Robert Hossein
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Spécial cinéma
Self
1974
Series
Champs-Elysées
Self
1982
Series
Vivement dimanche
Self
1998
Series
Apostrophes
Self
1975
Series
Sacrée soirée
Self
1987
Series
Le Grand Échiquier
Self
1972
Series
Le Grand Échiquier
Self - Main Guest
1972
Series
Midi trente
Self
1972
Series
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
Simon
2009
Series
Cinépanorama
Self
1956
Series
Nulle part ailleurs
Self
1987
Samedi soir
Self
1971
Film
The Professional
Commissaire Rosen
1981
Series
Stars 90
Self
1990
Series
Reflets de Cannes
Self
1954
Series
Téléthon
Self
1987
Film
Prêtres interdits
Jean Rastaud
1973
Film
Angelique
Jeoffrey de Peyrac
1964
Series
Petits Meurtres en famille
Simon
2006
Film
Rififi
Rémi Grutter
1955
Film
The Burglars
Ralph
1971
Film
Belmondo, itinéraire...
Self
2011
Film
Belmondo by Belmondo
Self
2016
Film
Angelique and the King
Jeoffrey de Peyrac
1966
Film
Angelique and the Sultan
Joffrey de Peyrac "Le Rescator"
1968
Film
Trivial
Antoine Bérangère
2007
Film
Belmondo: The Incorrigible
2022
Film
L'Affaire
Paul Haslans
1994
Henry James Stories
Peter Quint
1976
Film
Bolero
Simon Meyer / Robert Prat
1981
Film
Untamable Angelique
Joffrey de Peyrac, 'Le Rescator'
1967
Series
Le Juge
Roger Marino
2005
Film
I Killed Rasputin
Serge Sukhotin
1967
Series
Le Gorille
Joseph Beaucis
1990
Film
A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later
Robert Hossein
1986
Film
Venus Beauty Institute
L'aviateur
1999
Film
The Scarlet Lady
Julien
1969
Film
Madame
Le sergent François-Joseph Lefebvre
1961
Film
Marco the Magnificent
Prince Nayam
1965
Film
Don Juan or If Don Juan Were a Woman
Louis Prévost
1973
Film
The Menace
Savary
1961
Film
Paris Pick-Up
Robert Herbin
1962
Film
Cemetery Without Crosses
Manuel
1969
Film
Children of Chaos
Robert
1989
Film
The Wax Mask
Boris Volkoff
1997
Film
The Dirty Game
Dupont
1965
Film
A Man and His Dog
Un homme a la soupe populaire
2009
Film
The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia
Maître Bianchini
1967
Film
Love on a Pillow
Renaud Sarti
1962
Film
Les Miserables
Le maître de cérémonie
1995
Film
OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok
Dr. Sinn
1964
Film
Time of the Wolves
Dillinger
1970
Film
Misdeal
Martin von Klaus
1969
Film
OSS 117 Murder for Sale
Dr. Saadi
1968
Film
Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern
Self
2006
Film
Riff Raff Girls
Marcel Point-Bleu
1959
Film
Lamiel
Roger Valber
1967
Film
Paradjanov, le dernier collage
Self
1995
Film
Sextette
1948
Of Flesh and Blood
Samuel
1963
Film
Aznavour by Charles
Self - Actor (archive footage)
2019
Film
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
Self
2011
Film
The Lion's Share
Maurice Ménard
1971
Film
The Phoney
Kaminsky
1975
Film
Picking Strawberries
2025
Film
Crime and Punishment
René Brunel
1956
Film
San Antonio
Le ministre de l'intérieur / The Minister
2004
Film
The Battle of El Alamein
Erwin Rommel
1969
Film
Desert Assault
Capitaine Curd Heinz (Rudi en Français)
1969
Film
The Conspirators
Leonida Montanari
1969
Film
The Wicked Go to Hell
Fred
1955
Film
The Vampire of Dusseldorf
Peter Kuerten
1965
Film
Vice and Virtue
SS Oberst Erik Schörndorf
1963
Film
The Taste of Violence
Perez
1961
Film
Life Love Death
Man in the movie
1969
Film
Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju
Self
2009
Film
The Big Pardon
Manuel Carreras
1982
Film
Love Is Better Than Life
Robert Prat
2022
Film
Brigade Anti Gangs
Chief Commissioner Le Goff
1966
Film
Death of a Killer
Pierre Massa
1964
Film
Quai des blondes
Chemise Rose
1954
Film
Blonde in a White Car
Pierre Menda
1959
Film
Stars Meet in Moscow
Self
1959
Film
Hellé
Kleber
1972
Film
Une femme nommée Marie
Narrator (voice)
2011
Film
God's Thunder
Marcel
1965
Film
Highway Pick-Up
Daniel Boisset
1963
Film
Double Agents
Lui
1959
Film
Versatile Lovers
Serge Belaïeff
1970
Film
Enough Rope
Inspektor Corby
1963
Film
Marked Eyes
Franz
1964
Film
Noni : Le Fruit de l'espoir
Le grand-père d'Angeli
2020
Film
Tender Moment
Enrico Fontana
1968
Film
Le commissaire mène l’enquête
The lover (segment "Pour qui sonne le ...")
1965
Film
Surprise Party
André Auerbach
1983
Film
Stranger in the House
Narrator (voice)
1992
Film
In the Eyes of Memory
A student from the Simon course
1948
Film
The Other Truth
Pierre Montaud, the Advocate
1966
Film
Falling Point
Le Caïd
1970
Film
Levy & Goliath
Goliath customer (uncredited)
1987
Film
Crime Thief
Tian
1969
Film
The Devil Who Limped
Guest in white (uncredited)
1948
Film
A Little Virtuous
Louis Brady
1968
Film
The Game of Truth
L'inspecteur de police
1961
Film
Young Girls Beware
Raven
1957
Film
The Protector
Arnaud
1974
Film
Démons de midi
Metteur en scène de théâtre
1979
La croisade des enfants
Philippe-Auguste
1988
Film
Mademoiselle de Maupin
Captain Alcibiade
1966
Film
Hitch-Hike
Edouard, le fou
1962
Film
The Wretches
Jess Rooland
1960
Film
La Musica
Him
1967
Film
No Sun in Venice
Sforzi
1957
Film
Judge Roy Bean
Black Bird
1971
Film
Long March
Carnot
1966
Film
A Murder Is a Murder
Jean Carouse
1972
Annie Girardot, ainsi va la vie
Self
2008
Film
A Police Officer Without Importance
Pierre Fresse
1973
Film
Maya
Un témoin du meurtre qui n'a rien vu (uncredited)
1949
Film
Antigone
Créon
2003
Film
The Verdict
Georges Lagrange
1959
Film
Hossein, Ronet, Trintignant : Confidences de trois acteurs inoubliables
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Forgive Our Trespasses
(uncredited)
1956
Film
Scandalous Crimes
Judge Bocchi
1999
Film
Take Me As I Am
Ed Dawson
1960
Série noire
Jo
1955
Film
Provisional Liberty
Jean-Paul Viberty / Jean Rungis
1958
Film
Le Caviar rouge
Alex
1986
Film
Raymond Devos dans tous ses sens
Self
2022
Film
The Road to Shame
Pierre Rossi
1959
Film
Why Paris?
1964
Film
Le Tour d'Écrou
Peter Quint
1974
Film
Marie-France Pisier, une femme sous influence
Self
2014