François Roland Truffaut was an acclaimed French filmmaker, actor, and critic. Born on February 6, 1932, he is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. Under the mentorship of film critic Andre Bazin, he began writing for the influential publication Cahiers du Cinéma, where he became a vocal proponent of the auteur theory, which posits that a film's director is its true author.

His debut film, The 400 Blows (1959), starring Jean-Pierre Léaud as Truffaut’s alter ego Antoine Doinel, was a defining work of the New Wave movement. He contributed the story for another milestone of the era, Breathless (1960), directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

Truffaut's other notable films include Shoot the Piano Player (1960), Jules and Jim (1962), The Soft Skin (1964), Two English Girls (1971), and The Last Metro (1980). His film Day for Night (1973) earned him the BAFTA Award for Best Film and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Truffaut also acted in several films, including The Wild Child (1970), Day For Night, and Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

He authored Hitchcock/Truffaut (1966), a book-length interview with Alfred Hitchcock, which is highly regarded in the field of cinema literature. Truffaut paid homage to Hitchcock in films such as The Bride Wore Black (1968) and Confidentially Yours (1983).

He was married to Madeleine Morgenstern from 1957 until 1964, and was later engaged to Claude Jade, while living with actress Fanny Ardant until his death on October 21, 1984. Truffaut's work remains influential, and he continues to be an icon of the French film industry.