Rochefort has been a staple of the mainstream French cinema for over three decades, first as a character player and second lead in the late 1950s and 60s, a leading man since the 70s and an international star since the 80s. He has also worked extensively in French theater and TV. Though adept with a variety of material, Rochefort tends to fare best in sex farces and other comedies. The handsome, long-faced and somewhat sad-eyed actor convinces as ambiguous establishment figures and law enforcement officials. He trained at the Paris Conservatory--where he was a classmate of future superstar (and co-star) Jean-Paul Belmondo--before joining the military. Upon his return to Paris, Rochefort began performing at a Left Bank cabaret. He segued to small film roles at the end of the 50s.
Rochefort first registered in a supporting role in Philippe de Broca's light-hearted adventure "Cartouche" (1962), proving properly stalwart as a lieutenant to French swashbuckler Belmondo. He was also effective as an estranged husband of a liberated woman in the rather pretentious soaper "Les Feux de la chandeleur/Hearth Fires" (1972). Rochefort enjoyed an international hit with the espionage comedy "The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe" (1972), as Toulouse an ambitious Secret Police officer. This marked the first entry in a long successful collaboration with cabaret performer turned actor turned director Yves Robert. Rochefort reprised his role for the sequel "The Return of the Big Blond" (1974), also directed by Robert. "Variety" deemed him "superlative" in Robert's "Salut l'artiste/Hail the Artist" (1973), a tender if rambling film about struggling small-time actors, as a hammy sidekick of Marcello Mastroianni who resorts to staging promotional supermarket stunts for noodles.
Rochefort shone as the second lead in Bertrand Tavernier's feature directorial debut, "L'Horloger de St. Paul/The Watchmaker of St Paul" (1973), as the seemingly sympathetic police inspector who befriends the shaken father (Philippe Noiret) of an accused murderer. He starred in the popular 1976 sex comedy "Pardon Mon Affaire" (alternately known as "Un Elephant ca trompe enorement/An Elephant Can Be Extremely Deceptive"). Again directed by Robert, Rochefort proved quite likeable as a married would-be rake on the make. He reprised the role for the 1977 sequel "Nous irons tous au paradis/We Will All Go to Heaven/Pardon Mon Affaire, Too". Rochefort made his US film debut in "Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?" (1978), but most of his French and European projects never made it to the US. Nonetheless he remained a major star on the Continent. American audiences glimpsed him amid the comic tumult of Robert Altman's "Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter)" (1994) as Inspector Tantpis, Prefect of Police.