Richard Bohringer

{{Short description|French actor, singer, writer, and film director (born 1942)}}

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{{Infobox person

| name = Richard Bohringer

| image = Paris - Salon du livre 2013 - Richard Bohringer 001.jpg

| caption = Richard Bohringer in March 2013

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 16 January 1942{{cite web |title=Extrait de naissance n° 17/1942 |url=http://www.lesgensducinema.com/affiche_acteur.php?mots=bohringer&nom_acteur=BOHRINGER%20Richard&ident=6086&debut=0&record=0 |website=Les gens du cinema |language=French}} (age {{Age|1942|1|16}})

| birth_place = Moulins, France

| citizenship = French, Senegalese

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = Actor, singer, author, film director, screenwriter

| years_active = Late 1960s–present

| spouse =

| website = [http://www.richardbohringer.com richardbohringer.com]

}}

Richard Bohringer ({{IPA|fr|ʁiʃaʁ boʁɛ̃ʒe}})Pronunciation in French transcribed according to IPA standard. Listen on [https://fr.forvo.com/word/richard_bohringer/ Forvo]. is a French actor, singer, writer, and film director. He is the father of actresses Romane Bohringer and {{ill|Lou Bohringer|fr}}.

Early life

Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, France, to a French mother, Huguette Foucault{{cite book |title=Who's Who in France: dictionnaire biographique |date=1992 |publisher=Éditions Jacques Lafitte |language=French}} and a German father. {{cn|date=May 2024}} His parents met during World War II, making him a child of war.

At his birth, his parents left him with his maternal grandmother who lived in an HLM in {{ill|Deuil-La Barre|fr}}, his mother leaving to live in Germany. His father, dispatched to the Russian front, was taken prisoner for five years. Despite these difficulties, Bohringer describes his childhood with his grandmother as a happy one.Interview with Journal de 20 heures (France 2) on 1 May 2016 During his life, he was able to see his father only three times.Paris Match number 1868, 15 March 1985, page 53, section « Mes Gens » by Philippe Bouvard: {{Blockquote|text={{lang|fr|Je l'ai vu trois fois seulement dans ma vie. Cela n'a pas été très loin. Il parle allemand et pas moi.}}{{Paragraph break}}I saw him only three times during my life. We didn't get very far. He spoke German and I didn't.|multiline=true}}

He made his stage debut near the end of the 1960s. His first play, Les Girafes, was produced by Claude Lelouch. He entered the world of film with his first feature, Gérard Brach's La Maison, in 1970.

Career

In 1972, Richard Bohringer landed a significant role in {{ill|L'Italien des Roses|fr}}. It took until the beginning of the 1980s, however, for the actor, already in his forties, to truly make an impact, becoming one of the most notable French actors of this period. Beginning in 1981 with the film Diva by Jean-Jacques Beineix, he followed with numerous other roles, winning two César Awards for {{ill|L'Addition|fr}} (1984) and The Grand Highway (1987).

File:Richard Bohringer 1994.jpg]]

Other notable performances include his work in Luc Besson's Subway (1985) and Gérard Jugnot's Une époque formidable... (1991). He also became a favored actor for Jean-Loup Hubert, playing the flighty husband in {{Interlanguage link|J'ai épousé une ombre (film)|fr|lt=J'ai épousé une ombre}} (1983), and a collaborator with Jean-Pierre Mocky and his friend Bernard Giraudeau. In 1992, Bohringer and his daughter, Romane, were brought together on-screen by Claude Miller for The Accompanist.

In the 1990s, he became the presenter for Mission Appolo, a French-language variety show on Antenne 2, followed by the film Tango (1993), after which he worked more sparingly. Bohringer would then turn again to television with the series {{ill|Un homme en colère|fr}} (1997–2002).

Well before Bohringer began writing novels, he also attempted to write poetry set to music, himself a fan of slam poetry. He released a series of such albums between 1980 and 2002.

In 2010, at {{ill|The European Theatre|fr|L'Européen}} in Paris, France, he staged a one-man show adapted from his book {{ill|Traîne pas sous la pluie|fr}}. This began a tour of more than two years, with Bohringer regaling the public with stories of alcohol, travel, Africa, women, and more. In July 2011, he performed the show during The "Off" Festival of Avignon.

In January 2013, he created the play {{ill|J'avais un beau ballon rouge|fr}}, where he shared the stage with his daughter Romane for the first time. The play went on to great success on tour, and in Paris, at the Théâtre du Rond-Point.

A lover of literature, in April 2017, he read from the texts of Jack London and writer and war correspondent Olivier Weber during the opening night of festival of Literature and Journalism in Metz.{{Cite news |title=Jack London ouvre la voie pour un trentième rugissant |last=Bitzer |first=Michel |url=https://www.republicain-lorrain.fr/edition-de-metz-ville/2017/04/07/jack-london-ouvre-la-voie-pour-un-trentieme-rugissant |work=Le Républicain lorrain |publication-date=7 April 2017 |language=fr |trans-title=Jack London Leads the Way for a Roaring Thirtieth}}

In 2018, he guest-starred in the television series {{ill|À votre service|fr|À votre service (série télévisée)}}.

