Tchernia, Pierre

(Pierre Tcherniakowski / January 29, l928, Paris, France - )

   A movie buff since his childhood, he studied at the Vaugirard cinema school (l945) and spent one year at the IDHEC (1946). Unfortunately, cinema at the time seemed an impregnable fortress, and he did not find any job in movies. In 1947, he joined French ra­dio (Radio-Diffusion Française) and its Club d'Essai, a group of young writers and actors who created radio plays, managed by poet Jean Tardieu. A French TV pioneer, he co-founded TV news and was a newsreader for six years (l949-l955) while direct­ing his first TV programs (1952-1953 La Classe en Images; Le Magazine des Explorateurs; Le Club des In­venteurs). From l955 to the early l960s, he became a famous reporter, notably for Cinq Colonnes à la Une. His professionalism and amiable nature earned him huge popularity. He hosted and sometimes pro­duced some of the most successful French programs (l955-l960 La Boîte à Sel; l958-l959 La Clé des Champs; 1961-1978 L'Ami public No. 1; 1966-1967 7ème Art-7ème Case; 1967-1972 Monsieur Cinéma; l972-l974 Le Dernier des Cinq; l975-l977 Monsieur Cinéma; l977 Ces Messieurs nous disent; l978-l980 Monsieur Cinéma; l980-l981 Jeudi Cinéma; l982-1988 Mardi Cinéma).The first film he directed alone (Le Viager) was a box office hit. He played supporting roles and small parts in several movies (l953 Les Quatre Mousquetaires, medium-length, as Pierre de Rochefort, Gilles Margaritis; l960 La Brune que voilà, Robert Lamoureux; l962 Un Cheval pour Deux, Jean-Marc Thibault; La Guerre des Boutons / USA: War of the Buttons, Yves Robert; l963 Carambolages, also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, Marcel Bluwal; l965 Pleins Feux sur Stanislas / Rendezvous der Killer / USA: Killer Spy, Jean-Charles Dudrumet; 1966 L'Anglais tel qu'on le parle, short, Marcel Cravenne; l967 Le Petit Baig­neur / Si salvo chi puo, also co-screenwriter, Robert Dhéry; La Bonne Peinture, TV, Philippe Agostini; l974 La Gueule de l'Emploi, Jacques Rouland; 1981 Signé Furax, Marc Simenon; l985 Les Rois du Gag, Claude Zidi; 1988 L'Enfance de l'Art, Francis Girod; La Table tournante, animation, voice, Paul Grimault). He col­laborated as a co-screenwriter on several Astérix and Lucky Luke cartoons (l967 Astérix et Cléopâtre / UK: Asterix and Cleopatra, René Goscinny, France / Belgium; l971 Daisy Town, René Goscinny, France / Belgium; 1976 Les Douze Travaux d'Astérix, René Gos-cinny and Albert Uderzo; l978 La Ballade des Dalton, René Goscinny, Henri Gruel, and Morris; l985 Asté­rix et la Surprise de César / USA: Asterix Versus Caesar, Gaëtan and Paul Brizzi) and several comedies (1963 La Foire aux Cancres, Louis Daquin; l969 Trois Hom­mes sur un Cheval, Marcel Moussy). He authored two autobiographies: Mon Petit Bonhomme de Che­min—Souvenirs provisoires (Editions Stock, l975) and Magic Ciné (Librairie Arthème-Fayard, 2005).

 Filmography

1947 ◘ Le Chemin aux Images (short; co-director only; also co-screenwriter)

1961 ◘ La Belle Américaine / UK: The American Beauty / USA: What a Chassis (co-director with Rob­ert Dhéry; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, actor)

1964 ◘ Allez France! / USA: The Counterfeit Constable (co-director with Robert Dhéry; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist)

1972 ◘ Le Viager (also co-screenwriter)

1974 ◘ Les Gaspards / De rare snuiters / UK: The Holes / USA: The Down-in-the-Hole Gang (also screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Belgium)

1979 ◘ La Gueule de l'Autre

1988 ◘ Bonjour l'Angoisse (also screenwriter, co-adapter)

 Television Filmography

1965 ◘ L'Arroseur arrosé (also co-screenwriter)

1967 ◘ Deux Romains en Gaule

        ◘ Le Passe-Muraille (also screenwriter, adapter)

        ◘ La Grâce (also screenwriter, adapter)

1982 ◘ Le Voyageur imprudent (also screenwriter, adapter)

1984 ◘ Lucienne et le Boucher

        ◘ L'Huissier (also screenwriter, co-adapter)

        ◘ Héloïse (also screenwriter, adapter)

        ◘ Un Beau petit milliard (also co-screenwriter)

        ◘ Le Secret du petit Milliard (also co-screenwriter)

1997 ◘ Jean Carmet, la Liberté d'abord (documentary)