Biography for
Jean Renoir More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

15 September 1894, Paris, France

Date of Death

12 February 1979, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (heart attack)

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Son of the famous Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste, he had a happy childhood. Pierre Renoir was his brother, and Claude Renoir was his nephew. After the end of World War I, where he won the Croix de Guerre, he moved from scriptwriting to filmmaking. He married Catherine Hessling, for whom he began to make movies; he wanted to make a star of her. They separated in 1930, although he remained married to her until 1943. His next partner was Marguerite Renoir, whom he never married, although she took his name. He left France in 1941 during the German invasion of France during World War II and became a naturalized US citizen.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Yepok

Spouse

Dido Freire	(6 February 1944 - 12 February 1979) (his death)
Catherine Hessling	(24 January 1920 - 1930) (separated)

Trivia

Son of impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (aka Auguste Renoir).

Younger brother of Pierre Renoir

Uncle of Claude Renoir

Although he became an American citizen, he was buried in France following a state funeral.

Was voted the 12th-greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly magazine, making him the highest-rated French filmmaker on the list.

He frequently acted in his own movies, earning praise for his performances as lovable bear-like lugs (he even dressed up like a bear in The Rules of the Game (1939)).

Biography in John Wakeman, editor, "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945," pp. 923-947. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

He once said that no other Hollywood director understood people better than Leo McCarey.

Called "the boss" by director Jacques Rivette.

Grand-uncle of actress Sophie Renoir.

Orson Welles frequently cited him as the greatest film director of all time.

He fought in the French army during World War I and was wounded in battle. His wounds never healed properly and he suffered from it for the rest of his life.

Profiled in "Encyclopedia of French Film Directors" by Philippe Rege (Scarecrow Press).

Grand-uncle of artist Alexandre Renoir.

Darryl F. Zanuck, Renoir's sometimes producer during Renoir's mixed period making films in Hollywood said "Renoir has plenty of talent, but he's not one of us.".

He had extremely long hair as a small child which was not cut at the insistence of his father, Auguste Renoir. His hair made him look like a little girl and caused him to be teased mercilessly. Little Jean with his long hair was depicted famously in one of his father's paintings. Jean was greatly relieved to go away for school because he knew they required boys to have short hair and they would cut his.

Personal Quotes

My dream is of a craftsman's cinema in which the author can express himself as directly as the painter in his paintings or the writer in his books.

The Western is always the same, which gives the director tremendous freedom.

The saving grace of the cinema is that with patience and a little love we may arrive at that wonderfully complex creature which is called man.

A director only makes one film in his life. Then he breaks it into pieces and makes it again.

I believe that perfection handicaps cinema.

It's a war film; nevertheless there's not a mention of war in it. Beneath its benign appearance, this story strikes at the very structure of our society. (on his film "The Rules of the Game")