
The Devil Who Limped
1948Movie
Guest in white (uncredited)