Jean-Pierre Cassel has passed away at the age of 74.

Cassel enjoyed a long and varied career, initially befriending Gene Kelly and being cast alongside him in The Happy Road, after all he was an accomplished tap dancer.

Although I discovered the actor late in his career, and can't claim to know a great deal about his French career, here are some of his more notable roles:

Les Jeux de l'amour (The Lovers) (1960), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), Paris brûle-t-il? (Is Paris Burning?) (1966), L' Armée des ombres (Army of Shadows) (1969), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers (1974), Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), Vincent and Theo (1990).

He appeared with his son, the superb actor Vincent Cassel, in the excellent thriller Les Rivières pourpres (The Crimson Rivers). His career had suddenly stepped up a gear of late as he can now be seen in France in Contre-enquête (Counter-Investigation), Congorama and Mauvaise foi (Bad Faith). He will also be seen in Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) which is in Cannes this year.

According to Variety there are quite a few more films that will feature him yet to be released, so like any great actor his talent lives on.

Perhaps the saddest part for the audience is that he was planning to act alongside his son Vincent in two films of the planned trilogy of France's public enemy number one, Jacques Mesrine, which are currently in pre-production.

To Jean-Pierre Cassel and his family.