Emerging from a youthful fascination with aviation and rugby, he discovered theatre at twenty-three and moved to Paris in 1945, where three years of study under Charles Dullin prepared him for a stage debut in 1949 and a subsequent engagement at the Théâtre National Populaire alongside Jean Vilar. His screen career began with Éric Rohmer’s debut feature The Sign of Leo in 1959, followed by Yves Ro…
