Stage, screen and television actor, comédien and musician.

Born André Pierre Darricau, the son of a doctor from the Basque upper middle class and one of his mistresses, he didn't learn of his true parentage until the age of 10 - after his father's death - and never knew the identity of his biological mother. His father's wife, Louise Darricau, had feigned pregnancy during the six months prior to his birth. His family left the Vosges around 1930 to settle in Bordighera, Italy, where he spent his childhood. An excellent student, he began studying music (piano and classical music). He enrolled at the Paris Conservatoire to become a concert performer, but failed his exams. Having won prizes in harmony and composition, and forced to earn a living, he joined the Musical Royalties as a copyist. He then turned to cabaret, where he became a pianist-accompanist, and perfected his bewildered, lisping persona as the "curly-haired man with glasses", as he called himself. Afflicted with a stammer as a result of a childhood fright, he recovered from it, but cultivated this defect on stage, which became one of his trade marks. With Sacha Guitry having cast him in "Assassins et Voleurs" (1957), he turned to the cinema, where his role in "Le Triporteur" (1957) quickly made him a household name. He appeared in countless comedies, often to satisfy a need for money stemming from a passion for gambling that he readily admits. He scored his first theatrical success with "Docteur Glass" (1965) at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin. He received an honorary César at the 2001 ceremony. He also won the Prix Molière for Best Supporting Actor in 1995. In 2004, he was awarded the César for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Mme Foin in Alain Resnais' "Pas sur la bouche".

A heavy smoker, he died of lung cancer. He was cremated at the Père-Lachaise cemetery and his ashes collected by his family for burial in the old Neuilly-sur-Seine cemetery in September 2006.