Jean Renoir, French filmmaker, 1894-1979

As a film director and actor, Jean Renoir made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. His films "Grand Illusion" (1937) and "The Rules of the Game" (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greatest films ever made. He was ranked by the BFI's Sight & Sound poll of critics in 2002 as the fourth greatest director of all time. Among numerous honors accrued during his lifetime, he received a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1975 for his contribution to the motion picture industry. Renoir was the son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.