The son of orchestra conductor Andre Hossein, Paris-born Robert Hossein was trained at Rene Simon's acting school. Hossein labored away as actor/director with the legendary Theatre Grand Guignol in Montmartre, then spent several years on the "legitimate" stage. In films from 1955's Rififi, Hossein has been generally cast as jaded villains. Making his movie directorial debut with The Wicked Go to Hell (1955), Hossein went on to call the shots on such Film Noir fare as Nude in a White Car (1960) and I Killed Rasputin (1967). In the 1970s, Robert Hossein appeared regularly as Joffrey De Peyrac in the soft-core Angelique films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide