He enlisted in the Comédie-Française on 1 September 1947, and became a member on 1 January 1953.

He left the Comédie-Française on 31 December 1972, and became an honorary member the following day.

He was an officer in the Légion d'honneur[1] and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres,[2] and a grand officer in the Ordre national du Mérite.

[3] He was married to actress Françoise Engel (who died in 2005), and was a professor in the dramatic arts of the Simon Course.

He died on 18 September 2018 at age 93 of heart attack, five days before his 94th birthday.