Gaspard Ulliel Dies: French Actor and César Winner Was 37

Gaspard Ulliel, the César-winning actor who starred in films including Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “A Very Long Engagement” and Bertrand Bonello’s Yves Saint Laurent biopic “Saint Laurent,” has died. The actor was 37. French news agency AFP first reported the news that Ulliel died following injuries from a serious skiing accident.

Per Deadline, “The Cesar-winning actor was hospitalized Tuesday after suffering a head injury and has not survived, according to the actor’s family and local agent. The 37-year-old actor was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Grenoble following a collision on the slopes in the Savoie region.”

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Ulliel recently finished filming “Moon Knight,” the upcoming Disney+ series set to premiere on March 30. In the show, he stars as Midnight Man. But Ulliel is better known for films including “Hannibal Rising,” Xavier Dolan’s “It’s Only the End of the World,” “Paris Je T’aime,” and more.

Alongside his acting, Ulliel was also a model, serving as the face of Chanel’s Bleu de Chanel fragrance. Overall, he was nominated for six César awards: for “It’s Only the End of the World,” “Saint Laurent,” “A Very Long Engagement,” “Summer Things,” and “Strayed.” He won the Best Actor prize for “It’s Only the End of the World,” giving a terrific performance as a gay playwright grappling with terminal illness who comes home to face his family one more time. In “Saint Laurent,” Ulliel gave a complex performance as the titular fashion icon opposite Lea Seydoux and Louis Garrel.

Ulliel was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb outside of Paris, to a runway producer and a stylist. The signature scar on his left cheek came from a dog attack when he was six years old. It went on to serve as one of his trademark features in his many film performances. He studied cinema at the University of Saint-Denis before his breakout role in André Téchiné’s “Strayed” in 2003 earned him a César nomination for Most Promising Actor.

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