Jean-Louis Trintignant has passed away aged 91, it has been reported in the French media, after a long and successful career on the stage and screen as well as the racetrack.
He was regarded as one of France's greatest actors during a career that spanned six decades.
Jean-Louis wife confirmed his passing in a statement sent to AFP by the actor's agent.
The statement said that he passed away early on Friday at his home in the Gard region of southern France.
Jean-Louis was "surrounded by his loved ones" when he passed away, according to the statement.
The actor starred in classic European movies such as Krzysztof Kieslowski's 'Three Colours: Red', Costa-Gavras' 'Z' and Bernardo Bertolucci's 'The Conformist'.
In 2003, his life was hit by tragedy when his daughter Marie was killed, beaten to death, by rock star Bertrand Cantat.
Her death and the following murder trial sent shockwaves through France, and images of Jean-Louis crying at her funeral saw him get a lot of sympathy across the country.
The actor had lost another daughter, Pauline, when she was a baby.
Despite this, Jean-Louis said that he would forgive Cantat, the lead singer of the French band Noir Desir, and that he had no bitterness towards him.
Speaking to AFP, he said: "I wish I had never met him, that my daughter hadn't met him. But she was deeply in love, and he was too, I think."
When asked if he had forgiveness, Jean-Louis replied: "Yes... Life is made up of things that escape us, so forgiveness is indispensable."
in 2012, Jean-Louis starred in Michael Haneke's Oscar-winning 'Amour', in which he played a man in his eighties struggling to look after his wife after a stroke.
Born in 1930, his family were rich industrialists in the Vaucluse region of southern France but World War II shattered his childhood.
it reached its nadir in 1944 when he was paraded through the streets with his mother by a mob who accused her of "sleeping with the Germans" before going on to shave her head.
This was the day his home town was liberated from the Nazis and later that day, his father returned in triumph with the American army, after fighting for the French resistance.
Jean-Louis also liked to indulge in the family's passion for motor racing, with his uncle Maurice Trintignant being a Formula One legend.
The actor continued to race cars even after his big screen debut in 1956 opposite Brigitte Bardot in the then notorious, 'And God Created Woman'.
Car racing and acting eventually collided when Jean-Louis landed and a role as a racing driver in 'A Man and A Women' opposite Anouk Aimee.
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