Robert Hossein

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1927-12-30

Deathday 2020-12-31 (93 years old)

Place of Birth Paris, France

Also Known As Abraham Hosseinoff, Робер Оссейн

Robert Hossein

Biography

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

Actor

2022
2020
Le Fruit de l'espoir

as Le grand-père d'Angeli

2019
Aznavour by Charles

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

2011
Une femme nommée Marie

as Voce narrante

2009
A Man and His Dog

as Un homme a la soupe populaire

2007
Trivial

as Antoine Bérangère

2005
Le Juge

as Roger Marino

2004
San Antonio

as Le ministre de l'intérieur / The Minister

2003
Antigone

as Créon

1999
Scandalous Crimes

as Judge Bocchi

1999
1998
1997
The Wax Mask

as Boris Volkoff

1995
Les Miserables

as Le maître de cérémonie

1994
L'Affaire

as Paul Haslans

1992
Stranger in the House

as Narrator (voice)

1990
Stars 90

as self

1990
Le Gorille

as Joseph Beaucis

1989
1988
La croisade des enfants

as Philippe-Auguste

1987
Levy & Goliath

as Client de Goliath (uncredited)

1987
Téléthon

as Self

1987
1986
1986
1983
Surprise Party

as André Auerbach

1982
The Big Pardon

as Manuel Carreras

1982
1981
The Professional

as Commissaire Rosen

1981
Bolero: Dance of Life

as Simon Meyer / Robert Prat

1979
Démons de midi

as Metteur en scène de théâtre

1975
The Phoney

as Kaminsky

1975
Apostrophes

as Self

1974
The Protector

as Arnaud

1974
Le tour d'écrou

as Peter Quint

1974
1973
Prêtres interdits

as Jean Rastaud

1972
A Murder Is a Murder

as Jean Carouse

1972
1972
Midi trente

as Self

1972
Le Grand Échiquier

as Self - Main Guest

1971
The Burglars

as Ralph

1971
The Lion's Share

as Maurice Ménard

1971
Judge Roy Bean

as Black Bird

1971
Samedi soir

as Self

1970
Falling Point

as Le Caïd

1970
Versatile Lovers

as Serge Belaïeff

1970
Time of the Wolves

as Dillinger

1969
The Conspirators

as Leonida Montanari

1969
Desert Assault

as Capitaine Curd Heinz (Rudi en Français)

1969
Crime Thief

as Tian

1969
Crime Thief

as Christian

1969
1969
Misdeal

as Martin von Klaus

1969
Life Love Death

as The man in the movie

1969
The Battle of El Alamein

as Erwin Rommel

1968
Tender Moment

as Enrico Fontana

1968
1968
Angelique and the Sultan

as Joffrey de Peyrac "Le Rescator"

1968
A Little Virtuous

as Louis Brady

1967
Lamiel

as Roger Valber

1967
The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia

as Maître Bianchini

1967
I Killed Rasputin

as Serge Sukhotin

1967
La Musica

as Him

1967
Untamable Angelique

as Joffrey de Peyrac "Le Rescator"

1966
Brigade Anti Gangs

as Le commissaire principal Le Goff

1966
Long March

as Carnot

1966
The Other Truth

as Pierre Montaud, the Advocate

1966
Angelique and the King

as Jeoffrey de Peyrac

1966
Mademoiselle de Maupin

as Capitaine Alcibiade

1965
God's Thunder

as Marcel

1965
Marco the Magnificent

as Prince Nayam

1965
The Dirty Game

as Dupont

1965
The Vampire of Dusseldorf

as Peter Kuerten

1964
Angelique

as Jeoffrey de Peyrac

1964
Marked Eyes

as Franz

1964
Death of a Killer

as Pierre Massa

1963
Highway Pick-Up

as Daniel Boisset

1963
1963
Vice and Virtue

as SS Oberst Erik Schörndorf

1963
Enough Rope

as Inspektor Corby

1962
Love on a Pillow

as Renaud Sarti

1962
Paris Pick-Up

as Robert Herbin

1962
Hitch-Hike

as Edouard, le fou

1961
Madame

as Le sergent François-Joseph Lefebvre

1961
The Game of Truth

as L'inspecteur de police

1961
The Menace

as Savary

1960
The Wretches

as Jess Rooland

1960
Take Me As I Am

as Ed Dawson

1959
The Verdict

as Georges Lagrange

1959
1959
Riff Raff Girls

as Marcel Point-Bleu

1959
The Road to Shame

as Pierre Rossi

1959
Blonde in a White Car

as Pierre Menda

1957
1957
1956
Crime and Punishment

as René Brunel

1956
Forgive Our Trespasses

as (uncredited)

1956
1955
Rififi

as Rémi Grutter

1955
1954
Quai des blondes

as Chemise Rose

1954
1949
Maya

as Un témoin du meurtre qui n'a rien vu (uncredited)

1948
In the Eyes of Memory

as A student from the Simon course

1948
The Devil Who Limped

as Un invité en blanc (non crédité)

Director

2011
Une femme nommée Marie

as Stage Director

1990
Cyrano de Bergerac

as Director

1988
Kean

as Stage Director

1986
Le Caviar rouge

as Director

1982
Les Misérables

as Director

1975
Hernani

as Stage Director

1970
Falling Point

as Director

1969
1967
I Killed Rasputin

as Director

1964
Marked Eyes

as Director

1964
Death of a Killer

as Director

1961
The Game of Truth

as Director

1961
1960
The Wretches

as Director

1959
1959
Double Agents

as Director

1956
1955

Writer

1986
Le Caviar rouge

as Screenplay

1982
Les Misérables

as Screenplay

1970
Falling Point

as Writer

1967
1965
1964
Marked Eyes

as Story

1964
Death of a Killer

as Adaptation

1964
Death of a Killer

as Screenplay

1961
The Taste of Violence

as Screenplay

1961
1961
1960
The Wretches

as Screenplay

1959
Double Agents

as Screenplay

1959
Blonde in a White Car

as Screenplay

1959
The Verdict

as Writer

1956
1955
The Wicked Go to Hell

as Screenplay

Producer

1963
In the Midst of Life

as Co-Producer

Art

2003
Antigone

as Art Direction