Roland Topor

Roland Topor (1938 – 1997), was a French illustrator, painter, writer, filmmaker and actor, known for the surreal nature of his work.

Roland Topor wrote the novel The Tenant (Le Locataire chimérique, 1964), which was adapted to film by Roman Polanski in 1976. The Tenant is the story of a Parisian of Polish descent, a chilling exploration of alienation and identity, asking disturbing questions about how we define ourselves. The later novel Joko's Anniversary (1969), another fable about loss of identity, is a vicious satire on social conformity.

He wrote two songs for Megumi Satsu, "Je m'aime" and "Monte dans mon Ambulance"

With René Laloux, Topor made "The Dead Times" ("Les Temps morts", 1964), "The Snails" ("Les Escargots", 1965) and their most famous work, the feature length La Planète Sauvage (1973). Topor also worked as an actor, his most famous part being Renfield in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979). In the same year, he also performed the surrealistic paralyzed boss in the movie Ratataplan by Maurizio Nichetti.

Topor published several books of drawings, including Dessins panique (1965) Quatre roses pour Lucienne (1967) and Toporland (1975). Selections from Quatre roses pour Lucienne were reprinted in the English language collection Stories and Drawings (1967). His carefully detailed, realistic style, with elaborate crosshatching, emphasises the fantastic and macabre subject matter of the images.