Death of Piccoli: "The children called him Baba Yaga", recalls Jane Birkin

She was his play partner but also his neighbor. Jane Birkin remembers Michel Piccoli, whose death we just learned at the age of 94.

What image do you keep of Michel Piccoli?

JANE BIRKIN. He was an impeccable man, as a human being but also as an actor. He was straight, exemplary, with the modesty of an artist. He was fighting for principles. He was very moral, very cheerful, very happy. An elegant companion in Jacques Rivette's film "la Belle Noiseuse" (1991) or "la Fausse suivant" (1985), directed by Patrice Chéreau, or "la Fille prodigue" (1981), by Jacques Doillon, where he was an absolutely exquisite partner. He was a great character and what he thought was important to me.

Was he also hired?

Yes. He was one of the few people who had agreed to mobilize for Sarajevo. We made videos to support Doctors of the World at the time of the war in the former Yugoslavia. He was always there. He had no agent. You could call him directly for a project. He often said no. But he had agreed to act in my film "Boxes" in 2007. He had been a friend for years.

He also had a lot of humor?

Yes. 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) because he could be whimsical, especially on the set of the film by Jacques Rivette for a whole summer. They amused them a lot.

Do you remember your first meeting?

It was before "Seven deaths on prescription" (1975). He had defended the idea that I was in the film with Depardieu. He thought I would be fine when it was not obvious. It was one of my first serious roles. I had already seen him in the rue de Verneuil (Editor's note: in the 7th arrondissement of Paris), where he lived and where we lived with Serge Gainsbourg. We were neighbors. And for "Seven deaths on prescription" we had filmed certain scenes at his home, in his apartment.

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Did you stay close until the end?

Yes. I had news from his wife, Ludivine. And then we did the readings of Serge Gainsbourg's texts together on stage for a whole year on tour. It was the last thing he did in 2014-2015. He was perfect, he laughed a lot with the actor Hervé Pierre, who was with us too. He still had the desire, the energy. What grieved him was that the insurance no longer covered actors like him, after a certain age. But we still managed to do this tour. It was cheerful.