---
name: "Philippe Duclos"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/philippe-duclos"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "8 December 1946"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T14:15:52.330000+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Philippe Duclos

Actor. Born 8 December 1946 in Paris, France.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 8 December 1946, Paris, France
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3379770, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0239947/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/64645

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Spiral*](https://film.one/tv/spiral.md) (86)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Philippe Duclos

> A French actor who has spent a career playing men with authority and doubt in the same face. As Judge Roban in *Spiral* he made a tired magistrate the quietest and most compelling presence in eight series of noisy television.

Watch what Philippe Duclos does when someone lies to him. As Judge François Roban in *Spiral*, the investigating magistrate at the centre of eight series of French police and courtroom drama, he does not raise his voice or lean in. He takes his glasses off, or leaves them on, and waits, and the liar fills the silence. We called him a tired schoolmaster with the tenacity of a terrier when we reviewed the series, and we stand by both halves. His scenes were quieter than anyone else's in a loud programme and we leaned forward for every one of them, because Duclos gave the impression that the case was being decided in his head and nowhere else.

The role came late. Duclos began in theatre in the early 1970s, much of it classical work with the director Daniel Mesguich, and did not reach cinema until the early 1990s, in supporting parts for Arnaud Desplechin, Patrice Chéreau and Bertrand Tavernier. He is Telligny in Chéreau's *La Reine Margot* (1994), Caron in Jacques Audiard's *Un héros très discret* (1996), and a voice in Alain Corneau's *Tous les matins du monde* (1991). Then, in 2005, at nearly sixty, he put on Roban's robes and kept them on until 2019. Wide recognition arrived with the judge, and not before.

Casting directors have a type for him: judges, inspectors, priests, headmasters, doctors, men whose authority comes with a desk and a careful way of speaking. He speaks precisely and gives little away, which is why the small shifts register when they come. What made Roban more than a type was time. Fifteen years of the same part let Duclos age with the character and let the character's fragility show in stages, so that the intransigent judge of the first run and the more exposed man of the later ones are plainly the same person. He described the part in 2014 as one of "intelligence, intransigeance, fragilité, réserve, une certaine forme de sadisme, de masochisme aussi, mais également un humour grinçant", and the list is accurate; the last three items are the ones a lesser actor would have left out. The series made him its moral centre and knew it.

The reservation is the obvious one. A man cast this often as the voice of an institution risks becoming part of the set, and his cinema has been supporting parts; we have not reviewed those films and will not pretend to a view of them. The series is another matter. Our score of 86 for *Spiral* owes a good deal to Caroline Proust's Laure Berthaud, and a good deal to him. He has since taken another recurring part, Pierre Chassagne in *L'Art du crime*, from 2017. Whether it lets him do anything Roban did not, we cannot yet say. Start with the judge.

## Biography

Philippe Duclos is a French actor born on 8 December 1946 in Paris. He trained at the Cours Florent from 1967 and began his career in theatre before appearing in films and television.

He is best known for playing the examining magistrate François Roban in the series *Spiral* (Engrenages, 2005–2019). Other credits include roles in *Queen Margot* (1994), *All the Mornings of the World* (1991), *A Self-Made Hero* (1996), *The Girl from Monaco* (2008), *Serial Teachers* (2013) and *Five* (2016). He has also appeared in *L'art du crime* as Pierre Chassagne and wrote the book *Le Juge et son fantôme* (2021) about his long-running role.

*Sources: imdb.com, fr.wikipedia.org, liberation.fr.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Spiral* (2005), Fi1m 86, as François Roban — [page](https://film.one/tv/spiral.md)

## Complete filmography (53)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Malice* (2025), series, as Olivier Gaudron
- *L'école des espions* (2024), as Verdier
- *The Great Magic* (2023), as Robin
- *The Crimson Rivers* (2018), series, as Direktor Levrard
- *Justice Dot Net* (2018), as Alain Jarnac
- *Souviens-toi* (2018), series, as Capitaine Lacombe
- *The Art of Crime* (2017), series, as Pierre Chassagne
- *Five* (2016), as Le père de Samuel
- *Cassandre* (2015), series, as Bertrand Janin
- *Florida* (2015), as Docteur Farkoa
- *The Old Ones Called It Chaos* (2015), Acting
- *In Harmony* (2015), as Director of the insurance company
- *Nobody from Nowhere* (2014), as Le prêtre
- *Bird People* (2014), as Le père d'Audrey au téléphone (voice)
- *Serial Teachers* (2013), as Le proviseur
- *Lazare* (2013), Acting
- *Clemenceau* (2012), as Aristide Briand
- *Looking for Hortense* (2012), as Henri H
- *Love Like Poison* (2010), as L'évêque
- *Dieu seul me voit (Versailles-Chantiers) - version interminable* (2008), series, as Sophie's father
- *The Girl from Monaco* (2008), as Inspector Taurand
- *Lost Paradises* (2008), as Pierre
- *René Bousquet ou le grand arrangement* (2007), as Jean-Paul Martin
- *Autopsy* (2007), as Philippe Mangin
- *Djihad!* (2006), as Xavier Pujol
- *Comedy of Power* (2006), as Jean-Baptiste Holéo
- *Spiral* (2005), series, as François Roban — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/spiral.md)
- *The Bridesmaid* (2004), as Capitaine Dutreix
- *Ma mère* (2004), as The Father
- *C’était le chien d’Eddy* (2003), as Franck
- *L'enfant éternel* (2002), as Marel
- *Thelma* (2002), as Le réceptionniste
- *Life Kills Me* (2002), as Mr. Suard
- *Safe Conduct* (2002), as Marcel Bryau
- *Les Petites Mains* (2001), as Michel Vanek
- *My Father Saved My Life* (2001), as Cobra Overseer
- *Battle Cries* (1999), as Doctor Morin
- *Charmants voisins* (1999), as Roger Visinand
- *De gré ou de force* (1998), as Jalabier
- *Only God Sees Me* (1998), as Sophie's Father
- *A Self-Made Hero* (1996), as Caron
- *My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument* (1996), as Spiritual Accompanist
- *The Apprentices* (1995), as Rédacteur en chef mots croisés
- *Fresh Bait* (1995), as Antoine
- *Le fils préféré* (1994), as Vogel
- *L'irrésolu* (1994), as Georges
- *Queen Margot* (1994), Acting
- *The Sentinel* (1992), as Macaigne
- *All the Mornings of the World* (1991), as Brunet (voice)
- *Gandahar* (1987), as Transformé (Voice)
- *Une robe noire pour un tueur* (1981), as Young drug addict
- *The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot* (1973), Acting
- *Les Cinq Dernières Minutes* (1958), series, as Paul

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/philippe-duclos