Dominique Pinon (born 4 March 1955) is a French actor. He is known for appearing in films directed by

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Jean-Pierre Jeunet (; born 3 September 1953) is a French film director and screenwriter. His films combine fantasy, realism, and science fiction to create idealized realities or to give relevance to mundane situations. Jeunet debuted as a direc ...

, often playing eccentric or grotesque characters.

Early life and education

Dominique Pinon was born in

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indr ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 4 March 1955. After studying at the Faculty of Arts of Poitiers, Dominique Pinon moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and enrolled at the Cours Simon.

Career

A prolific screen and theatre actor with many tens of titles to his credit, Pinon has appeared most predominantly in French films, but also in works produced and shot in England, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and the United States.

In film

In 1981, Jean-Jacques Beineix gave Pinon his start in cinema with the movie '' Diva''; Pinon also acted in two later Beineix films. He has had several roles in the films of

. He has appeared in three films by British horror director

Johannes Roberts Johannes Roberts is a British filmmaker who directed the horror films ''The Other Side of the Door (2016 film), The Other Side of the Door'', ''47 Meters Down'' and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, its sequel, ''The Strangers: Prey at Night'', and ''Res ...

. Pinon appeared in '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' (in French, ''Le Pont du roi Saint-Louis''). Adapted from a short work by Thornton Wilder by the Irish director Mary McGuckian, Pinon acted in this period piece, which was poorly reviewed and had an ensemble cast (including

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor and film producer, known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running associatio ...

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy L ...

Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress. Kathy Bates filmography, Her work spans over five decades, and List of awards and nominations received by Kathy Bates, her accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, t ...

, F. Murray Abraham, and Geraldine Chaplin). He appeared in Álex de la Iglesia's 2008 '' The Oxford Murders'' with

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

, and Leonor Watling.

In theater

In the theatre, he has appeared in the plays of Gildas Bourdet, Jorge Lavelli, and Valère Novarina.

Awards and recognition

Pinon received the Molière Award for Best Actor in 2004. In 2011, he was the president of the jury for the second ''Festival International du Film fantastique d'Audincourt''. He has been an officer of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

since 2014.

Works

On stage

Filmography

Other works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinon, Dominique 1955 births Living people French male film actors French male stage actors University of Poitiers alumni French expatriates in Spain Expatriate actors in Spain People from Saumur Male actors from Pays de la Loire Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres