About Patrice Leconte
Patrice Leconte (French: [patʁis ləkɔ̃t]; born 12 November 1947) is a French film director, screenwriter and comic strip writer. == Life and career == Leconte grew up in Tours, and began making little amateur films at 15. He went to Paris in 1967 and studied at Institut des hautes études cinématographiques. While attending film school in the late 1960s, Leconte also worked as a cartoonist, in particular for comics magazine Pilote. In 1976, Leconte directed his first feature film, Les vécés étaient fermés de l'intérieur, a parody of crime films, scripted by Pilote author Gotlib and starring Jean Rochefort and Coluche. The film was a commercial failure. In 1978, Leconte found success by directing the comedy troupe of Le Splendid in French Fried Vacation (Les Bronzés) based on one of their own plays. The film was a major commercial hit in France. Leconte then directed the sequel, French Fried Vacation 2, followed by three other successful comedies. Leconte remained associated with Le Splendid by working with troupe member Michel Blanc, who starred in his films and co-wrote the scripts with him.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.