- Born
- Died
- Born in Brest, France, in 1922, Alain Robbe-Grillet initially studied mathematics and biology. He graduated from the Paris-based Institut National Agronomique (National Institute of Agronomy) in 1945 and embarked on a career of scientific research in the tropics and in France. Then at age 30 he decided to change the direction of his career and concentrate on the thorny problem of literature. His novels were at first panned by the fashionable critics of the time, but he succeeded in winning (along with such now famous friends as Samuel Beckett, Nathalie Sarraute, Claude Simon and Marguerite Duras) worldwide recognition and wide readership for the last literary movement in France known as "Le Nouveau Roman". or "New Novel". His books have been translated in some 30 languages and include "Le Voyeur: (1955), "La jalousie" (1965), "La maison de rendez-vous" (1965), "Project pour une révolution à New York e Djinn" (1981), "Le miroir qui revient" (1985) and "Les Derniers jours de Corinth" (1994). At 40 he emabarked on a parallel career as screenwriter and film director, venturing once again into unorthodox narrative structures. With Alain Resnais he won the "Golden Lion" in Venice in 1961 for Last Year at Marienbad (1961) ("Last Year at Marienbad") and won the Louis Delluc Prize two years later for L'Immortelle (1963), the first film which he wrote and directed himself. This was followed by Trans-Europ-Express (1966), The Man Who Lies (1968) ("The Man who Lies"), Eden and After (1970) ("Eden and Afterwards"), Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974) ("The Slow Slidings of Pleasure"), Playing with Fire (1975) ("Playing with Fire"), )La belle captive (1983)_ ("The Beautiful Captive") and Un bruit qui rend fou (1995) ("The Blue Villa"). He lives in seclusion in the countryside in Normandy, where he tends to his collection of cacti. He continues to travel the world, and to teach modern literature and film to graduate students in several American universities.- IMDb Mini Biography By: A. Nonymous
- SpouseCatherine Robbe-Grillet(October 23, 1957 - February 18, 2008) (his death)
- His "new novel" style disregarded traditional literary devices such as plot and chronological narrative; objects are more significant than human actions.
- Erotic themes and depictions of BDSM.
- His wife, Catherine Robbe-Grillet appears in small or supporting roles.
- Frequently casts Jean-Louis Trintignant in the lead role.
- Wrote an original screenplay for Michelangelo Antonioni entitled "La fortresse" (The Fortress); the movie was never made.
- Refused to allow his novels to be made into films.
- He was inducted into France's Legion of Honor, as well as the prestigious French Academy, the official custodian of the French language. However, he refused to purchase the Academy's ceremonial robes for his induction ceremony. He also declined the tradition of giving a eulogy for his predecessor.
- Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1965
- Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, volume 115, pages 373-379. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2003.
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