He made his movie debut at the invitation of Gene Kelly, who cast Cassel in the 1956 Paris-filmed seriocomedy The Happy Road. At least, that's what the press releases claimed; actually, the tall, elastic-faced Cassel had been plugging away in films on a minor basis since 1950. Shortly after, Cassel was perfectly cast in the naif title role in the 1958 film version of Voltaire's Candide. He has since been a stalwart in the comedies of director 'Phillipe de Broca' , nearly always playing latter-day variations of the ingenuous Candide. Since this time, he is the screen-lover of some of the best actresses like Jean Seberg, Brigitte Bardot, Claude Jade, Catherine Deneuve, Stéphane Audran or Marie Dubois. He played in Gérard Brach's _Bateau sur l'herbe, Le (1970)_ with Claude Jade and John McEnery. In 1974, Jean-Pierre Cassel added thousands of American filmgoers to his fan following with his appearances as the bumbling King Louis XIII in Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers: The Queen's Diamonds and The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge.


Father of Vincent Cassel, Olivia (deceased) and Mathias Crochon aka 'Rockin' Squat' from his first and Cécile Cassel from his second marriage. Was originally scheduled to appear with his son, Vincent Cassel, in L'ennemi public n°1 (2008), before his deadly cancer disease in 2007. They previously appeared together in Les rivières pourpres (2000), Valse nocturne (1995) and Métisse (1993). Head of the French Actors Union from 1966 to 1974. Studied acting at the Cours Simon.