Philippe Morier-Genoud

Philippe Morier-Genoud — Biography

Philippe Morier-Genoud was born on 2 March 1944 in Thonon-les-Bains. While studying philosophy and education in Grenoble between 1964 and 1968, he met director Georges Lavaudant and turned to the stage, going on to serve as a permanent company member at the Centre Dramatique National des Alpes in Grenoble (1975-1985), the Théâtre National Populaire in Villeurbanne (1985-1995), and the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris (1995-2005).

He made his screen debut in 1981 alongside Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant in François Truffaut's The Woman Next Door, and reunited with Truffaut in 1983 for Confidentially Yours. He went on to work with directors including Louis Malle, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Bertrand Tavernier, Bernardo Bertolucci, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jacques Rivette and Volker Schlöndorff, and played Marcel Proust's Doctor Cottard twice in his career, in Raoul Ruiz's 1998 film Time Regained and in a 2011 television film. He kept acting into the 2010s, appearing in the biopic Yves Saint Laurent (2014) and in Kaamelott (2018).

In recognition of his work in theatre and film, he was made an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and a Knight of the National Order of Merit, and at the turn of 2015-2016 was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour.