Sacha Pitoëff
Sacha Pitoëff is known for Inferno (1980), Donkey Skin (1970), Last Year at Marienbad (1961).
Biography
Sacha Pitoëff (born Alexandre Pitoëff; 11 March 1920 – 21 July 1990) was a Swiss-born French actor and stage director.
Pitoëff was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on 11 March 1920, the son of Russian-born parents Ludmilla (née Smanova) and Georges Pitoëff. Both of his parents were born in the city of Tbilisi (in modern-day Georgia), then a part of the Russian Empire. The Pitoëffs were prominent actors in France, Georges was a founding member of the Cartel des Quatre (Group of Four), a group including Louis Jouvet, Charles Dullin, and Gaston Baty, dedicated to rejuvenating the French theatre.
Sacha graduated from Lycée Pasteur in Neuilly-sur-Seine, outside Paris. He studied acting and stage direction under Jouvet at the Théâtre de l'Athénée.
During World War II, the younger Pitoëff followed his mother back to Switzerland, where he played his earliest roles. After the war he returned to Paris, becoming general manager at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord. He made his directorial debut with a 1950 staging of Uncle Vanya, which proved both a critical and commercial success.
He became a fixture of Parisian theatre in the 1960s, becoming the director of his own troupe. His repertoire included works by Jean Genet, Eugène Ionesco, Hugo Claus, Robert Musil, Anna Langfus and Anton Chekhov. With Romy Schneider, he staged The Seagull, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters at Théâtre de l'Œuvre.
In 1967, he achieved his greatest success with a well-regarded production of Luigi Pirandello's Henry IV, which he directed and starred in, with Claude Jade.
Pitoëff played his first film role in 1952, in the omnibus film The Seven Deadly Sins. Appearing in over 50 films, he is probably best known for his performance in Alain Resnais's enigmatic Last Year at Marienbad (1960), as the unnamed man who may or may not be Delphine Seyrig's husband.
He was featured in roles of various sizes in such films as Henri-Georges Clouzot's Les Espions (1957), Peter Ustinov's Lady L (1965), René Clément's Is Paris Burning? (1966), and Jacques Demy's Donkey Skin (1970). He also appeared in several Hollywood productions, including Anatole Litvak's Anastasia (1956) and The Night of the Generals (1967), Mark Robson's The Prize (1963) and Dick Clement's To Catch a Spy (1971).
Toward the end of his acting career, he began appearing in horror films. His final role was as the bookseller Kazanian in Dario Argento's Inferno (1980).
For the last ten years of his life, Pitoëff was a professor at the National School of Theatre Arts and Techniques (ENSATT) in Lyon, where his students included Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Roger Milo and Niels Arestrup.
Pitoëff was married to French actress Luce Garcia-Ville, until her death by suicide in 1975. He had two siblings, actress Svetlana Pitoëff and writer Aniouta Pitoeff.
His height and distinctively-gaunt, lanky appearance may have been a consequence of Marfan syndrome.
Having suffered from depression in the final years of his life, he died in Paris at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital on 21 July 1990, at the age of 70.
Source: Article "Sacha Pitoëff" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Questions about Sacha Pitoëff
How many Sacha Pitoëff films are in the catalogue?
The CineQuiz catalogue has 27 films with Sacha Pitoëff, from 1952 to 1980.
What is the best rated Sacha Pitoëff film?
The best rated Sacha Pitoëff film in the catalogue is Last Year at Marienbad (1961), rated 7.4.
What was the first Sacha Pitoëff film?
The first Sacha Pitoëff film in the catalogue is Anastasia, from 1956.
Who has Sacha Pitoëff worked with the most?
In the catalogue, Sacha Pitoëff shares the most credits with Anatole Litvak (2 films), Delphine Seyrig (2 films) and Micheline Presle (2 films).
People data: TMDb.
Known for
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7.2 Donkey Skin
1970
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6.6 Inferno
1980
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7.4 Last Year at Marienbad
1961
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6.8 The Night of the Generals
1967
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7.2 Is Paris Burning?
1966
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6.8 Anastasia
1956
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6.7 The Prize
1963
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5.2 The Immoral Moment
1962
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6.4 Dossier 51
1978
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5.4 Patrick Still Lives
1980
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5.8 Lady L
1965
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6.9 Vengeance of the Three Musketeers
1961
Full filmography
39 films — 27 in the catalogue
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5.4
Patrick Still Lives
1980 · Dr. Herschell
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6.6
Inferno
1980 · Kazanian
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9.0 Subversion
1979 · Le Président
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6.4
Dossier 51
1978 · Minerve 1 (voice)
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8.0 O Rapaz e o São Bernardo
1977 · Sergeant
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6.0 The Carpathian Castle
1976 · Gortz
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9.0 Antigone
1974 · Tiresias
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8.0 La guerre du pétrole n'aura pas lieu
1974 · Essaan
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6.3 Le journal d'un suicidé
1973 · Le geôlier
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4.3 Escape to the Sun
1972
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5.0 Catch Me a Spy
1971 · Stefan
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8.0 Lancelot du Lac
1970 · l'ennemi (voice)
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7.2
Donkey Skin
1970 · The Prime Minister
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5.8 Le Bal du comte d'Orgel
1970 · Prince Naroumof
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Les salons de Baudelaire
1970 · Narrator
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4.9 Katmandu
1969 · Head of the organization
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8.0 Le Bossu
1969
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La Ville en haut de la colline
1969 · Egisthe
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4.9 Spray of the Days
1968 · Pharmacist
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6.9 Les Aventures de Lagardère
1968 · Philippe de Gonzague
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4.0 La Louve solitaire
1968 · Saratoga
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Le système Fabrizzi
1967 · Antonio Fabrizzi
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6.8
The Night of the Generals
1967 · Doctor
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7.2
Is Paris Burning?
1966 · Joliot-Curie
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5.8
Lady L
1965 · Bomb-throwing revolutionary
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6.7
The Prize
1963 · Dranyi
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5.5 The Doll
1962 · Sayas
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5.2
The Immoral Moment
1962 · Malferrer
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6.9
Vengeance of the Three Musketeers
1961 · Felton
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7.4
Last Year at Marienbad
1961 · M – The Other Man with the Lean Face, The Husband
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5.5 Captain Fracasse
1961 · Matamore
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5.3 Mum's the Word
1960 · Jo
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6.7 The Gambler
1958 · Afpley
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5.8 That Night
1958 · Shakespearean man (uncredited)
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6.8 A Tale of Two Cities
1958 · Gaspard
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6.6 The Spies
1957 · Leon
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6.8
Anastasia
1956 · Piotr Ivanovich Petrovin
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6.5 Raspoutine
1954 · Le chef de la police
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6.0 The Seven Deadly Sins
1952 · The pianist (segment "L'Orgueil") (uncredited)
Series and TV shows
1 titles
7.2
People data: TMDb.
Cast
