Biography
Pierre Étaix was a French comedian and filmmaker. Étaix made a series of short- and feature-length films, many of them co-written by influential screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. He won an Academy Award for best live-action short film in 1963.
Known For
Complete Filmography
From Darkness to Light
2025
as Self
Explores Jerry Lewis' unreleased 1972 film "The Day the Clown Cried," its mysterious disappearance, and the search for footage. Includes interviews wi...
Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown
2016
as Self
Since the early days, Jerry Lewis—in the line of Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel—had the masses laughing with his visual gags, pantomime sketches and signa...
The Clown
2016
as Self
A documentary about Jerry Lewis' never-released movie "The Day the Clown Cried".
Winter Song
2015
as Marquis-Clochard
Two old friends have urban adventures connected to the skull of an executed French aristocrat.
Le Havre
2011
as Dr. Becker
In the French harbor city of Le Havre, fate throws young African refugee Idrissa into the path of Marcel Marx, a well-spoken bohemian who works as a s...
Chantrapas
2011
as French Producer
A filmmaker finds creative freedom more elusive than he imagined in this ironic comedy-drama. Tired of the state-appointed producers and censorship in...
Carrière, 250 Meters
2011
as Self
A portrait documentary tracing the inspiration, philosophy and imagination of the celebrated theatre and screen writer - and Bunuel's long term collab...
Pierre Étaix, un destin animé
2011
as Self
A documentary on the career of famed French clown and filmmaker Pierre Étaix.
Lucifer et moi
2009
as Self
Gardens in Autumn
2006
When he loses his position as a powerful government minister, Vincent is dropped by his pretty mistress and must begin life anew, without the privileg...
Bouvard et Pécuchet
1990
as Maître Tardivel
Two retirees obsessed with their desire to know everything put their knowledge into practice in a constantly awkward way.
In the Footsteps of Monsieur Hulot
1989
Executive Producer
Two-part documentary about French director Jacques Tati chronicles the evolution of the filmmaker's alter ego, Monsieur Hulot, through archival interv...
J'écris dans l'espace
1989
Director, Screenplay
The Nightmare of Méliès
1988
Director
An international homage to Méliès in 1988.
L'âge de Monsieur est avancé
1987
as L'auteur
Only on the stage of an empty theater, an author and his wife clash: the scene and the life end up getting confused.
L'âge de Monsieur est avancé
1987
Writer, Director
Only on the stage of an empty theater, an author and his wife clash: the scene and the life end up getting confused.
Docile Night
1987
as SOS Amor
Jean is a successful painter who leaves his mistress, though he stops intermittently to phone her with explanations. Sometimes she is responsive but o...
Max My Love
1986
as Detective
The wife of a British diplomat in Paris takes a chimpanzee as her lover.
L'aide-mémoire
1984
Doctor Lerne, Subgod
1983
as Roland
A mad scientist, Dr. Lerne, performs organ transplants not only between humans and animals, but also with plants and even machines ...
La Métamorphose
1983
as Gustav-Adolf Braut
A young man wakes up one day transformed into a giant insect.
On n'est pas sorti de l'auberge
1982
as Le garçon d'étage
It's about a couple owning a small hotel who are trying to sell it.
Serious as Pleasure
1975
as Le garçon d'étage
"In Serieux comme le plaisir, two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy anyway, so the trio...
Land of Milk and Honey
1971
as Self - The Director
Pierre Etaix’s most radical film, and perhaps unsurprisingly the one that effectively ended his career in cinema, Land of Milk and Honey is a fascinat...
Land of Milk and Honey
1971
Writer, Director
Pierre Etaix’s most radical film, and perhaps unsurprisingly the one that effectively ended his career in cinema, Land of Milk and Honey is a fascinat...
The Clowns
1970
as Clown
Fellini exposes his great attraction for the clowns and the world of the circus first recalling a childhood experience when the circus arrives nearby ...
