By Associated Press
FRANCE: French actor Gaspard Ulliel, recognized for showing in Chanel fragrance adverts in addition to movie and tv roles, died Wednesday after a snowboarding accident within the Alps, native authorities mentioned. He was 37.
Ulliel portrayed the younger Hannibal Lecter in 2007’s “Hannibal Rising” and vogue mogul Yves Saint Laurent within the 2014 biopic “Saint Laurent.” He can also be within the upcoming Marvel sequence “Moon Knight,” and was the promoting face of the Chanel males’s perfume Bleu de Chanel.
While snowboarding Tuesday afternoon at La Rosière resort, Ulliel collided with one other skier on an intermediate slope after turning left, presumably to hitch his mates on an adjoining slope, Anne Gaches, the Savoie prosecutor in Albertville, mentioned in an announcement Wednesday.
Preliminary findings from an investigation indicated that “both skiers fell to the ground after the collision,” the prosecutor mentioned. Ulliel was “motionless and unconscious when rescuers arrived,” whereas the opposite skier was unhurt, Gaches mentioned.
The director of the La Rosière resort, Jean Regaldo, advised BFM tv that Ulliel was not sporting a helmet when rescuers arrived. Helmets will not be required on French ski slopes however are strongly really useful.
Regaldo mentioned climate circumstances have been “perfect” on the time of the accident and that there have been no rocks within the space of the collision, which he described as simply accessible.
“Ulliel was transported by helicopter to Grenoble University Hospital, where doctors tried to revive him, she said. The actor was pronounced dead Wednesday shortly after 4 p.m.,” Gaches mentioned.
The workplace of the actor’s agent confirmed that Ulliel died on Wednesday.
Ulliel began acting at age 11, alongside famend actress Sandrine Bonnaire, and went on to win two of France’s prime cinema awards, the Cesar. A canine chew on his face at age six left him with a trademark scar.
He performed a French revolutionary, a dying playwright, a vanished World War I soldier, a budding serial killer, iconic clothier. French President Emmanuel Macron known as him “one of many incarnations of French cinema at present,” and tributes poured in from shocked colleagues and followers around the globe.
“On each of his film sets, he left behind the memory of a dedicated worker, always ready to listen, respected by all the teams because he was respectful of everyone,” Macron mentioned in an announcement.
Prime Minister Jean Castex tweeted an homage that mentioned, “Gaspard Ulliel grew up with cinema, and cinema grew up with him. They liked one another madly.”
The House of Chanel mentioned in an announcement it has misplaced 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 mentioned.
The accident conjured up recollections of when Formula One nice Michael Schumacher was critically injured in a 2013 snowboarding accident within the French ski resort of Meribel, 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the place Ulliel was snowboarding. Both have been handled at Grenoble University Hospital.
Schumacher, who was sporting a helmet, suffered severe head accidents when he fell and hit the fitting aspect of his head on a rock off the aspect of a demarcated slope. The German auto racing legend was snowboarding along with his teenage son whereas on a household trip within the Alps.
Schumacher, 53, has not been seen in public in eight years, and his household has revealed few particulars of his situation for the reason that accident. His spouse, Corinna, mentioned in a Netflix documentary final yr that her husband is “different, but he is here” and that the household, together with the couple’s son, Mick, now a Formula One driver himself, cares for him.
After Ulliel’s accident, the mountain police service for the Rosiere ski space mentioned its personnel have been finishing up 5 or 6 rescues per day because the snow hardened in current days.
In the neighboring Haute-Savoie area, a 5-year-old lady was killed Saturday when a skier crashed into her. The man was handed preliminary manslaughter prices, in keeping with the Haute-Savoie prosecutor, who cited extreme velocity because the probably purpose for the accident.
Funeral info was not instantly introduced. French media experiences say Ulliel is survived by a younger son from his relationship with French model-actor Gaelle Pietri.
In an announcement obtained by E! News, Marvel mentioned, “We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic passing of our friend and colleague Gaspard Ulliel. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this time.”
La Rosiere ski resort’s media spokesperson mentioned, “Ski patrol rescue and an in-house resort doctor were called for help and immediately arrived onto the scene following the accident.”
The physician then known as a helicopter, the spokesperson added, to move Ulliel to the University Hospital of Grenoble. Gaches mentioned, “a judicial investigation was immediately entrusted to the CRS Alpes, Albertville detachment, by the Albertville prosecutor’s office.”
After information of his demise broke, a number of of his colleagues together with filmmakers Xavier Dolan, Peter Webber, amongst others took to social media and paid tributes.
(With inputs from ANI)
