Niels Arestrup dead at 75: The French-Danish actor passed away at his home outside Paris after a long illness
Niels Arestrup’s death was announced by his actress wife Isabelle Le Nouvel who is also a screenwriter and author.
French-Danish actor Niels Arestrup, who has died at the age of 75, was also a director and writer, who was best known for his performances in The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet by Jacques Audiard. According to Deadline, “The actor won a record three French Césars across his career with the final one being Bertrand Tavernier’s political satire The French Minister (Quai d’Orsay).”
Isabelle Le Nouvel, the wife of Niels Arestrup told the Agence France-Presse that her husband had passed away “at the end of a courageous fight against illness.”
Rachida Dati, the French culture minister paid tribute to Niels Arestrup on X and wrote: “We were dazzled by the strength of his acting and his magnetic presence in front of the cameras of Jacques Audiard, Bertrand Tabernier, Julian Schnabel or Albert Dupontel. He will remain one of our greatest actors.”
Niels Arestrup was the son of a French mother and a Danish father and was born in France. After making his theatre debut in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, he made his movie debut in Claude Lelouch’s Second Chance in 1976.
In Claude Lelouch’s Second Chance, Niels acted alongside French iconic stars Anouk Aimée and Catherine Deneuve. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “His career was marred by accusations of violence. French actress Isabelle Adjani claims Arestrup slapped her violently during rehearsals for the play Mademoiselle Julie in 1983. In a 1996 stage performance of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which Arestrup produced, the actress Myriam Boyer accused him of almost strangling her.”
Although Myriam Boyer was awarded 800,000 francs in damages for the dismissal of the case, actor Niels was not charged with any offence. Niels Arestrup is survived by his wife, Isabelle Le Nouvel, the couple had two children together.