A tall, attractive leading man who worked as an extra and nightclub dancer before being "discovered" by Gene Kelly and cast in "The Happy Road" (1956), Jean-Pierre Cassel went on to establish himself in a series of Phillipe de Broca comedies, developing the persona and facile smile for the farcical romantic roles that became his metier. The whimsical Frenchman began appearing in English-language films of the 60s like "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (1965) and "Oh! What a Lovely War" (1969), both featuring star-studded international casts. He was the dinner host in Luis Bunuel's award-winning "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (1972) and also acted in Sydney Lumet's "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974) about the time he was embarking on the Richard Lester "Musketeer" franchise, which saw him play King Louis XIII in "The Three Musketeers" (also 1974) and "The Four Musketeers" (1975), then Cyrano de Bergerac for "The Return of the Musketeers" (1989). The older Cassel has portrayed such character parts as Dr. Paul Gachet in Robert Altman's "Vincent & Theo" and Police Inspector Ledoux for the NBC-miniseries "The Phantom of the Opera" (both 1990), directed by Tony Richardson. More recently, he co-starred with Marisa Berenson in the Lifetime remake of "Notorious" (1992) and portrayed Jacqueline Bisset's wealthy husband in Claude Chabrol's "La Ceremonie" (1994).
Family
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Daughter: Cecile Cassel. born c. 1982
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Daughter-in-law: Monica Bellucci. married to Vincent Cassel
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Son: Matthias Cassel. founding member of the rap group Assassin
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Son: Vincent Cassel. born November 23, 1966
Milestones
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1956 Discovered as a dancer in a Paris nightclub by Gene Kelly who cast him in first film, The Happy Road
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1960 Broadway debut, L Idiote
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1960 First of five films with writer-director Philippe de Broca, The Love Game
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1961 Reteamed with de Broca for The Five-Day Lover
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1965 Played French aviator in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
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1966 Appeared in Rene Clement s Is Paris Burning?
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1969 Played French colonel in Richard Attenborough s directing debut, Oh! What a Lovely War
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1972 Acted in Luis Bunel s deliciously comic The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise , which won the Oscar as Best Foreign Film
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1974 Part of the all-star international cast of Sidney Lumet s Murder on the Orient Express
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1974 Portrayed Louis XIII in Richard Lester s The Three Musketeers
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1975 Reprised Louis XIII for Lester s The Four Musketeeers
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1978 Acted the part of an endangered chef in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
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1988 Fifth and last feature (to date) with de Broca, Chouans!
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1989 Played Cyrano de Bergerac in Lester s Return of the Musketeers
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1990 Appeared as Police Inspector Ledoux in two-part miniseries version of The Phantom of the Opera (NBC), directed by Tony Richardson
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1990 Portrayed Dr Paul Gauchet in Robert Altman s Vincent & Theo ; feature version paired down from four-hour European miniseries
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1992 Acted in Lifetime s remake of Notorious
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1994 Co-starred in La Ceremonie (released in the USA in 1995)
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1994 Reteamed with Altman, playing the Head of the Fashion Council in Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter)
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Appeared on stage in London production of A Chorus Line