Leading actor of the French New Wave movement, mentored by the director Julien Duvivier. He was said to physically resemble the actor James Dean and was thought of as a French equivalent. He was a favorite of continental critics and was strongly promoted by the influential magazine Cahiers du Cinéma. After a period of retirement, he re-emerged in the 1970's as a writer/director of socially conscious (though rarely commercially successful) films.
