As an actor he became popular as Albert de Morcerf in a version of Le comte de Monte-Cristo (1954), fame and adulation followed with his Francois in La tête contre les murs (1959). As a director he became famous with anarcho-pictures, brilliant cynic comedies. His preferred actors in all decades were Michel Serrault and Jean Poiret - till the late 80s they were his leading stars. When Jeanne Moreau appeared in Le miraculé (1987), many other leading French screen-stars followed.