On November 17, 2025, the French postal service, La Poste, issued a stamp commemorating Michel Piccoli, one of the giants of cinema and a towering figure in theater, who passed away five years prior. A pope ravaged by doubt in Nanni Moretti's *Habemus Papam* (2011), a manipulative client of a brothel for Buñuel in *Belle de Jour* (1967), an obsessive cop in *Max et les Ferrailleurs* (1971), or a deeply flawed character in Claude Sautet's *Les Choses de la Vie* (1970) and *Vincent, François, Paul... et les Autres* (1974)... With over 150 films to his credit, ranging from the most popular to the most experimental, Michel Piccoli (1925-2020) was a truly great actor of both film and theater.
At 18, this son of musicians decided to become an actor. He trained at the Cours Simon drama school; two years later, he made his film debut. At the same time, this theater enthusiast joined renowned companies and performed in classic plays. Throughout his life, he worked with some of the greatest directors: Jean Vilar, Peter Brook, Patrice Chéreau, André Engel, Luc Bondy, and others. His film career took off with Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (1963), alongside Brigitte Bardot. By turns a seducer, a loudmouth, and a rogue, this singular actor explored all facets of cinema, not hesitating to break free from a classic image, often tinged with irony, with provocative roles such as in Marco Ferreri's La Grande Bouffe (1973). This satire of consumerism and bourgeois decadence caused a scandal at the Cannes Film Festival.
Piccoli always knew how to take risks in the name of a cinema that, according to him, had to denounce the excesses of the era. For six decades, audiences were captivated by his intense gaze and bushy eyebrows, his deep, resonant voice, and above all, his unique approach to acting, a blend of strength and vulnerability. He is remembered as a man of conviction, a demanding actor with an inexhaustible curiosity, who always knew how to reinvent himself.
