The actor, who died at the age of 94, had played with the older children. His roles in "Le Mépris", "Things of life" or more recently "Habemus papam" have marked several generations. Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin and Julie Gayet pay tribute to "a man who had no limits".
"The last spray of the New Wave prevailed"
Brigitte Bardot, who shot "Le Mépris" with him
"He had talent, humor, and he loved my buttocks," said Brigitte Bardot, in a statement to AFP, after the announcement of the death of Michel Piccoli, his partner in "Contempt" , by Jean-Luc Godard, in 1963. In a legendary scene from the film, the actress, lying naked on a bed, asked the actor: "Do you find my buttocks pretty?" "We interpreted" Contempt ", but shared a great mutual esteem, added BB. The last spray of the New Wave prevailed, leaving me alone on the abandoned beach. "
"The children called him Baba Yaga"
Jane Birkin, who toured with him in "La Belle Noiseuse"
“He was an impeccable straight man, exemplary. One of the rare people who had agreed to mobilize for Sarajevo and Doctors of the World at the time of the war in the former Yugoslavia. He was an elegant companion in the film by Jacques Rivette "la Belle Noiseuse" (1991), a friend for years. And he was extraordinarily funny. The children, his and mine, called him Baba Yaga (Editor's note: reference to a character from a Russian fairy tale) . He made them laugh. And then, we did the readings of Serge Gainsbourg's texts together on stage in 2014-2015. What grieved him was that the insurance no longer covered actors like him, after a certain age. But he still had the desire, the energy. "
The Greatest pic.twitter.com/NZA3Uj0NGh
- Official Louisgarrel (@garrel_louis) May 18, 2020"He had no limits"
Julie Gayet, who toured with him in "The Hundred and One Nights of Simon Cinema"
“It taught me a lot, remembers Julie Gayet, who toured with Michel Piccoli twenty-five years ago in Les Cent et Une Nuits by Simon Cinéma , by Agnès Varda. He was whole, engaged in this profession as in life, he had no limits, was completely free. He considered for example that the agents, who take 10%, were our macs. He had launched me: So, who is your mac? As he got older he had taken on that kind of big voice and sometimes he got carried away. The people around were a little scared and it was quite funny because he was enjoying being scary. "
