Born René-Lucien Chomette in Paris, France. An early exponent of French film comedy who took a stab at Hollywood filmmaking with passably good results, Clair is fondly remembered today for his stylishly witty and charming satires, whimsical fantasies, and surrealistic romps. He worked as a journalist for a short time before acting in the films of Louis Feuillade, from whose works he learned the art of cinematic storytelling. Abandoning the life of a performer, he studied filmmaking technique under director Jacques de Barnocelli and made his directing debut with PARIS QUI DORT / THE CRAZY RAY (1924), a sprightly comic fantasy laced with socially conscious satire. With his second film, ENTR'ACTE (also 1924), Clair established himself as a talent that would bear watching. Clair's subsequent films received exposure in American art houses, and by the time he came to Hollywood in 1941, his charming and ingenious comic films THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT (1927), the early talkie UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS (1930), LE MILLION (1931), À NOUS LA LIBERTÉ (1932, which was said to have influenced Chaplin's MODERN TIMES), the Britishmade THE GHOST GOES WEST (1935), and BREAK THE NEWS (1938) had acquired solid reputations. His American films, including THE FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS (1941), I MARRIED A WITCH (1942), IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (1944), and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945), were somewhat more conventional in treatment than his early triumphs, but were successful on their own terms, especially the latter, one of the most visually stylish Agatha Christie thrillers ever filmed. Returning to his homeland after it was liberated from the Nazis, Clair tackled more challenging subjects with less success: MAN ABOUT TOWN (1947), BEAUTY AND THE DEVIL (1950, a Faustian fable), BEAUTIES OF THE NIGHT (1954), THE GRAND MANEUVER (1956), and LOVE AND THE FRENCHWOMAN (1961) were all deemed to be below his pre-war standard. Ironically (and Clair certainly appreciated irony), he was increasingly revered for his pioneering contributions to film, even as his commercial stock was plummeting. His last film was LES FÊTES GALANTES (1965).  Nominated for Foreign Language Film 1957: GATES OF PARIS - Producer at Cinétel (France) 1 nomination