A French actor, he started acting in the 1930s. Among his most notable films are Les Visiteurs du soir (1942), by Marcel Carné; Les Amants (The Lovers 1958); La Dolce Vita (1960) and Satyricon (1969), the latter two directed by Federico Fellini. Later in his career he had a role in the softcore porn film Emmanuelle (1974). Also in 1974 he played Sitting Bull in the absurdist western Don't Touch the White Woman!. One of his last roles was in Camille Claudel (1988) as Louis-Prosper Claudel, father of the film's heroine.