Didier Sandre

Acting

Didier Sandre

Born 1946-08-17 · Paris, France

Didier Maffre, known professionally as Didier Sandre, is a French actor and stage director born in Paris on 17 August 1946 and appointed sociétaire of the Comédie‑Française in 2020. He made his debut in 1968 in Paul Claudel’s L’Échange and, from the 1970s onward, became a prominent figure in public theatre, collaborating with major directors such as Catherine Dasté, Bernard Sobel, Jorge Lavelli, Patrice Chéreau, Giorgio Strehler, Luc Bondy, and Antoine Vitez. Alongside this, he has appeared regularly in private‑theatre productions, including works by Claudel, Anouilh, Rampal, and Margulies. His stage career includes notable performances in Bérénice (directed by Lambert Wilson), Le Laboureur de Bohême (Christian Schiaretti), and Monsieur chasse! by Feydeau. He joined the Comédie‑Française in 2013 and became a full member in 2020. Sandre has also worked extensively in film and television, appearing in Pascale Ferran’s Petits Arrangements avec les morts, Éric Rohmer’s Autumn Tale, Abraham Segal’s Le Mystère Paul, and Mikhaël Hers’s Memory Lane. On television, he has acted in numerous dramas, including Saint‑Germain ou la Négociation, Le Sang noir, and notably portrayed Louis XIV in Nina Companeez’s L’Allée du Roi and the Baron de Charlus in her adaptation of In Search of Lost Time. A frequent narrator in concert settings, he has performed in major repertoire works by Stravinsky, Debussy, Beethoven, Honegger, Haydn, Prokofiev, Grieg, Poulenc, and others, collaborating with leading orchestras, conductors such as Pierre Boulez and Myung‑Whun Chung, and renowned soloists including Alexandre Tharaud, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, and Emmanuelle Bertrand.

Acting credits

An Officer and a Spy poster
7.1

In 1894, French Captain Alfred Dreyfus is wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Devil’s Island penal colony.

An Officer and a Spy

2019

The Passengers of the Night poster
6.9

On election night in 1981, celebrations spill out onto the street and there is an air of hope and change throughout Paris. But for Elisabeth, her marriage is coming to an end and she will now have to support herself and her two teenage children. She finds work at a late-night radio show and encounters a troubled teenager named Talulah whom she invites into her home.

The Passengers of the Night

2022

Le Cid poster
9.0

A stage performance of the tragicomedy broadcasted live in theaters.

Le Cid

2026

An Autumn Tale poster
7.1

Magali, forty-something, is a winemaker and a widow: she loves her work but feels lonely. Her friends Rosine and Isabelle both want secretly to find a husband for Magali.

An Autumn Tale

1998

Saint-Germain ou La négociation poster
7.0

This is the TV adaptation of a novel by Francis Walder. The scene happens in 1570, during the religions wars between catholics and protestants in France. Both sides are decided for a truth, to enable peaceful negociations of a settlement, which will become the peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the same year. The negociation, lead by Henri de Malassise (Jean Rochefort), and the Earl of Biron for the Catholic side, and Mr. d'Ublé and M. de Mélynes for the protestants side.

Saint-Germain ou La négociation

2003

An Impossible Love poster
6.6

A chronicle of the unconditional love between a mother and her daughter, from 1958 to the present day, which is endangered by an unsteady and manipulative father.

An Impossible Love

2018

Hell Train poster
5.2

Hell Train is a French film based on a true story. One evening at a ball in a small town, a fight breaks out in an atmosphere tinged with racism. Three of the ringleaders end up at the police station. The next day, November 14, 1983, on the Bordeaux-Ventimiglia train, the three men who were candidates for enlistment in the Foreign Legion beat Habib Grimzi, a 26-year-old Algerian, before throwing him out of a window. A young woman, who witnessed the murder, alerted the police. The investigation begins in a climate of extreme tension. In the city, provocations and attacks are increasing...

Hell Train

1985

Under the Rainbow poster
5.6

Laura is still waiting for Prince Charming at the age of 24. So when Sandro appears at a party, exactly like her Prince would in her dreams, she thinks she's found the right one. But then again, when she meets Maxime, Laura starts to wonder if some Princes could be more charming than others? Of course Sandro has problems of his own : his father, Pierre, just bumped into Madam Irma at his father's funeral and this reminded him of the date of his own death which Madame Irma had predicted ages ago. Now Pierre is unable to make any plans, not with his new partner Eleonore, nor with Sandro. And Maxime has his own problems, and so does Eleonore, Marianne, Jacqueline and many others. But don't worry, in the end, they'll all live happily ever after.

Under the Rainbow

2013

Origins of Life poster
5.9

A documentary that explores the natural world of the sea, from the single-celled organism to more complex forms of life, OCEAN ORIGINS was originally filmed in the IMAX large format, which adds a crispness and clarity to the images. This documentary film seeks to examine the process of evolution by looking at the many creatures of the sea that can illustrate the way multi-cellular life emerged over the course of four billion years. OCEAN ORIGINS is a creative film that uses fascinating documentary footage to look at scientific theories and principles in an interesting manner

Origins of Life

2001

The Fabulous History of Eau de Cologne poster
4.0

The history of the eau of Cologne goes back to almost four centuries, a history formed by extraordinary myths, family feuds and treacherous acts of commercial plagiarism. Its gradual use is a reflection of the evolution of society and its morality, in relation to body and hygiene, a gesture of intimacy. First perfume of kings, then the most popular fragrance, within reach of all the pockets.

