The son of a French theatrical director, Jacques Perrin studied acting at the Paris Conservatory. In films as a juvenile from 1957, Perrin blossomed into a talented and much sought-after European leading man. He won a brace of Venice Film Festival best actor awards in 1966 for his work in the Italian Half a Man and the Spanish The Search. Perrin starred in director Costa-Gavras' first film, The Sleeping Car Murders(1965); three years later, he functioned as producer for Costa-Gavras' landmark production Z. Continuing to wear two hats as actor and producer into the 1980s, Jacques Perrin produced the Academy Award-winning Black and White in Color (1975), then went on to play the older Salvatore in the 1988 "best foreign film" Oscar-winner Cinema Paradiso.