FrançoisMarie Banier born 27 June 1947 is a French novelist playwright artist actor and photographer He is particularly known for his photographs of celebrities and other public figures and for his friendships with members of high society In a prominent legal case in 2016 he was convicted of abuse of weakness of the elderly billionaire Liliane Bettencourt Banier was born in Paris France He grew up in a middleclass family in the 16th arrondissement of Paris He has claimed he had been completely incomprehensible to his parents Despite his modest background from an early age he was a precocious and hyperactive talent who was able to develop friendships with some of Paris wealthiest arts patrons and artists At the age of 16 he met Salvador Dalí who would send his car to bring Banier to his suite at the Hotel Meurice to discuss art At the age of 19 he befriended the wealthy heiress and patron of the arts MarieLaure de Noailles who was then 64 Banier published his first novel Les Résidences secondaires ou la Vie distraite Second Homes or Distracted Life at the age of 22 Around the same time a wellknown Parisian designer and antique dealer Madeleine Castaing collected some of his photographs Over the years Banier befriended many wellknown public figures and celebrities including Yves Saint Laurent Pierre Cardin Françoise Sagan Samuel Beckett Vladimir Horowitz Louis Aragon François Mitterrand Kate Moss Mick Jagger and Princess Caroline of Monaco He is a friend of Johnny Depp and his exwife Vanessa Paradis whom he met at his home in the south of France Banier is godfather to their daughter LilyRose As of 2008 he shared his house with actor Pascal Greggory and his nephew Martin dOrgeval In 1987 Banier was commissioned to photograph Liliane Bettencourt and Federico Fellini for the French magazine Egoiste Bettencourt was one of the principal shareholders of LOréal and one of the wealthiest persons in the world with an estimated fortune of US401 billion Over the ensuing years Banier and Bettencourt became friends and she became his chief benefactor bestowing gifts upon him estimated to be worth as much as 13 billion These gifts included a life insurance policy worth 253 million in 2003 another life insurance policy worth 262 million in 2006 11 works of art in 2001 valued at 20 million including paintings by Picasso Matisse Mondrian Delaunay and Léger and a photograph by surrealist Man Ray and cash The life insurance policies were allegedly signed over to Banier after Bettencourt was recovering from two hospital stays in 2003 and 2006 Source Article FrançoisMarie Banier from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30
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