In 2023, his daughter Romane put him onstage at the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Quinze rounds, a solo performance derived from his work of the same title.

Awards and recognition

Bohringer won the César Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985,{{Cite news|last=Bourdain|first=G. S.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/19/movies/new-face-france-s-softhearted-tough-guy-richard-bohringer.html|title=New Face:; France's Softhearted Tough Guy: Richard Bohringer|date=19 February 1988|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-15|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite book |last1=Oscherwitz|first1=Dayna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57aIGJqhWDcC&dq=Richard+Bohringer+cesar&pg=PA60|title=The A to Z of French Cinema|last2=Higgins|first2=MaryEllen|date=2 September 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7038-3|language=en}} and the César Award for Best Actor in 1988.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/french-actor-richard-bohringer-holds-up-his-cesar-award-as-news-photo/535978274|title=French actor Richard Bohringer holds up his Cesar Award as he walks...|website=Getty Images|date=28 May 2016 |language=en-gb|access-date=2020-04-15}}{{Cite web|url=https://nantes.maville.com/actu/actudet_-rouans.-32-ans-apres-le-grand-chemin-richard-bohringer-revient-dans-la-commune_52716-3687940_actu.Htm|title=Rouans. 32 ans après le Grand chemin, Richard Bohringer revient dans la commune|website=nantes.maville.com|language=fr|access-date=2020-04-15}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.voici.fr/bios-people/richard-bohringer|title=Richard Bohringer – La biographie de Richard Bohringer avec Voici.fr|last=Média|first=Prisma|website=Voici.fr|language=fr|access-date=2020-04-15}}

He was the special guest at the 25th edition of the Festival Polar de Cognac in 2020.{{cite web | title=A Brief History of Cognac's POLAR Festival| first= Bernard| last= Bec | website=CrimeReads | date=9 August 2021 | url=https://crimereads.com/a-brief-history-of-cognacs-polar-festival/ | access-date=22 May 2024}}

Selected filmography

File:Richard Bohringer.jpg

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! Director
1977 \|Animal \|An assistant of Sergio \|Claude Zidi
rowspan=3\|1980 \|The Last Metro \|a Gestapo officer \|François Truffaut
Inspector Blunder \|fingerprint analyst \|Claude Zidi
La Boum \|a friend of François \|Claude Pinoteau
rowspan=2\|1981 \|Diva \|Gorodish \|Jean-Jacques Beineix
Les Uns et les Autres \|Richard \|Claude Lelouch
1982 \|{{Interlanguage link multi\|Le Grand Pardon\|fr}} \|Le Sacristain \|Alexandre Arcady
1984 \|{{Interlanguage link multi\|L'Addition\|fr}} \|Albert Lorca \|{{Interlanguage link multi\|Denis Amar\|fr}}
rowspan=2\|1985 \|Death in a French Garden \| Daniel Forest \|Michel Deville
Subway \|the florist \|Luc Besson
1986 \|Kamikaze \|Romain Pascot \|Didier Grousset
rowspan=3\|1987 \|The Grand Highway \|Pelo \|Jean-Loup Hubert
Agent trouble \|Alex \|Jean-Pierre Mocky
{{Interlanguage link multi\|Flag (1987 film)\|fr\|3=Flag (film, 1987)\|lt=Flag}} \|Inspecteur Simon \|Jacques Santi
1988 \|Door on the Left as You Leave the Elevator \|Boris \|Édouard Molinaro
1989 \|The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover \|Richard Boarst \|Peter Greenaway
1990 \|{{Interlanguage link multi\|Dames galantes\|fr}} \|Brantôme \|Jean-Charles Tacchella
rowspan=2\|1992 \|Confessions d'un Barjo \|Charles \|Jérôme Boivin
The Accompanist \|Chares Brice \|Claude Miller
1993 \|Tango \|Vincent Baraduc \|Patrice Leconte
1994 \|The Heart's Cry \|Paulo \|Idrissa Ouedraogo
1996 \|Unpredictable Nature of the River \|Commander de Blanet \|Bernard Giraudeau
Rowspan=2\|1997 \|La Vérité si je mens ! \|Victor Benzakhem \|Thomas Gilou
Wild Animals \|the boss \|Kim Ki-duk
1999 \|{{Interlanguage link multi\|Méditerranées\|fr}} \|Ramirez \|{{Interlanguage link multi\|Philippe Bérenger\|fr}}
2001 \|The Cat's Meow \|the film director \| Peter Bogdanovich
rowspan=2\|2003 \|Crime Spree \|Laurent Bastaldi \|Brad Mirman
The Overeater \|Émile Lachaume \|Thierry Binisti
2006 \|A City Is Beautiful at Night \|Richard \|Richard Bohringer
2008 \|Admiral \|General Janin \|Andreï Kravtchouk
2015 \|By the Sea \|Patrice \|Angelina Jolie Pitt

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! Director

1977

|Animal

|An assistant of Sergio

|Claude Zidi

rowspan=3|1980

|The Last Metro

|a Gestapo officer