The famous comedian with a bright smile, Pierre Richard, celebrated his 88th birthday on August 16. The charming “tall blond man in a black shoe” brought a lot of joy and laughter to the audience. True, for Pierre himself, everything in life was not always rosy . The artist had a difficult childhood ; he also did not immediately achieve success in cinema. But Pierre tried to endure all the hardships with a smile on his face, thereby rewriting the bitter pages of life in a new way.
Pierre Richard’s childhood in a boarding school
Pierre Richard is from an aristocratic family. His full name is Pierre Richard Maurice Charles Leopold Defay. But in the boy’s childhood there was practically nothing aristocratic. He studied with the children of ordinary workers, who often gave free rein to their fists. And Pierre was also disliked at the boarding house .
“Hey, Defe, mama’s boy! Now I’ll write you a dozen shchelbans, and live ,” the butcher’s son Pascal, all red and plump, was threateningly approaching little Pierre. The guys studied together. But there was no sign of friendliness in the relationship . However, other boys also did not like curly-haired and blue-eyed Pierre. The only thing that saved him in such situations was laughter. Richard was a master at this.
“Pascal, you were probably scolded for bad grades? So look for your father’s old diary in the attic and slip it to him. I’m sure there are plenty of twos there. And when dad takes the belt, just show him that the diary is his. Father will be surprised ,” at the same time Pierre feigned that same surprise and wiggled his ears. The guys around burst into laughter and began to beg Pascal not to touch this little comedian. So laughter saved Pierre Richard more than once . And he inherited his talent as a comedian from his Italian grandfather. True, Pierre’s second grandfather was not such a cheerful person. After Richard’s father left the family, he and his mother lived with their grandfather Leopold Defe, who kept everyone around him in his fist. Pierre had no need to think about his jokes, because his grandfather categorically forbade the boy to fool around.
For a long time, Pierre’s talent was not appreciated
In the boarding house where his grandfather placed him, Pierre also had nowhere to roam. The discipline there was strict. And during the period of the German occupation, one could completely forget about fun . Then Pierre spent a lot of time with books in the room. And most of all he was pleased with the moments when he could escape to visit his second grandfather. After all, only he appreciated the talent of the young comedian.
Pierre Richard was already unique as a child. It is unclear how he managed to be so flexible and at the same time clumsy. Richard could have tripped out of the blue or crashed into the door . But at the same time he knew how to move well, even dance. True, it was better to hide this skill from the boys at the boarding school. Reading the stories of Jack London, Pierre dreamed of how in the future he would break out of this boarding house and go to Paris to build a career as a comedian.
Grandfather Leopold was categorically against his grandson’s frivolous profession
What acting, what comedy? Can the heir to the Defe family be a pathetic actress? The grandfather insisted that Pierre get a serious profession and continue to work in the family business at the steel foundry. But even the tough grandfather could not break the fragile, curly-haired boy, who, despite all his external weakness, was not lacking in stubbornness.
At that time, Pierre already had an idol – Gerard Philip, a French theater and film actor. Richard dreamed of being the same. But at first, nothing but disappointment awaited him. After graduating from school, Richard went to Paris, as he dreamed of, and took drama courses. Of course, this was preceded by a huge family scandal . To reassure the family members, and especially his grandfather, at least a little, Pierre also entered the university. The guy studied physiotherapy. At that time, the future actor changed his last name. From Pierre Defay he turned into Pierre Richard (simply taking his middle name instead of his last name).
First failures and small successes
Pierre Richard’s first steps in acting can hardly be called successful. Although the guy himself was so proud of them. He was delighted to be sharing the stage with his idol Gerard Philippe . And what difference does it make that Gerard plays the main role, and Pierre is somewhere lost in the crowd.
“Idiot, get up! Why are you lying down here ,” Pierre Richard once woke up from such words. He fell asleep on stage! He played in the crowd as a soldier who died bravely. While Pierre portrayed his hero for several minutes, he fell asleep. Later he lost his job in the theater. Such oddities often haunted Richard throughout his life . One day he saw a man in swimming trunks at a hotel. Of course, Pierre decided that there was a swimming pool somewhere nearby. I rushed to the room to change clothes, because I also wanted to swim (Pierre’s passion for water is a separate issue). And so Richard walks through the hotel, like the stranger, wearing only swimming trunks. A minute later he was captured by the police. It turns out that law enforcement officers had been chasing this man walking almost topless around the city for a long time. Only they came across a completely different eccentric.
