Richard Bohringer

Biography

Richard Bohringer (French pronunciation: [ʁiʃaʁ boʁɛ̃ʒe]; born 16 January 1942) is a French actor, singer, writer, and film director. He is the father of actresses Romane Bohringer and Lou Bohringer.

Early life

Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, France, to a French mother, Huguette Foucault and a German father. 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 Deuil-la-Barre, 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. During his life, he was able to see his father only three times.
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 L'Italien des Roses. 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 L'Addition (1984) and The Grand Highway (1987).

Other notable performances include his work in Luc Besson's Subway (1985), Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), and Gérard Jugnot's Une époque formidable... (1991). He also became a favored actor for Jean-Loup Hubert, playing the flighty husband in 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 Un homme en colère (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 The European Theatre in Paris, France, he staged a one-man show adapted from his book Traîne pas sous la pluie. 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 J'avais un beau ballon rouge, 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.
In 2018, he guest-starred in the television series À votre service.
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, and the César Award for Best Actor in 1988.
He was the special guest at the 25th edition of the Festival Polar de Cognac in 2020.