Claude Lelouch hid his romance with Annie Girardot for a long time: “She was married and so was I.”

And 51! Claude Lelouch presents Eventuallyhis latest feature film, in theaters on Wednesday, November 13. The 87-year-old director who likes to deal with love stories spoke in the columns of The Tribune, this Sunday, November 10. He evokes without taboo his own relationship with love and women. The octogenarian had a busy love life. Married and divorced three times, the director is the father of seven children from five different women. In particular, he had a love story with the actress Annie Girardot, who died in 2011.

If their romance remained hidden from view for a long time, it is for a very specific reason. “Because she was married and so was I! It was very complicated, but our story remains a sublime memory”he explained to our colleagues at La Tribune Sunday. The Oscar-winning director has never hid the fact of having had extra-marital affairs: “We are faithful until we find something better.” In his book Those years (Fayard) published in 2008, Claude Lelouch revealed the details of his affair with the beautiful actress: “We loved each other madly between two doors, between two planes, between two hotels. We were immersed in the most accomplished transgression. Annie was married, my wife was pregnant! We lived dangerously…”

>> Claude Lelouch: who are the women in his life?

Claude Lelouch without filter on his sexuality

Today married to the novelist Valérie Perrin, he does not hide having had a turbulent love life, the filmmaker is also very honest about his relationship to sexuality. “First, it was a prostitute who taught me how to make love. Around 15-16 years old, I said to myself: 'I might as well go to the pros'. She trained me in the games of love. And they don't expect anything in return. It’s not life insurance,” he explained in his interview with La Tribune Sunday. The producer also added that the prostitutes were women “wonderful and fascinating”adding: “I say thank you to them, because they have helped me out several times. They are often women who have been very much in love, who have been disappointed and, somewhere, who take revenge.”

Article written in collaboration with 6Medias.

Photo credits: Pierre Perusseau / Bestimage