The Fabulous History of Eau de Cologne

2015

Not My Type poster
6.1

Clement, a young philosophy teacher, is sent to Arras for a year. He meets Jennifer, a pretty hair stylist, and the two freely share their hearts and bodies as they try to overcome the cultural and social divide between them.

Not My Type

2014

Frank Capra, il était une fois l'Amérique poster
9.0

Frank Capra was one of Hollywood's most popular and respected directors in the 1930s and 1940s. His best-known films include "Isn't Life Beautiful?", "The Bottom Ten Thousand" and "Arsenic and Lace". His career from poor Sicilian immigrant to successful director stands for the American dream and brings him surprisingly close to his characters. But what in his depictions of America and its everyday heroes is reality, and where does the dream begin?

Frank Capra, il était une fois l'Amérique

2020

Le Petit-Maître Corrigé poster
6.0

Le Petit-Maître corrigé is a three-act romantic comedy by French playwright Marivaux. It was first performed on November 6, 1734, by the Comédie-Française in Paris. In this production Clément Hervieu-Léger makes the eighteenth century resonate with our era, all the more so given that the language is “simpler than in other Marivaux plays, while still as refined, precise and full of humour”. The story is that of a young Parisian whose parents have found a good match for him, a count’s daughter. But when he goes to visit her in her country home, the handsome boy – whose Parisian manners are far removed from the rules of decorum that reign in the provinces – cannot open his heart to his lovely intended. Stung, the latter decides to punish his arrogance while a former lover arrives to prevent the marriage. Between the alliance of master and manservant, and the complicity of mistress and maid, a romantic intrigue ensues full of light-hearted conspiracies and feverish emotions.

Le Petit-Maître Corrigé

2018

Richelieu ou La journée des dupes poster
8.0

A historical television film directed by Jean‑Dominique de La Rochefoucauld, Richelieu, or The Day of the Dupes recounts the political tensions that came to a head in November 1630, when Marie de’ Medici attempted to remove Cardinal Richelieu from power. Blending court intrigue, the king’s illness, and decisive reversals, the film portrays the struggle for influence that ultimately cemented Louis XIII’s trust in his minister. Led by Didier Sandre, Patrick Raynal, and Dominique Blanchar, the telefilm offers a meticulous reconstruction of the events that shaped the kingdom’s balance of power.

Richelieu ou La journée des dupes

1983

The Woman of My Life poster
6.0

Simon, a famous violinist, sinks into alcoholism. He finds support from his lover, who is also the manager of the orchestra in which he plays. But is she really helping him or is she exploiting his dependence on her? A man who has been through the same experience as Simon, offers to help him...

The Woman of My Life

1986

Lovers of the Café Flore poster
5.7

In 1924, Simone de Beauvoir, a girl with polished appearance, prepares for her final examination in philosophy and meets Jean-Paul Sartre. He seems to know her true personality and considers her the only woman worthy of his intellect. Their chaotic love serves as the premise for her magnum opus The Second Sex.

Lovers of the Café Flore

2006

Peer Gynt poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Peer Gynt

1981

Mensonge poster
4.0

Emma has been happily married to Charles, a hardworking journalist, for over ten years. They have a son, and are considering having another child when she learns that she is both pregnant and HIV-positive at a time when Charles is away. As Emma has never used drugs or slept around, and has never had a blood transfusion, there can only be one source for her infection: her absent husband. Shocked to the core by this turn of events, she goes through his things and finds an address book with the names of many women in it. Determined to discover what has been going on, she begins contacting every name in the book. She continues her investigations even after her husband, whom she confronts over this, returns.

Mensonge

1993

The Legend of Princess Parva poster
7.2

The island of Kiam was once a paradise place with a kind Maharaja as a ruler. But one day the villainous Malaw killed the island’s ruler and deprived the Crown Prince Shiva of the throne. The insidious Malaw had the prince locked up in a dungeon in the palace’s underground labyrinth, and he announced to the Kiam residents that he would kill Shiva if they only tried to rebel. Then the Old Sage Swami, aided by programmer Agni, came into contact with the Light of Crystal. That’s what he called a girl named Parva, who embodied radiant innocence and was born of the same astral combination as Prince Shiva. Only she and her love could save the prince and bring peace back to the island of Kiam.

The Legend of Princess Parva

2003

Montparnasse poster
7.5

One night, three young women, the neon lights of the boulevards, empty streets, a mall, quiet gardens, the tower plaza, the esplanade of the station, a farewell coffee, a camera, a concert, a terrace, then the city waking up, Montparnasse.

Montparnasse

2009

The Black Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess poster
6.2

Three tales, three ages, three worlds. At the time of Ancient Egypt, a young king becomes the first black pharaoh to deserve the hand of his loved one. During the French Middle Ages, a mysterious wild boy steals from the rich to give to the poor. In 18th-century Turkey, a prince of pastries and a princess of roses escape the palace to live their love.

The Black Pharaoh, the Savage and the Princess

2022

One Night poster
5.6

In the harbor city of Le Havre, France, a woman is stabbed during the night, just below the windows of her neighborhood. Pierre (Yvan Attal) has witnessed the murder, and heard the wails of the women crying for help. So have the neighbors, certainly. But at the end, nobody called the police. Nevertheless, sorrows are too heavy for Pierre, which feel the needs to tell everything to his wife (Sophie Quinton), and to the police. During the investigation, it appears that 38 people witnessed the murdering, and none reacted...

One Night

2012

L'enfant éternel poster
6.0

Shocked by the death of his ten-year-old son, a scientist conducts a successful cloning experiment.

L'enfant éternel

2002

L'allée du Roi (Version courte) poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

L'allée du Roi (Version courte)

1996