Catherine Deneuve

Catherine Fabienne Dorléac born 22 October 1943 known professionally as Catherine Deneuve    is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model and producer, considered one of the greatest European actresses. She gained recognition for her portrayal of icy, aloof and mysterious beauties for various directors, including Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut and Roman Polanski. In 1985, she succeeded Mireille Mathieu as the official face of Marianne, France’s national symbol of liberty. A 14-time César Award nominee, she won for her performances in Truffaut’s The Last Metro (1980), for which she also won the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress, and Régis Wargnier’s Indochine (1992).

Deneuve made her film debut in 1957 at the age of 13 (12 when it was shot the previous year) and first came to prominence in Jacques Demy’s 1964 musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. She went on to star for Polanski in Repulsion (1965) and for Buñuel in Belle de Jour (1967) and Tristana (1970). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress for Belle de Jour, and the Academy Award for Best Actress for Indochine. She also won the 1998 Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Place Vendôme. Her English-language films include The April Fools (1969), Hustle (1975), The Hunger (1983), Dancer in the Dark (2000) and The Musketeer (2001). Other notable films include Mississippi Mermaid (1969), Scene of the Crime (1986), My Favourite Season (1993), 8 Women (2002), Persepolis (2007), Potiche (2010), The Brand New Testament (2015) and Bonne Pomme (2017).

Early life

Deneuve was born Catherine Fabienne Dorléac in Paris, the daughter of French stage actors Maurice Dorléac (1901–1979) and Renée Simonot (b. 1911). Deneuve has two sisters, Françoise Dorléac (1942–1967) and Sylvie Dorléac (born 14 December 1946), as well as a maternal half-sister, Danielle, whom their mother had out of wedlock in 1937 with Aimé Clariond, but who was later adopted by Maurice and took his surname. Deneuve was her mother’s maiden name, which she chose for her stage name, in order to differentiate herself from her sisters. Deneuve attended Catholic schools.

Film career

Deneuve made her film debut with a small role in André Hunebelle’s Les Collégiennes (1957) with her younger sister Sylvie Dorléac who, like their older half-sister Danielle, was an occasional child actress. She subsequently appeared in several films for director Roger Vadim as well as in L’Homme à femmes (1960), which caught the eye of Jacques Demy, who cast Deneuve in his 1964 musical Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, the film that brought her to stardom. Deneuve played the cold but erotic persona, for which she would be nicknamed the “ice maiden”, in Roman Polanski’s horror classic Repulsion (1965), reinforcing it in Luis Buñuel’s Belle de Jour (1967), and reaching a peak in Tristana (1970). Her work for Buñuel would be her most famous.

Deneuve in 1995

Further prominent films from this early time in her career included Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s A Matter of Resistance (1966), Demy’s musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967) (opposite her sister Françoise Dorléac), and François Truffaut’s romantic thriller Mississippi Mermaid (1969). Deneuve remained active in European films during the 1960s and 1970s, though she limited her appearances in American films of the period to The April Fools (1969), a romantic comedy with Jack Lemmon, and Hustle (1975), a crime drama with Burt Reynolds. Her starring roles at the time were featured in such films as A Slightly Pregnant Man (1973) with Marcello Mastroianni and Le Sauvage (1975) with Yves Montand.

In the 1980s, Deneuve’s films included François Truffaut’s Le Dernier métro (1980), for which she won the César Award for Best Actress, and Tony Scott’s The Hunger (1983) as a bisexual vampire, co-starring with David Bowie and Susan Sarandon, a role which brought her a significant lesbian and cult following, mostly among the gothic subculture. She made her debut film as a producer in 1988, Drôle d’endroit pour une rencontre, alongside frequent co-star Gérard Depardieu.

In the early 1990s, Deneuve’s more significant roles included 1992’s Indochine opposite Vincent Perez, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and won a second César Award for Best Actress; and André Téchiné’s two movies, Ma saison préférée (1993) and Les Voleurs (1996). In 1997, Deneuve was the protagonist in the music video for the song N’Oubliez Jamais sung by Joe Cocker. In 1998 she won acclaim and the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival for her performance in Place Vendôme. In the late 1990s, Deneuve continued to appear in a large number of films such as 1999’s five films Est-OuestLe temps retrouvéPola XBelle maman, and Le Vent de la nuit.

In 2000, Deneuve’s part in Lars von Trier’s musical drama Dancer in the Dark alongside Icelandic singer Björk was subject to considerable critical scrutiny. The film was selected for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. She made another foray into Hollywood the following year, starring in The Musketeer (2001) for Peter Hyams. In 2002, she shared the Silver Bear Award for Best Ensemble Cast at the Berlin International Film Festival for her performance in 8 Women. In 2005, Deneuve published her diary A l’ombre de moi-meme (“In My Own Shadow”, published in English as Close Up and Personal: The Private Diaries of Catherine Deneuve); in it she writes about her experiences shooting the films Indochine and Dancer in the Dark. She also provided the voice role of Marjane Satrapi’s mother in Satrapi’s animated autobiographical film Persepolis (2007), based on the graphic novel of the same name. In 2008, she appeared in her 100th film, Un conte de Noël.

Deneuve’s recent work includes Potiche (2010) with frequent co-star Depardieu, Beloved (2011), alongside former co-stars Ludivine Sagnier and Chiara Mastroianni, the popular French adventure comedy Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia (2012) with Gérard Depardieu and Valérie Lemercier, screenwriter and director Emmanuelle Bercot’s On My Way (2013), Palme D’or winning writer/director Pierre Salvadori’s comedy drama In the Courtyard (2014), and André Téchiné’s drama In the Name of My Daughter (2014). In 2017, she co-starred alongside Catherine Frot, in writer/director Martin Provost’s French drama The Midwife, which has been acquired by Music Box Films for a summer 2017 distribution in the United States.

