Bernède was born in Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine department, in Brittany.

In 1919, Bernède joined forces with actor René Navarre, who had played Fantômas in the Louis Feuillade serials, and writer Gaston Leroux, the creator of Rouletabille, to launch the Société des Cinéromans, a production company that would produce films and novels simultaneously.

Bernède published almost 200 adventure, mystery, and historical novels.

His best-known characters are Belphégor, Judex, Mandrin, Chantecoq, and Vidocq.

Bernède also wrote the libretti for a number of operas, among them Jules Massenet's Sapho and Camille Erlanger's L'Aube rouge.