Robert Hossein
Known for Acting · 132 credits
- Born
- 1927-12-30
- Died
- 2020-12-31
- Place of birth
- Paris, France
- Also known as
- Abraham Hosseinoff · Робер Оссейн
Biography
Robert Hossein was a French film actor of Parsi origin, director and writer. He directed the 1982 adaption of Les Misérables, and appeared in Vice and Virtue, Le Casse, Les Uns et les Autres and Venus Beauty Institute. His most recent roles include starring as Michèle Mercier's husband in the Angélique series and as a Catholic priest who falls in love with Claude Jade and becomes a communist in Prêtres interdits (Forbidden Priests) in 1973.
Hossein started directing films in 1956 with Les salauds vont en enfer from a story by Frédéric Dard whose novels and plays went on to furnish Hossein with much of his later film material. Right from the start Hossein established his characteristic trademarks: using a seemingly straightforward suspense plot and subverting its conventions (sometimes to the extent of a complete disregard of the traditional demand for a final twist or revelation) in order to concentrate on ritualistic relationships. This is the director's running preoccupation which is always stressed in his films by an extraordinary command of film space and often striking frame compositions where the geometry of human figures and set design is used to accentuate the psychological set-up of the scene. The mechanisms of guilt and the way it destroys relationships is another recurring theme, presumably influenced by Hossein's lifelong interest in the works of Dostoyevski.
Although Hossein had some modest international successes with films like Toi, le venin and Le vampire de Dusseldorf, he was much singled out for scorching criticism by the critics and followers of the New Wave for the unashamedly melodramatic frameworks of his films. The fact that he was essentially an auteur director with a consistent set of themes and an extraordinary mastery of original and unusual approaches to staging his stories, was never appreciated. He was not averse to trying his hand at widely different genres and was never defeated, making the strikingly different spaghetti western Une corde, un Colt and the low-budgeted but daringly subversive period drama J'ai tué Raspoutine. However, because of the lack of wider success and continuing adverse criticism, Hossein virtually ended his film directing career in 1970, having concentrated on theatre where his achievements were never questioned, and subsequently returning to film directing only twice. With two or three exceptions, his films remain commercially unavailable and very difficult to see.
He is the son of André Hossein a Zoroastrian French composer of Azerbaijani-Tajik descent, and a Jewish comedy actress from Kiev. He was married three times: first to Marina Vlady (he has two sons with her, Pierre and Igor), later to Caroline Eliacheff (with whom he has a son, Nicholas). He is currently married to actress Candice Patou, with whom he has one son, Julien.
According to an article written by Emannuel Peze, Hossein experienced a conversion to Catholicism in 1971 during a visit to the Marian apparition at San Damiano in Lombardo Italy.
Known For
TV Shows (18)
Champs-Elysées
1982
as Self
Vivement dimanche
1998
as Self
Apostrophes
1975
as Self
Sacrée soirée
1987
as Self
Spécial cinéma
1974
as Self
Le Grand Échiquier
1972
as Self / Self - Main Guest
Midi trente
1972
as Self
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie
2009
as Simon
Nulle part ailleurs
1987
as Self
Cinépanorama
1956
as Self
Samedi soir
1971
as Self
Téléthon
1987
as Self
Stars 90
1990
as Self
Reflets de Cannes
1954
as Self
Petits Meurtres en famille
2006
as Simon
Henry James Stories
1976
as Peter Quint
Le Gorille
1990
as Joseph Beaucis
Le Juge
2005
as Roger Marino
Movies (114)
The Professional
1981
as Commissaire Rosen
Rififi
1955
as Rémi Grutter
Angelique
1964
as Jeoffrey de Peyrac
Venus Beauty Institute
1999
as L'aviateur
Angelique and the Sultan
1968
as Joffrey de Peyrac "Le Rescator"
Lamiel
1967
as Roger Valber
Bolero
1981
as Simon Meyer / Robert Prat
Madame
1961
as Le sergent François-Joseph Lefebvre
Cemetery Without Crosses
1969
as Manuel
Marco the Magnificent
1965
as Prince Nayam
Angelique and the King
1966
as Jeoffrey de Peyrac
Love on a Pillow
1962
as Renaud Sarti
The Burglars
1971
as Ralph
Les Miserables
1995
as Le maître de cérémonie
Belmondo, itinéraire...
