Born Achod Malakian in Rodosto, Turkey. Arrived in Marseilles, France, with his family at the age of four, joining thousands of Armenians in fleeing the Turkish government's massacres of their people. Verneuil began a career as a journalist before devoting his life to cinema. His first thirty or so films were shorts. He achieved the status of a popular film director in the 1950s, working on several occasions with the great comic actor Fernandel. In subsequent years he would work with other acting luminaries, including Jean Gabin, Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Verneuil's cinema shows a surprising range, including outrageous comic farces and tense detective thrillers. His most successful films include LE MOUTON À CINQ PATTES (1954), LA VACHE ET LE PRISONNIER (1959), MÉLODIE EN SOUS-SOL (1963), LE CLAN DES SICILIENS (1969) and PEUR SUR LA VILLE (1975). At the end of his life, he devoted his final full-length feature films (e.g., MAYRIG, 1992 -- a.k.a. 588 RUE PARADIS) to his childhood and his Armenian heritage.  Nominated for Writing (Motion Picture Story) 1955: LE MOUTON À CINQ PATTES (w. Jean Marsan, Jacques Perret, Henry Troyat & Raoul Ploquin) 1 nomination