RICHARDWILLM, PIERRE

(1895-1983)

Actor. Born Pierre Richard, Pierre Richard-Willm made his screen debut at the beginning of the sound era and went on to become one of the dashing leading men of the 1930s and 1940s, appearing in nearly forty films. Richard-Willm debuted in Alberto Cavalcanti'sToute sa vie(1930) and went on to appear in Cavalcanti'sLes Vacances du diable(1931), Alexandre Ryder'sUn soir au front(1931), Henri Chomettes and Robert Siodmak'sAutour d'une enquête(1931), Pierre Billon and Carl Lamac'sLa Fille du régiment(1933),Marcel L'Herbier'sL'Épervier(1933),La Route impériale(1935),La Tragédie impériale(1938), andEntente cordiale(1939), Jean de Marguenat'sLe Prince Jean(1934), Billon'sLa Maison dans la dune(1934),Courrier sud(1936), andL'Argent(1936),Jacques Feyder'sLe Grand jeu(1934) andLa Piste du nord(1939), Tony Lekain andGaston Ravel'sFanatisme(1934), Alexis Granowsky'sLes Nuits muscovites(1934),Julien Duvivier'sUn carnet de bal(1937),Marc Allegret'sLa Dame de Malacca(1937), andMax Ophuls'sWerther(1938), among other films.

Richard-Willm's career showed signs of slowing during the 1940s, as he appeared in fewer films although typically in the lead role.He acted in such films asJacques de Baroncelli'sLa Duchesse de Langeais(1942), André Berthomieu'sLa Croisée des chemins(1942),Robert Vernay'sLe Comte de Monte Cristo(1943),Serge de Poligny'sLa Fiancée des ténèbres(1945), Christian Stengel'sRêves d'amour(1947), and Louis Cuny'sLe Beau voyage(1947). He played in a wide array of films of different types. He was a dramatic, not a comic, actor. Probably because of his striking good looks and his elegance of presentation, he quite often played military men and aristocrats. He retired from the cinema in 1947 and devoted the rest of his career to the theater.