A former photographer, he turned to directing short subjects in the late 40s, soon acquiring an international reputation for the poetic quality of his short and medium-length films involving the fantasy world of children. Both his 白鬃野马 (1953) and The Red Balloon (1956) received a grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the latter also winning an American Academy Award. In the early 60s he turned to feature length films with considerably less success, then retreated to documentary shorts. He was killed in a helicopter crash while shooting a documentary near Teheran. That film, Le vent des amoureux (1978), a visually stunning helicopter tour of Iran, was later edited from his notes and was nominated for an Oscar as best feature documentary for the Academy Award ceremonies of 1979.
Creator of the board game RISK. Originally, published in France in 1957, it was called La Conquête du monde. It was eventually picked up by Parker Brothers, and sold in the United States under the name Risk.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 553-555. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Father of Pascal Lamorisse.
As of 2013, remains the only person to ever win an Oscar for the screenplay of a short film. He won the award for The Red Balloon (1956).