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Patrick Bauchau: Biography

When characterizing Patrick Bauchau writers tend to use words like "urbane," "cosmopolitan" and "sophisticated." His background certainly lends itself to such descriptions, as does the man himself.

One of three brothers, Patrick Bauchau (pronounced "beau-show") was born in Brussels and raised in Belgium, England and Switzerland. His father, writer Henry Bauchau, served in the Belgian underground during the war, ran a publishing company and was the head of a finishing school in Switzerland. His mother, the late Mary Kozyrev, expatriated from Russia and at one time ran both the publishing company and the finishing school. Patrick attended Oxford University on an academic scholarship and holds a degree in modern languages.  He speaks French, English, German, Spanish and Italian. He also knows a bit of Flemish and Russian.

Patrick Bauchau's career began in the 1960s as a runner for French New Wave director Eric Rohmer. That job eventually led to a starring role in Rohmer's La Collectionneuse in 1967. In the '70s Patrick took a break from acting, during which time he built furniture and created large stuffed-animal pillows for Salvadore Dali. He returned to acting by the '80s, starring in the Wim Wenders film The State of Things; the film won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1982. He has divided his time between the U.S. and elsewhere, appearing in a diverse range of movies. Bauchau's credits include the critically-acclaimed indie films Choose Me, The Rapture and Twin Falls Idaho, foreign films Entre Nous and The Music Teacher (both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film) and big-budget movies like Clear and Present Danger, The Cell and Panic Room.

Patrick Bauchau has also had several roles in television movies and series, including a Columbo movie special, the Fox series, Kindred: The Embraced and the NBC show The Pretender. His first series was the Canadian show Mount Royal, for which Patrick earned a Gemini Award nomination.

Patrick's recent work includes roles as Professor Lodz in the HBO series, Carnivàle and Dr. Hacker in the Ray Charles biopic, Ray.

Outside of work, Patrick spends time gardening, practicing yoga and preparing vegetarian meals. He and his wife, Mijanou, have one adult daughter, Camille.

Image of Patrick Bauchau adapted from photo published in Tele7 Jours, August 15, 1997. Do not use without permission. Click image to see a larger version in a new window.