Jean-Louis Trintignant, Legendary French Amour Actor, Dead at 91

HERBERT NEUBAUER/APA/AFP via Getty Images Jean-Louis Trintignant

Jean-Louis Trintignant, an award-winning French actor, has died. He was 91.

French News agency AFP announced Trintignant's death on Friday, attributing the sad news to his wife of over 20 years, Marianne Hoepfner Trintignant, and the actor's agent.

PEOPLE confirms Trintignant, who starred in 2012's Academy Award-winning film Amour, died in his sleep in Uzès, France, where he had lived for the past 30 years.

A cause of death has not been revealed, though Trintignant previously announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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Trintignant was born in 1930 in Piolenc, France, and initially studied law in Aix-en-Provence before beginning to pursue an acting career, according to his IMDb biography.

After starting out in theater, Trintignant made his move to film in the mid-1950s and got his first big break in 1956's And God Created Woman, alongside Brigitte Bardot.

Trintignant went on to star in films like 1966's romance A Man and a Woman, 1970's The Conformist and 1973's Under Fire. He also won best actor at the Cannes Film Festival for Z (1969), among numerous accolades.

With nearly 150 acting credits to his name, Trintignant had a career that spanned nearly seven decades and several mediums and genres. In more recent years, he was known for his starring role in 2012's Amour, opposite Emmanuelle Riva.

Wega Film/Kobal/Shutterstock Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour (2012)

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The romantic drama was nominated for five Oscars, winning Best Foreign Language Film, while Trintignant nabbed the 2013 César Award for best actor for his role as Riva's character Anne's husband, Georges Laurent.

Following the news of Trintignant's death, French President Emmanuel Macron called him a "tremendous artistic talent" who "accompanied our lives a little through French cinema," in a statement shared by the AFP.

Speaking about his health, Trintignant previously said after revealing he had cancer, according to THR, "Growing old is just a series of problems. ... But in the end, it was good I stayed alive for so long. I was able to meet a lot of interesting people."

Trintignant is survived by wife Marianne, whom he wed in 2000, and son Vincent. He is preceded in death by daughters Pauline, who died in 1970 at 9 months old, and actress Marie Trintignant, who died in 2003 at age 41.