In a career spanning more than 60 years, Claude Brasseur established himself as one of France’s most popular actors.
The 84-year-old was born in an affluent suburb of Paris and would go on to feature in 150 film and television productions.
However, his life away from the silver screen, where he regularly played the tough guy, was just as remarkable as his acting career was long.
War interrupted his appearances on screen before they got started when in the 1950s he travelled overseas to fight.
For three years he was an army parachutist in Algeria’s war of independence against the French.
In 1964 he was selected to represent his country’s Winter Olympics bobsleigh team but was badly injured before the competition.
Later in his career he joked he still carried enough metal in his body to be a more fitting Terminator than Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And in 1983 he indulged his motoring passion when he won the legendary Saharan endurance rally from Paris to Dakar in Senegal when he teamed up with Formula One driver Jacky Ickx.
His appearance on television playing the amateur sleuth Rouletabille in The Mystery of the Yellow Room first brought him to prominence as an actor in 1965.
In 1977 he won his first César award, which celebrate French films, for best supporting actor in the comedy Pardon Mon Affaire.
He followed that up three years later with the best actor award for his performance in The Police War.
In 2008 he received France’s highest civilian accolade when he was made a member of the country’s Legion of Honour, he continued starring in comedy films until 2018.
