Philippe Kieffer was born on 24 October 1899 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He is known for The Longest Day (1962) and Les échos du cinéma (1961). He died in 1962 in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, Val-d'Oise, France.
He was before, during and after D Day 1944, the commander of the 1er bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos (1er BFMC) later called Commandos Kieffer. For his work during WWII, he was named Compagnon de la Libération on 28 August 1944.