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The five-part saga about the beautiful Angelica and her quest for love for the Count de Peyrac is now one of the world’s romantic classics. Although the first part was filmed more than fifty years ago, it still has its charm that can appeal to today’s viewer. Generations of women went crazy for the charismatic Count de Peyrac.
How is his 92-year-old portrayer Robert Hossein doing today?
Robert Hossein was born on December 30, 1927 in Paris. His father André Hossein was a composer of Persian origin, his mother was a Russian pianist. He grew up in poverty and moved between many boarding houses in the Paris area – his parents, who did not always pay, had a habit of frequently changing these establishments. From an early age he became what he called „a nomad without a tribe“ in his book La sentinelle aveugle – The Blind Sentinel, published in 1978.
Cinema began to play an important role in his life very early on
He used to visit local cinemas without paying, and after sharing and showing his favorite films to his friends, he experienced his first acting sensations. As a young man he collected photographs of his favorite stars, Gabin, Blanchar, Morgan were among them …
After the war he began attending acting courses – the Vieux Colombier School and especially René Simon’s acting school, which at the same time were attended by Pierre Mondy, Jean-Claude Pascal and Philippe Lemaire. Devil), directed by Sacha Guitry, Aux yeux du souvenir by Jean Delannoy and Les souvenirs ne sont pas à vendre by Robert Hennion (Memories Are Not For Sale). In Maya by Raymond Bernard he uttered his first line in a film.
He was soon introduced to Jean Genêt and got the lead role in the film Haute Surveillance. At that time he also wrote and staged his first play Les voyous (Rascals), then directed L’homme traqué (The Hunted Man) by František Carco. After his military service he met Frédéric Dard and played the lead role in Du plomb pour ces demoiselles (leader for these girls).
In the 1960s his role of a lifetime came along
He became the portrayer of Count de Peyrac in the films Angelica, Marquis of the Angels, Angelica and the King, The Unbreakable Angelica and Angelica and the Sultan. This role made him known to a wide audience around the world. However, he still devoted himself mainly to theatre and directing.
In 1978 Robert Hossein returned to Paris at the Porte Saint-Martin with the play No Orchids for Miss Blandish. With ever growing success he staged other plays such as Battleship Potemkin, Of Mice and Men, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Danton and Robespierre, The Poor, Julius Caesar and The Case of the London Courier.
In 2009 he filmed J.-P. Belmondo’s Un homme et son chien (A Man and His Dog) directed by Francis Huster, which was also his last work. Overall he was married three times and has 4 sons, two of whom – Igor and Pierre – with Marina Vlady, Nicolas with Caroline Eliacheff and Julien with Candice Patou, to whom he has been married since 1976 (in the picture below).
