Claude Berri (1 July 1934 – 12 January 2009), born Claude Berel Langmann, was one of the great all-rounders of French cinema: an actor, writer, producer, director and distributor. "Out of my failure as an actor was born my desire to direct. Then my relative failure as a director forced me to become a producer. In order to get my films shown, I became a distributor. One had to eat, that's all!"