Pierre Clémenti

Who was Pierre Clémenti?

Pierre Clémenti was a French actor.

Born in Paris, Clémenti studied drama and began his acting career in the theatre. He secured his first minor screen roles in 1960 in Yves Allégret's Chien de pique performing alongside Eddie Constantine. Arguably, his most famous role was that of gangster lover of bourgeois prostitute Catherine Deneuve in Belle de jour, the 1967 classic by Luis Buñuel, in whose film La voie lactée he played the Devil. He appeared in several highly regarded films of the period, working with many of Europe's best known directors, including Luchino Visconti, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci. Other directors he has worked with are Liliana Cavani, Glauber Rocha, Miklós Jancsó and Philippe Garrel.

In 1972, his career was derailed after he was sentenced to prison for allegedly possessing or using drugs. Due to insufficient evidence, Clémenti was released after 17 months; later he penned a book about his time in prison. After his release, he played the ever-optimistic sailor of the Potemkin in Dusan Makavejev's Sweet Movie and the role of Pablo, the seductive saxophone player, in Fred Haines's film adaptation of Steppenwolf, Hermann Hesse's novel.