Philippe Leroy

Starting in the '60s, French actor Philippe Leroy (somtimes credited as Philippe Leroy-Beaulieu) was one of the most active European screen players for decades, with innumerable supporting roles in features representing all genres. Tall, distinguished, and elegant, Leroy exhibited a level of ease in everything from earnest dramas to farces to full-blooded horror. Born in France in 1930, Leroy debuted onscreen in cause célèbre Jacques Becker's Le Trou (1960), then began taking on an average of five to six films a year for the next 40 years, under the aegis of both well-known and lower-profiled directors, but most frequently on his native continent. Memorable projects included Nicholas Ray's costume adventure 55 Days at Peking (1963), Liliana Cavani's psychodrama The Night Porter (1974), Luc Besson's slick action thriller La Femme Nikita (1990), and Richard Attenborough's period romance In Love and War (1996). In 2007, Leroy teamed up with goremeister Dario Argento for the notorious director's gruesome supernatural horror outing Mother of Tears.

~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide