François Périer, was a French actor renowned for his expressiveness and diversity of roles. He made over 110 film and TV appearances between 1938 and 1996, with notable excursion into the French avant-garde. He was also prominent in the theatre. Among his best-known parts was that of Hugo in the first production of Jean-Paul Sartre's Les Mains Sales in 1948. He was the narrator of the French-language version of Fantasia, and made several commercial audio recordings popularizing classical music in France. In 1957 he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film Gervaise.