Serge Merlin (born Serge Merle; 29 December 1932, Sainte-Barbe-du-Tlélat, French Algeria - 16 February 2019, Paris) was a French actor and theatre director. Though his career was rooted in theatre - at venues such as the Odéon, Théâtre de Chaillot and Théâtre de la Madeleine, with a particular affinity for Beckett and Thomas Bernhard - he became widely known to general audiences through his role as the painter Raymond Dufayel in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie (2001). In 2014 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters.
Serge Merlin died on February 16, 2019 in Paris at the age of 86; he was buried at the Père-Lachaise cemetery.
Serge Merlin's last film role: the historical film Un peuple et son roi (One People and Their King) by Pierre Schoeller, released in September 2018.
On July 9, 2014, Serge Merlin was appointed Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters.
