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Jean Renoir directed the 1937 anti-war film Grand Illusion, which earned a Best Picture nomination. Son of impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, he fled France during WWII and became a US citizen. He received an Academy Honorary Award in 1975. His films include The Rules of the Game and La Bête Humaine.
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Jean Renoir by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Jean Renoir — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Jean Renoir was born on September 15, 1894 in Paris, the son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Aline Charigot. His father, fifty-three at his birth, insisted on keeping Jean’s hair long, leading to endless teasing from other children. That signature long hair appears in several of his father’s paintings. Jean grew up surrounded by art and later sold inherited paintings to finance his early films.
Renoir’s first film, Une Vie Sans Joie 1924, starred his first wife Catherine Hessling, whom he hoped to make a star. He gradually sold paintings from his father’s collection to finance his silent films. His breakthrough came with Grand Illusion 1937, the first film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. In 1939 he directed The Rules of the Game, in which he also acted as Octave. He fled to the US in 1940 and worked in Hollywood but struggled to adapt. His last film, The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir 1970, was an avant-garde trilogy.
Renoir married Catherine Hessling in 1920; they separated in 1930 but divorced only in 1943. His next partner was Marguerite Renoir, who took his surname though they never married. In 1957 he married Dido Freire, who remained with him until his death. He had one son, Alain Renoir. He credited his childhood nanny Gabrielle Renard as a great influence and maintained a deep bond with her.
Orson Welles frequently called Renoir the greatest film director of all time, and Charlie Chaplin echoed that praise. In the 2002 BFI Sight & Sound poll, critics ranked him fourth, while Entertainment Weekly placed him twelfth. He received an Academy Honorary Award in 1975 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jean Renoir died of a heart attack on February 12, 1979 in Beverly Hills. His body was returned to France for burial in Essoyes.
Browse the complete filmography of Jean Renoir — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Jean Renoir — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Jean Renoir's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
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A wall of memorable lines from Jean Renoir — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
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.
The Real Artists Tells About Himself Entirely, with a Perfect Sincerity but Without Knowing It. in Spite of Himself, He’s Conveying a Message. If He Starts His Work Explaining to Himself, I’m Going to Deliver a Great Message There’s a Very Good Chance He Will Not Deliver Anything at All.
Little-known facts about Jean Renoir — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Orson Welles frequently cited Renoir as the greatest film director of all time.
Renoir had extremely long hair as a small child; his father Pierre-Auguste Renoir refused to cut it, leading to teasing. The long hair appears in one of his father’s paintings.
Entertainment Weekly magazine voted him the 12th-greatest director of all time.
Although he became an American citizen, he was buried in France following a state funeral.
Charlie Chaplin named him as the greatest film director in the world.
He frequently acted in his own movies, earning praise for his performances as lovable bear-like lugs; in The Rules of the Game 1939 he even dressed up as a bear.
He fought in the French army during World War I and suffered a wound in battle that never healed properly.
His father was fifty-three when he was born.
Darryl F. Zanuck, a producer during Renoir’s Hollywood period, remarked that Renoir had plenty of talent but was not one of us.
He once said that no other Hollywood director understood people better than Leo McCarey.
People frequently approached him about turning his best-selling novel Les Cahiers du Capitain Georges into a film, but he always refused.
Director Jacques Rivette called him le patron.
Brother of Pierre Renoir and uncle of Claude Renoir.
Encyclopedia of French Film Directors by Philippe Rege includes a profile of him.
Friend of Georges Simenon and godfather of his son John Simenon.
Grand-uncle of Sophie Renoir and Alexandre Renoir.
Renoir was originally attached to direct The Amazing Mrs. Holliday 1943, but Bruce Manning replaced him.
In 1975 he received a lifetime Academy Award, and the National Film Theatre in London showed a retrospective of his work.
In 1973 he prepared a production of his stage play Carola with Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer but fell ill; Norman Lloyd took over directing.
The BFI’s Sight & Sound poll of critics in 2002 ranked him as the fourth greatest director of all time.
Albert Barnes collected his ceramics; they now reside at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
After Germany invaded France in May 1940, Renoir fled to the United States with his second wife Dido Freire.
He published his memoir My Life and My Films in 1974, dedicating it to his nanny Gabrielle Renard.
His last film is The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir 1970, a series of three short films in a variety of styles.
The Royal College of Art in London awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1971.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Jean Renoir.
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