French actor Gaspard Ulliel, known for “Hannibal Rising,” “Saint Laurent” and was poised to appear in the upcoming Marvel series “Moon Knight” has died at age 37.
The actor, known for appearing in Chanel perfume ads as well as film and television roles, died Wednesday after a skiing accident in the Alps, according to his agent’s office.
Ulliel portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in the 2007 prequel to “Silence of the Lambs” and “Red Dragon” as well as fashion mogul Yves Saint Laurent in the 2014 biopic about his life. He is also the advertising face of the Chanel men’s fragrance Bleu de Chanel. He will play the role of Midnight Man in the upcoming Disney+ series “Moon Knight,” which dropped its official trailer just one day prior.
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Gaspard Ulliel died in a skiing accident at age 37.
(Laurent Viteur/Getty Images)
Ulliel was hospitalized Tuesday after the accident in the Savoie region’s Rosiere ski area, the Savoie prosecutor’s office said. The office of the actor’s agent said Ulliel died on Wednesday. It provided no details.
Ulliel started in television while still in middle school and went on to win two of France’s top cinema awards, the Cesar.
Tributes poured in from shocked fans and the corridors of power. French Prime Minister Jean Castex tweeted an homage that said, “Gaspard Ulliel grew up with cinema and cinema grew up with him. They loved each other madly.”
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French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin said she was deeply saddened by Ulliel’s death, describing the actor as “a child prodigy of cinema, who embodied perfectly the French style all over the world.”
The House of Chanel said in a statement it has lost its “ambassador of 12 years and a friend.”
“We have been fortunate to have had by our side all these years a person endowed with great culture, an immense talent, and of unparalleled kindness. He will be sorely missed,” Chanel said.
French actor Gaspard Ulliel was set to appear in “Moon Knight” before he died in a tragic accident at age 37.
(AP Photo/Joel Ryan, File)
Local broadcaster France Bleu said he was hospitalized with a skull injury, and that he apparently collided with another skier at a crossing point on the slopes. The other skier was not hospitalized, according to France Bleu. Police and prosecutors would not discuss details of the accident.
Deadline reports that he was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Grenoble following the collision.
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The mountain police service serving the site of the accident said it has been leading five or six rescues per day in recent days as the snow has hardened.
Gaspard Ulliel died in a skiing accident ahead of the premiere of “Moon Knight.”
(Francois G. Durand/WireImage)
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In the neighboring Haute-Savoie region, a 5-year-old girl was killed Saturday when a skier crashed into her. The man was handed preliminary manslaughter charges, according to the Haute-Savoie prosecutor, who cited excessive speed as the likely reason for the accident.
The accident conjured up memories of when Formula One great Michael Schumacher was seriously injured in a 2013 skiing accident in the French ski resort of Meribel, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from where Ulliel was skiing. Both were treated at Grenoble University Hospital.
Schumacher suffered serious head injuries when he fell and hit the right side of his head on a rock off the side of a demarcated slope. The German auto racing legend was skiing with his teenage son while on a family vacation in the Alps.
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Schumacher, 53, has not been seen in public in eight years, and his family has revealed few details of his condition since the accident. His wife, Corinna, said in a Netflix documentary last year that her husband is “different, but he is here” and that the family, including the couple’s son, Mick, now a Formula One driver himself, cares for him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
