French screen legend Jean-Louis Trintignant dead at 91

Paris: France lost a screen legend on Friday -- actor Jean-Louis Trintignant, who died at the age of 91, was hailed by President Emmanuel Macron as "a wonderful artistic talent".

Among the legends that emerged during French cinema´s New Wave in the 1960s, Trintignant had one of the most durable careers, still making ground-breaking films into his eighties.

His quiet authority and sonorous voice left their mark on some 120 films, from the notorious "And God Created Woman" alongside Brigitte Bardot in 1959, through classics like "A Man and a Woman" and "Z", to later powerful dramas such as "Three Colours: Red" and "Amour".

"He accompanied our lives through French cinema," said Macron when he was informed of the news during a tech conference in Paris.

"It´s a page that turns on a wonderful artistic talent and voice."

Trintignant´s life was, however, marked by one terrible trauma when his daughter Marie was beaten to death by her rock-star boyfriend Bertrand Cantat in 2003.

He was surrounded by his family in the Gard region of southern France when he passed away, his wife said in a statement. No cause of death was given.