Jean-Claude Deret

Jean-Claude Deret was born as Claude Breitman on July 11, 1921.[1][2][3] His family were secular Jews from Russia.[1] One of his great-grandfathers was a psychiatrist.[1] He lost a relative in The Holocaust.[1]

Deret started his career as a songwriter and singer in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the late 1940s.[1] By 1950, he emigrated to Quebec, where he became a theatre and television actor.[1] Nine years later, in 1959, he returned to France and within a few years he created Thierry la Fronde, a television series.[2] Between 1963 and 1966, he wrote 52 episodes.[1]

Deret founded Le Théâtre du cercle, a theatre company in Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt.[1] Additionally, he authored children's books and detective novels.[1] He also wrote plays, including Samuel dans l'île, which was nominated for a Molière Award in 2006.[1][3] Meanwhile, he continued to act, for example starring in Beautiful Memories in 2001.[3] He also continued to write songs, and he performed at the Théâtre de Poche Montparnasse in April 2014.[1] He wrote 50 songs over the course of his career.[3] In 2016, he directed Salauds de pauvres, a short film about poor people in France.[3]

Deret had three children, including actress Zabou Breitman with Céline Léger.[1][3]

Deret died in Paris on December 12, 2016, aged 95.[1][2] He was cremated at the Père Lachaise Cemetery on December 17.[1]

• Jean-Claude Deret at IMDb