2011
as Self
OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok
1964
as Dr. Sinn
The Vampire of Dusseldorf
1965
as Peter Kuerten
The Devil Who Limped
1948
as Guest in white (uncredited)
Untamable Angelique
1967
as Joffrey de Peyrac, 'Le Rescator'
Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
2011
as Self
Belmondo: The Incorrigible
2022
San Antonio
2004
as Le ministre de l'intérieur / The Minister
The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia
1967
as Maître Bianchini
Crime and Punishment
1956
as René Brunel
A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later
1986
as Robert Hossein
Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern
2006
as Self
The Wax Mask
1997
as Boris Volkoff
Belmondo by Belmondo
2016
as Self
The Dirty Game
1965
as Dupont
Don Juan or If Don Juan Were a Woman
1973
as Louis Prévost
The Other Truth
1966
as Pierre Montaud, the Advocate
The Battle of El Alamein
1969
as Erwin Rommel
Hellé
1972
as Kleber
OSS 117 Murder for Sale
1968
as Dr. Saadi
Vice and Virtue
1963
as SS Oberst Erik Schörndorf
L'Affaire
1994
as Paul Haslans
Riff Raff Girls
1959
as Marcel Point-Bleu
Highway Pick-Up
1963
as Daniel Boisset
Trivial
2007
as Antoine Bérangère
Série noire
1955
as Jo
Judge Roy Bean
1971
as Black Bird
Aznavour by Charles
2019
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Maya
1949
as Un témoin du meurtre qui n'a rien vu (uncredited)
Levy & Goliath
1987
as Goliath customer (uncredited)
The Big Pardon
1982
as Manuel Carreras
I Killed Rasputin
1967
as Serge Sukhotin
Démons de midi
1979
as Metteur en scène de théâtre
Versatile Lovers
1970
as Serge Belaïeff
Hitch-Hike
1962
as Edouard, le fou
Blonde in a White Car
1959
as Pierre Menda
A Man and His Dog
2009
as Un homme a la soupe populaire
Paris Pick-Up
1962
as Robert Herbin
Scandalous Crimes
1999
as Judge Bocchi
Life Love Death
1969
as Man in the movie
Misdeal
1969
as Martin von Klaus
Brigade Anti Gangs
1966
as Chief Commissioner Le Goff
Of Flesh and Blood
1963
as Samuel
The Conspirators
1969
as Leonida Montanari
Tender Moment
1968
as Enrico Fontana
Surprise Party
1983
as André Auerbach
Double Agents
1959
as Lui
The Protector
1974
as Arnaud
The Road to Shame
1959
as Pierre Rossi
No Sun in Venice
1957
as Sforzi
Crime Thief
1969
as Tian
Time of the Wolves
1970
as Dillinger
Why Paris?
1964
The Phoney
1975
as Kaminsky
Young Girls Beware
1957
as Raven
A Little Virtuous
1968
as Louis Brady
Love Is Better Than Life
2022
as Robert Prat
Le commissaire mène l’enquête
1965
as The lover (segment "Pour qui sonne le ...")
The Menace
1961
as Savary
Stars Meet in Moscow
1959
as Self
Long March
1966
as Carnot
Death of a Killer
1964
as Pierre Massa
The Wicked Go to Hell
1955
as Fred
The Scarlet Lady
1969
as Julien
Children of Chaos
1989
as Robert
Les fleurs maladives de Georges Franju
2009
as Self
Enough Rope
1963
as Inspektor Corby
Prêtres interdits
1973
as Jean Rastaud
The Verdict
1959
as Georges Lagrange
In the Eyes of Memory
1948
as A student from the Simon course
Desert Assault
1969
as Capitaine Curd Heinz (Rudi en Français)
Hossein, Ronet, Trintignant : Confidences de trois acteurs inoubliables
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Marie-France Pisier, une femme sous influence
2014
as Self
La croisade des enfants
1988
as Philippe-Auguste
Quai des blondes
1954
as Chemise Rose
The Lion's Share
1971
as Maurice Ménard
Mademoiselle de Maupin
1966
as Captain Alcibiade
God's Thunder
1965
as Marcel
Une femme nommée Marie
2011
as Narrator (voice)
A Police Officer Without Importance
1973
as Pierre Fresse
Provisional Liberty
1958
as Jean-Paul Viberty / Jean Rungis
Sextette
1948
The Wretches
1960
as Jess Rooland
Paradjanov, le dernier collage
1995
as Self
Le Caviar rouge
1986
as Alex
Raymond Devos dans tous ses sens
2022
as Self
Stranger in the House
1992
as Narrator (voice)
The Taste of Violence
1961
as Perez
Take Me As I Am
1960
as Ed Dawson
Annie Girardot, ainsi va la vie
2008
as Self
A Murder Is a Murder
1972
as Jean Carouse
Marked Eyes
1964
as Franz
Antigone
2003
as Créon
Forgive Our Trespasses
1956
as (uncredited)
The Game of Truth
1961
as L'inspecteur de police
Falling Point
1970
as Le Caïd
Le Tour d'Écrou
1974
as Peter Quint
La Musica
1967
as Him
Noni : Le Fruit de l'espoir
2020
as Le grand-père d'Angeli
Picking Strawberries
2025
About Robert Hossein
Robert Hossein was a French film actor of Parsi origin, director and writer. He directed the 1982 adaption of Les Misérables, and appeared in Vice and Virtue, Le Casse, Les Uns et les Autres and Venus Beauty Institute. His most recent roles include starring as Michèle Mercier's husband in the Angélique series and as a Catholic priest who falls in love with Claude Jade and becomes a communist in Prêtres interdits (Forbidden Priests) in 1973. Hossein started directing films in 1956 with Les salauds vont en enfer from a story by Frédéric Dard who… With 132 credits spanning from 1948 to 2025, Robert Hossein has appeared in 114 films and 18 TV shows.
Fans searching for Robert Hossein movies, Robert Hossein filmography, or the latest projects starring Robert Hossein can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Robert Hossein Movies
- The Professional (1981) — as Commissaire Rosen
- Rififi (1955) — as Rémi Grutter
- Angelique (1964) — as Jeoffrey de Peyrac
- Venus Beauty Institute (1999) — as L'aviateur
- Angelique and the Sultan (1968) — as Joffrey de Peyrac "Le Rescator"
Where to Watch Robert Hossein Films
Most Robert Hossein movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Robert Hossein, check our movies catalogue and browse page.