Laurent Terzieff

Laurent Terzieff (27 June 1935, in Toulouse – 2 July 2010, in Paris) was a French actor.

Terzieff was the son of French ceramist Marina and her husband Jean Terzieff, a Romanian-born sculptor of Russian and Romanian descent who came to France from Bucharest during the First World War. The original surname of his family was Chemerzin. As an adolescent, he was fascinated with philosophy and poetry. He assisted with a representation of the La Sonate des spectres by Strindberg, directed by Roger Blin; while involved in the theater he decided he wanted to become an actor.

Terzieff made his debut in 1953 at the Parisian Théâtre de Babylone of Jean-Marie Serreau in Tous contre tous of Adamov. After several more roles, Marcel Carné offered him a lead role in 1958's Tricheurs, a tale about existentialist youth. He then appeared in the late works of French scenario writers such as Claude Autant-Lara, with whom he appeared in three films including Tu ne tueras point in 1961. Other collaborators included Henri-Georges Clouzot with La prisonnière, in which he interprets an artist manipulator. In 1975 Terzieff played the leading role as the priest in the Irish artist Reginald Gray's production and direction of Jeu. His partner Pascale de Boysson, Dirk Kinnane and Bibi Hure were also in the cast.