Henri Charriere
- Category : 1906-births
- Type : MGE
- Profile : 5/1 - Heretical / Investigator
- Definition : Split - Small (16,22)
- Incarnation Cross : LAX Dedication 2
Biography
French criminal and writer. Convicted as a murderer by the French courts, he is known as the author of Papillon, a memoir of his incarceration in and escape from a penal colony in French Guiana.
In 1973, his book was made into a film directed by Franklin Schaffner, in which the actor Steve McQueen plays the title role (Charrière). Dalton Trumbo was the screenwriter, and Charrière himself acted as consultant on location.
To his final days Charrière strenuously denied his murder conviction, however he freely admitted to having committed various other petty crimes prior to his incarceration. He died of throat cancer on 29 July 1973, aged 66, in Madrid, Spain.