The son of orchestra conductor André Hossein, Paris-born Robert Hossein was trained at René Simon's acting school. Hossein labored away as actor/director with the legendary Theatre Grand Guignol in Montmartre, then spent several years on the "legitimate" stage. In films from 1955's Rififi (Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)), Hossein has been generally cast as jaded villains. Making his movie directorial debut with The Wicked Go to Hell (1955) (Les salauds vont en enfer (1955)), Hossein went on to call the shots on such Film Noir fare as Toi... le venin (1958) and J'ai tué Raspoutine (1967). He worked beside some famous actresses: Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Marina Vlady, Claude Jade, Stéphane Audran, Michèle Mercier. In the 1960s, Robert Hossein appeared regularly as Jeoffrey de Peyrac in the soft-core Angélique films. He worked also as director.
