Jean Richard (18 April 1921 – 12 December 2001) was a French actor, comedian, and circus entrepreneur.

[1] He is best remembered for his role as Georges Simenon's Maigret in the eponymous French television series, which he played for more than twenty years, and for his circus activities.

[2] Richard was born in Bessines, Deux-Sevres.

In the 1970s–1980s, he owned and managed three major circuses, two theme parks near Paris, La Mer de Sable and La Vallée des Peaux-Rouges, and a private zoo in his property of Ermenonville, Oise.

He died on 12 December 2001 in Senlis, aged 80.