Pierre Richard-Willm

Pierre Richard-Willm (3 November 1895 – 12 April 1983) was a French actor during the 1930s and 1940s.

Richard-Willm was born in south-western France in the city of Bayonne. His mother, Elisabeth-Fanny Willm, died at the age of thirty-one, and he was raised by his maternal grandmother. He attended the Beaux-Arts School, in Nantes between 1913 and 1914, then in 1916 he joined the army, and fought during World War I. After the war he became a sculptor, and in 1921 he started playing bit roles on stage.

In 1924 he took part of in the sculpturing art competition of the Games of the VIII Olympiad, making a group of sculptures on rugby and skating.

His film debut came in the 1930s Toute sa vie, under the direction of Alberto Cavalcanti, followed by Les Vacances du diable, Daughter of the Regiment, Le Grand Jeu, and his most famous role as Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo.

After retiring from acting, in the 1950s, he directed Bussang's Théâtre du Peuple. In 1975 he published his autobiography named Loin des Étoiles.

Richard-Willm died in Paris, and is buried at the cemetery in Bussang, Vosges.