For a long time, Richard was an unknown comedian who had difficulty making a living. He worked part-time in cheap cafes, entertained the audience with funny skits, and danced a little. At the age of 26, Pierre got married , then he had to worry about how to feed his family, and his earnings were inconsistent and even ridiculous. But Richard finally got lucky.
White streak and great success
One day Richard was returning home happy. He auditioned for Maurice Bejart’s troupe. They were looking for artists who could dance. Although Pierre did not dance professionally, his flexibility amazed the audience. So Pierre almost retrained as a dancer at that moment. But at home he found a telegram in which he was told even more joyful news. Pierre and his friend were invited to Georges Brassens’ program . Don’t dance, but play! But this was Richard’s dream.
From that moment everything went like clockwork. One day Pierre was noticed on stage by director Yves Robert . Robert liked the shy and anecdotally absent-minded dunce so much that he created a role especially for him in his new film “Lucky Alexander.” It’s interesting that the director then told Pierre that he wasn’t much of an actor. He is a character and must create his own hero. Soon, under the leadership of Robert, Pierre did just that, writing the script for the film for himself. The eccentric bungler from the comedy Absent-Minded defined his role for many years.
Later there were “Tall Blonde in a Black Shoe”, “Runaways”, “Toy” , “Injection with an Umbrella”, “Unlucky” and many other films. Richard became the public’s favorite. His relatives no longer reproached him for choosing a “frivolous” profession , and Pierre himself was simply happy that he was able to make his dream come true. And this is almost 40 years old! Which once again proves how stubborn Richard was born.
Only the sons of Pierre Richard did not rejoice at their father’s success
In their first marriage, Pierre and his chosen one Daniel had two sons. The boys were named Christophe and Olivier. When they grew up, they wanted to see their dad courageous and serious . And they saw on the screen, again, an absent-minded dunce. At school, the kids laughed at me because of my dad’s stage image. “Is your father a complete idiot?” – classmates asked the boys.
Of course, with age, Christophe and Olivier realized that dad was not an idiot at all, but a talented actor . The boys themselves were not attracted to an acting career because of children’s ridicule. But they both found themselves in music. Olivier is a saxophonist, Christophe is a double bassist.
By the way, Daniel Pierre divorced. The actor did not break contact with his sons. After the breakup, he settled on a barge , which became his full-fledged summer home. Richard really likes to be close to the water. And, as he himself said, life on a barge helped him stay afloat. Here he wrote scripts in his bachelor bedroom, walked barefoot on the deck, sipped coffee, and listened to his sons play their instruments.
Collaboration with Gerard Depardieu and winemaking
The 80s became shock years for Pierre Richard. It was then that his collaboration with the legendary Gerard Depardieu began . In the films, the contrast between the actors – the tall, stately and confident Depardieu and the eccentric, talkative Richard – was so successful that there was no end to the celebrity fans.
Depardieu and Richard complemented each other perfectly on screen. It turned out that, in addition to contrasts, they also have a lot in common. Among other things, this is the love of wine . Pierre tried this noble drink as a child, when he finished drops from adults’ glasses after dinner.
In 1986, Pierre Richard acquired 20 hectares of vineyards in the south of France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region near the Mediterranean Sea. Every year, Richard’s winery puts up for sale several tens of thousands of bottles of wine, which are supplied to restaurants in France and Belgium. For Richard, winemaking is a kind of art . “The most important thing in winemaking, as in cinema, is to be sincere. I wouldn’t want someone, having tasted my wine, to say: “You know, Mr. Richard, get better at filmmaking ,” says the actor.
Pierre Richard’s new love
So Richard found a new activity to his liking. But over the years, he also managed to find new love . Although after the divorce, Pierre often spent time with different women and was rarely alone, it took him years to meet his chosen one. But now, even at an advanced age, they say that Pierre’s personal life is in full swing. His wife was Brazilian Seila Lacerda, a model who is almost 30 years younger than Pierre. It’s amazing how life brought them together. After all, Seila did not know French, and Pierre did not speak Portuguese. And he spoke English poorly. The language barrier was not a problem. And now the couple is still happily married.
At 88, Pierre Richard remains young at heart . “I try to stay young. To do this, you need to be able to be surprised and admire the little things in life. As soon as you stop looking at the world with eyes full of curiosity, you are ready to leave it. I am not ready!” – says Richard.
Happy birthday, idol! What are your favorite films starring Pierre Richard? Share with us in the comments.
