Urbane Franco-Italian performer, on stage from the late 1940s and in routine screen character roles through the 50s. Piccoli gained prominence in the following decades with roles as sophisticated bourgeois types in films by Bunuel, Hitchcock and Chabrol. He has since cemented his reputation as one of France's most prolific and acclaimed performers, working through the 1990s with directors including Bertrand Tavernier ("Spoiled Children" 1977), Louis Malle ("Atlantic City" 1980) and Leos Carax ("Bad Blood" 1986).