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Particularly popular in his native France, but also well known in Europe, actor, screenwriter, and playwright Jean Poiret typically played sardonic fellows and police inspectors, notably in Claude Chabrol's Poulet au Vinaigre (1985) and in Francoise Truffaut's Dernier Metro (1980). As an actor, he made his feature debut in Cette Sacrée Gamine (1956) and as a writer, Poiret made a splash with the play and screenplay for the smash hit La Cage aux Folles (1978). He subsequently helped write screenplays for two sequels. Poiret produced one film, Gueule de L'autre (1979). Just before he died of heart failure in March 1992, he penned and directed the Cesar-nominated comedy La Zebre.