{{Short description|French actor (1942–1999)}} {{about||the French politician|Pierre Clémenti (politician)}} {{More citations needed|ate=July 2025|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Pierre Clémenti | image = Pierre_Clementi.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Pierre André Clémenti | birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|9|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Paris, Occupied France | death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|12|27|1942|9|28|df=y}} | death_place =Paris, France | death_cause = | spouse = | children = Balthazar Clémenti and Valentin Clémenti | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = Actor | years_active = }}
'''Pierre André Clémenti''' (28 September 1942 – 27 December 1999) was a French actor.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160310132429/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f8e0358 Pierre Clémenti] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.premiere.fr/Star/Pierre-Clmenti | title=Pierre Clémenti - Bio | magazine=Première |lang=fr}}</ref>
==Life and career== Born in Paris to an unknown father and Rose Clémenti, a Corsican concierge whose surname he took, Clémenti had a difficult childhood and took refuge in literature and the theatre. He studied drama and began his acting career in the theatre. He secured his first minor screen roles in Yves Allégret's '' Jack of Spades'' ("Chien de pique", 1960), performing alongside Eddie Constantine. Possibly his best remembered role was as the gangster lover/client of the bourgeois prostitute (Catherine Deneuve) in ''Belle de Jour'' (1967) directed by Luis Buñuel, in whose other film ''The Milky Way'' (1969) he played the Devil. He worked with several other European directors, including in highly regarded films of the era, such as ''The Leopard'' (Luchino Visconti, 1963), ''Pigsty'' (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1969) and ''The Conformist'' (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970, and Bertolucci's ''Partner'', 1968). Other directors he worked with include Liliana Cavani, Glauber Rocha, Miklós Jancsó, Jacques Rivette, and Philippe Garrel.
In 1972, Clémenti's career was derailed after he was sentenced to prison for allegedly possessing or using drugs. Due to insufficient evidence, he was released after 17 months; later he wrote a book about his time in prison. After his release he played the ever-optimistic sailor of the Potemkin in Dusan Makavejev's ''Sweet Movie'' (1974) and the role of Pablo, the seductive saxophone player, in Fred Haines's ''Steppenwolf'' (also 1974) adapted from the novel by Hermann Hesse. Throughout his career he continued to be active in the theatre.
Clémenti was also involved with the French underground film movement, directing several of his own films which often featured fellow underground filmmakers and actors. ''Visa de censure no X'' was an experimental work composed of two films. ''New Old'' was a feature-length work starring Viva released in 1978. He went on to direct ''La Révolution ce n'est qu'un début, continuons le combat'', ''In the Shadow of the Blue Rascal'' and ''Sun''.
He married actress Margareth Clémenti (née Le-Van, 1948), mother of his son Balthazar, born in July 1965. Later he was married to Nadine, mother of his second child, Valentin Clémenti-Arnoult.
He died of liver cancer in 1999.
==Selected filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role(s) ! class="unsortable" | Director(s) ! Note(s) |- | 1960 | ''Jack of Spades'' | Paco | Yves Allégret | |- | 1963 | ''The Leopard'' | Francesco Paolo | Luchino Visconti | |- | 1967 | ''Belle de Jour'' | Marcel | Luis Buñuel | |- | 1968 | ''Benjamin'' | Benjamin | Michel Deville | |- | 1969 | ''Pigsty'' | Young cannibal | Pier Paolo Pasolini | |- | 1969 | ''The Year of the Cannibals'' | Tiresia | Liliana Cavani | |- | 1970 | ''The Conformist'' | Lino | Bernardo Bertolucci | |- | 1971 | ''The Designated Victim'' | Count Matteo Tiepolo | Maurizio Lucidi | |- | 1972 | ''The Inner Scar'' | Horseman/Archer | Philippe Garrel | |- | 1974 |''The Irony of Chance'' |Antoine Desvrières |Édouard Molinaro | |- | 1981 |''Le Pont du Nord'' | Julien |Jacques Rivette | |- | 1987 |{{ill|Un bambino di nome Gesù|it|italic=y}} | Sefir |Franco Rossi | |- | 1989 |''Hard to Be a God'' | King |Peter Fleischmann | |}
==Bibliography== *1973 ''Carcere italiano''. Milan: Il Formichiere. *2005 ''Quelques messages personnels''. Paris: Gallimard. {{ISBN|978-2-07-030748-7}} *2007 ''Pensieri dal carcere''. Fagnano Alto: il Sirente. {{ISBN|978-88-87847-12-3}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0167509|name=Pierre Clémenti}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081203152918/http://www.choses-vues.com/en/clementi/fiche.html DVD Pierre Clémenti film-maker] * [http://www.lafuriaumana.it/index.php/50-lfu-4/366-doris-peternel-pierre-clementi-cineaste Pierre Clémenti, cinéaste, by Doris Peternel]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clementi, Pierre}} Category:1942 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Male actors from Paris Category:Deaths from liver cancer in France Category:French male stage actors Category:French male film actors Category:French male television actors Category:French people of Italian descent Category:20th-century French male actors Category:French people of Corsican descent