Philippe Caroit (born September 29, 1959) is a French actor, painter, and writer.
Caroit was born in Paris, as the fourth of seven children. In his teenage years, he began to develop a passion for travelling, to discover new places and meet people, which made him also learn several foreign languages.
After finishing school, he started to study medicine, following the footsteps of his father. In the third year of studies, he joined the Conservatoire in Montpellier, where he discovered his passion for theatre. Back in Paris, he continued to study medicine and theatre in parallel. In the sixth year of medicine, while working in a hospital in the 14th arrondissement in Paris, he decided to give up the study and dedicate completely to become an actor, joining the Théâtre de Soleil of Ariane Mnouchkine.
His first cinema role was in the movie âÂÂLa Femme de lâÂÂaviateurâ (âÂÂThe Aviator's WifeâÂÂ) directed by Eric Rohmer in 1981. The next year he had his television debut in âÂÂLes ombresâ by Jean Claude Brisseau. These were followed by more than 100 roles in French and foreign movies for cinema and television across the world, as Caroit speaks also English, German, Italian and Spanish. In 1999 he directed his first short movie âÂÂFaire-partâ starring Christine Murillo, Antoine Dulery and Caroline Tresca.
Beyond his roles for cinema and television, he continued to play also in theatre. Among his roles there were Jesus in âÂÂUn homme nomme Jesusâ (âÂÂA Man Named Jesusâ in Palais des Sports in Paris; the play entered the Guinness Book for breaking all attendance records) and Seznec in âÂÂSeznecâÂÂ, both with Robert Hossein or Marc in âÂÂLa Societe des LoisirsâÂÂ, play written by François Archambault, which he adapted.
Caroit authored and adapted scripts for theatre (âÂÂLa Societe de Loisirsâ and âÂÂTu Te Souviendras de MoiâÂÂ), television (âÂÂLe Mystere des Carpatesâ for the TV series Cancoon) and cinema (âÂÂFaire-partâÂÂ).
âÂÂThe Curse of the Snailâ (fr: "La malediction de lâÂÂescargot"), his first novel, was published by Anne Carrière in November 2020. The pocket edition of the book is available since June 2023 (published by Bonneton).
In 2025, he takes on a triple role â writer, director, and actor â in Paillettes, a dark comedy, alongside Denis Maréchal, Shirley Bousquet, and Stéphanie Pasterkamp.
Caroit has a daughter, Blanche, from his marriage to Caroline Tresca. Since December 2022, he is also the father of a boy named Lucien.
In his spare time, Caroit likes to paint, his works being influenced by the German Expressionism, the Fauvism and Les Nabis.