Le Grand Amour
1969
as Pierre
Pierre married Florence, the only daughter of a small industrialist. 15 years later, he is the boss, but his middle-class life worries him a lot. When...
Le Grand Amour
1969
Screenplay, Director
Pierre married Florence, the only daughter of a small industrialist. 15 years later, he is the boss, but his middle-class life worries him a lot. When...
The Thief of Paris
1967
as Pickpocket (uncredited)
In Paris around 1900, a young man raised by his wealthy uncle plots revenge after his cousin is betrothed to a rich neighbor. He steals the fiancé's f...
As Long as You've Got Your Health
1966
as Pierre
An anthology film consisting of four stories. (1) A man reads a Dracula novel while in bed, but cannot seem to tell the novel from reality, causing sl...
Feeling Good
1966
Short film by Pierre Etaix, edited out from the anthology film As Long as You've Got Your Health (1966).
As Long as You've Got Your Health
1966
Director, Writer
An anthology film consisting of four stories. (1) A man reads a Dracula novel while in bed, but cannot seem to tell the novel from reality, causing sl...
Feeling Good
1966
Director, Writer
Short film by Pierre Etaix, edited out from the anthology film As Long as You've Got Your Health (1966).
Yoyo
1965
as Yoyo / The Millionaire
The story follows the son of a millionaire from the 1920s to the 1960s. After losing his fortune in the stock-exchange crash, he teams up with an eque...
Yoyo
1965
Screenplay, Director
The story follows the son of a millionaire from the 1920s to the 1960s. After losing his fortune in the stock-exchange crash, he teams up with an eque...
Insomnia
1963
French pantomimist Pierre Étaix plays an insomniac who makes the mistake of trying to read himself to sleep with a book about vampires. Short film inc...
Insomnia
1963
Writer, Director
French pantomimist Pierre Étaix plays an insomniac who makes the mistake of trying to read himself to sleep with a book about vampires. Short film inc...
The Suitor
1962
as Pierre
Absent-minded yet cultured, Pierre answers his parents demands to wed by ignoring both astronomy and the housemaid, instead falling head-over-heels fo...
The Suitor
1962
Director, Writer
Absent-minded yet cultured, Pierre answers his parents demands to wed by ignoring both astronomy and the housemaid, instead falling head-over-heels fo...
Happy Anniversary
1962
as Le mari
Heureux Anniversaire is a 1962 French short comedy film directed by Pierre Étaix. While his wife impatiently waits and gets drunk, a husband tries to ...
Happy Anniversary
1962
Co-Writer, Director
Heureux Anniversaire is a 1962 French short comedy film directed by Pierre Étaix. While his wife impatiently waits and gets drunk, a husband tries to ...
A Swelled Head
1962
A man inherits an old house in a very bad condition. With the help of a young mechanic, he begins to renovate this house.
Le Pèlerinage
1962
Rupture
1961
A man receives a breakup letter from his sweetheart, who sends him back his photo, in pieces. The pained lover decides to reply. Fountain pen, penhold...
Rupture
1961
Co-Writer, Director
A man receives a breakup letter from his sweetheart, who sends him back his photo, in pieces. The pained lover decides to reply. Fountain pen, penhold...
The Army Game
1960
as Le chef de gare
Jean Lerat begins his military service at an army camp. Despite his aunt’s attempts to pull a few strings to his advantage, the unfortunate Lerat mana...
Pickpocket
1959
as 2nd Accomplice
Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only ...
Mon Oncle
1958
as Delivery man / Telegraph operator (uncredited)
Genial, bumbling Monsieur Hulot loves his top-floor apartment in a grimy corner of the city, and cannot fathom why his sister's family has moved to th...
Mon Oncle
1958
Assistant Director
Genial, bumbling Monsieur Hulot loves his top-floor apartment in a grimy corner of the city, and cannot fathom why his sister's family has moved to th...