LYON (AP): French actor Gaspard Ulliel, known for appearing in Chanel perfume ads as well as film and television roles, died Wednesday after a skiing accident in the Alps, local authorities said. He was 37.
The star of A Very Long Engagement and Hannibal Rising was hospitalised after the accident in the Alps. Ulliel was transported via helicopter on Tuesday to Grenoble but did not survive his injuries, according to the actor’s family and agent.
Local broadcaster reported that Ulliel collided with another skier at a crossing point, suffering head trauma. Preliminary findings from an investigation indicated that “both skiers fell to the ground after the collision,” Anne Gaches, the Savoie prosecutor in Albertville, said in a statement.
Ulliel was “motionless and unconscious when rescuers arrived,” while the other skier was unharmed, Gaches said. The director of the La Rosière resort, Jean Regaldo, said that Ulliel was not wearing a helmet when rescuers arrived. Helmets are not required on French ski slopes but are strongly recommended.
Ulliel portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in 2007′s “Hannibal Rising” and fashion mogul Yves Saint Laurent in the 2014 biopic “Saint Laurent.” He is also in the upcoming Marvel series “Moon Knight,” and was the advertising face of the Chanel men’s fragrance Bleu de Chanel.
Ulliel started performing at age 11, alongside renowned actress Sandrine Bonnaire, and went on to win two of France’s top cinema awards, the Cesar. A dog bite on his face at age six left him with a trademark scar.
He played a French revolutionary, a dying playwright, a vanished World War I soldier, a budding serial killer, iconic fashion designer. French President Emmanuel Macron called him “one of the incarnations of French cinema today,” and tributes poured in from shocked colleagues and fans around the world.
“On each of his film sets, he left behind the memory of a dedicated worker, always ready to listen, respected by all the teams because he was respectful of everyone,” Macron said in a statement.
Funeral information was not immediately announced. French media reports say Ulliel is survived by a young son from his relationship with French model-actor Gaelle Pietri.
