Who was Jacques Perrin? Tributes pour in as renowned French actor dies aged 80

Renowned French actor and director Jacques Perrin, who appeared in several films like Cinema Paradiso and The Young Girls of Rochefort, passed away at the age of 80 on April 21, with his family confirming the unfortunate demise to news agency AFP. In a statement to the outlet, his son, Mathieu Simonet, said:

"The family has the immense sadness of informing you of the death of filmmaker Jacques Perrin, who died on Thursday, April 21 in Paris. He passed away peacefully."

Perrin's resume includes appearances in over 70 films, plays, and documentaries, as well as the production of many feature films by Costa-Gavras and Jean-Jacques Annaud.

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Twitter reactions on Jacques Perrin's passing away

As soon as news broke of the cinematic genius' untimely death, tributes began pouring in on Twitter. Several people shared pictures of themselves with the actor and also uploaded screenshots from various films of his younger days.

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Brief information about Jacques Perrin

Jacques Perrin, who was born on July 13, 1941 in Paris, had acted in over 70 films in a career that spanned from the 1950s to the current decade.

Perrin, who was equally at home in both French and Italian cinema, had his first major role in 1961, co-starring with Claudia Cardinale in Girl with a Suitcase.

Perrin, distinguished for his grey-to-white hair and soothing voice, was regularly cast as a military commander in films such as The 317th Platoon in 1965, Drummer-Crab in 1977, and A Captain's Honor in 1982, all directed by Pierre Schoendoerffer.

He also co-starred in the Jacques Demy musicals, The Young Girls of Rochefort and Donkey Skin with Catherine Deneuve.

In the Oscar-winning film Cinema Paradiso, Perrin played the mature director Salvatore, reminiscing about his upbringing.

Perrin was also a co-producer on 15 films, including Z, which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film and Best Film Editing in 1969, and The Chorus, directed by his nephew Christophe Barratier in 2004.

The latter was a box office success in France, selling 8.6 million tickets.

Perrin's final film performance, in the March release of the environmental thriller Goliath, demonstrated his strong interest in the natural world.

Being a dedicated conversationist, he co-produced numerous films, including The Monkey Folk, Microcosmos, and Himalaya.

He later co-directed other films, including the Oscar-nominated Winged Migration (2001) and Oceans, which received the César Award for Outstanding Documentary Film in 2011.

Taking to his Twitter handle, French Army Chief of Staff General Thierry Burkhard paid appreciation to the deceased actor for his various performances as military officers and soldiers in Schoendoerffer's films, while the Foreign Legion dubbed him as "a big name in movies, a personality of tremendous humility."