Drach was born in Paris, France, the son of Yvonne (Vanderheym) and Maurice Drach. His family was Jewish. After studying painting at the
Académie des Beaux-Arts, he became involved in cinema as an assistant to his cousin
Jean-Pierre Melville. He directed three short films under his production company Port Royal Films, including the ''Poor Man's Soliloquies
(1951) and Auditorium
(1957), then made his feature film debut with On n'enterre pas le dimanche'' (1959), a study on the existential solitude of a black person in Paris, which coincided with the
French New Wave and earned him the
Louis Delluc Prize. He married
Marie-José Nat who starred in his 1961 film
Amelie or The Time to Love, a film which further displayed his
humanism. He returned to auteur cinema with
Elise, or Real Life in 1970, which tells the story of a Frenchwoman, his wife Nat, in love with an Algerian at the time of the
Algerian War.
Violins at the Ball which evoked his Jewish childhood during the
Occupation of France also starred his wife who received a
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.
Le Pull-over Rouge (1979) was a chronicle of what he presents as a miscarriage of justice.
Tell Me About Love (1975),
Le Passé simple, and
Guy de Maupassant (1982), confirmed his appeal for psychological intrigue. The latter was an expensive flop. In 1986, with
Sauve-toi, Lola, he tackled the theme of cancer, then the relationship between grandfather and grandson in
Il est Génial Papy! (1987). He had three children with Nat - David, Julien and Aurélien. ==Selected filmography==