Career outside film

Modeling

Deneuve in 1999

Deneuve appeared nude in two Playboy pictorials in 1963 and 1965. Her image was used to represent Marianne, the national symbol of France, from 1985 to 1989. As the face of Chanel No. 5 in the late 1970s, she caused sales of the perfume to soar in the United States – so much so that the American press, captivated by her charm, nominated her as the world’s most elegant woman. In 1983, American Home Products retained her to represent their cosmetics line and hired world-renowned photographer Richard Avedon to promote its line of Youth Garde cosmetics, for which she famously proclaimed, “Look closely. Next year I will be 40.”

She is considered the muse of designer Yves Saint Laurent; he dressed her in the films, Belle de JourLa ChamadeLa sirène du MississipiUn flicLiza and The Hunger. In 1992, she became a model for his skincare line. In 2001, she was chosen as the new face of L’Oréal Paris. In 2006, Deneuve became the third inspiration for the M•A•C Beauty Icon series and collaborated on the colour collection that became available at M•A•C locations worldwide in February that year. Deneuve began appearing in the new Louis Vuitton luggage advertisements in 2007. Deneuve was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by the Guardian in March 2013. In July 2017, Deneuve appeared in a video campaign for Louis Vuitton entitled Connected Journeys, celebrating the launch of the brand’s Tambour Horizon smartwatch, which also featured celebrities, including Jennifer Connelly, Bae Doona, Jaden Smith and Miranda Kerr.

Entrepreneurial

In 1986, Deneuve introduced her own perfume, Deneuve. She is also a designer of glasses, shoes, jewelry and greeting cards.

Charities

  • Deneuve was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Safeguarding of Film Heritage in 1994 until her resignation on 12 November 2003.
  • Deneuve asked that the rights owed to her from her representation of Marianne be given to Amnesty International.
  • Louis Vuitton made a donation to The Climate Project, spearheaded by Al Gore, on behalf of Deneuve.
  • Deneuve is also involved with Children Action, Children of Africa, Orphelins Roumains and Reporters Without Borders.
  • Douleur sans frontiers (Pain Without Borders) – At the end of 2003, Deneuve recorded a radio commercial to encourage donations to fight against the pain in the world, notably for the victims of landmines.
  • Handicap International – In the middle of July 2005, Deneuve lent her voice to the message of radio commercials, TV and cinema, which denounced the use of the BASM (cluster bombs).
  • Voix de femmes pour la démocratie (Voice of women for democracy) – Deneuve read the text, “Le petit garçon”, of Jean-Lou Dabadie, on the entitled CD, “Voix de femmes pour la démocratie.” The CD was sold for the benefit of the female victims of the war and the fundamentalisms that fight for democracy.
  • Deneuve has also been involved with various charities in the fight against AIDS and cancer.

Political involvement

Photo of Deneuve from 1969.

  • In 1972, Deneuve signed the Manifesto of the 343. The manifesto was an admission by its signers to have practiced illegal abortions and therefore exposed themselves to judicial actions and prison sentences. It was published in Le Nouvel Observateur on 5 April 1971. That same year, feminist lawyer Gisèle Halimi founded the group, Choisir (“To Choose”), to protect the women who had signed the Manifesto of the 343.
  • Deneuve is involved with Amnesty International’s program to abolish the death penalty.
  • In 2001, Deneuve delivered a petition organized by the French-based group, “Together Against the death penalty”, to the U.S. Embassy in Paris.
  • In April 2007, Deneuve signed a petition on the internet protesting against the “misogynous” treatment of socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal. More than 8,000 French men and women signed the petition, including French actress Jeanne Moreau.
  • In January 2018, Deneuve, along with 99 other French women writers, performers and academics, signed an open letter that argued the #Me Too movement had gone too far, turning into a “witch hunt”, and denounced it as a form of puritanism, resulting in a backlash. Although she later apologized to all the victims who might have felt assaulted by the letter, she still supported it saying there was “nothing in the letter” to Le Monde that said “anything good about harassment, otherwise I wouldn’t have signed it”.

Personal life

Deneuve speaks fluent French, Italian and English and has some knowledge of Spanish, though she does not speak the language fluently. Her hobbies and passions include gardening, drawing, photography, reading, music, cinema, fashion, antiques and decoration. According to a 1996 article published by The New York Times, Deneuve is a practising Roman Catholic.

Deneuve has been married only once: to photographer David Bailey from 1965 to 1972, though they separated in 1967. She has lived with director Roger Vadim, actor Marcello Mastroianni, cinematographer Hugh Johnson, and Canal+ tycoon Pierre Lescure.

Deneuve has two children: actor Christian Vadim (born 18 June 1963), from her relationship with Roger Vadim, and actress Chiara Mastroianni (born 28 May 1972), from her relationship with Marcello Mastroianni. She has five grandchildren.

Deneuve has not had a public relationship since her breakup with Lescure in 1991. They remain friends, and Deneuve’s children consider him their stepfather. According to Gala, in late 2019 Deneuve relied on Lescure while she recuperated from a stroke.

Throughout her 20s and 30s, Deneuve reportedly dated actors Sami Frey, Clint Eastwood, Franco Nero, Burt Reynolds, and John Travolta as well as directors Roman Polanski, Jerry Schatzberg and Francois Truffaut, talent agent Bertrand de Labbey , singer Serge Gainsbourg and TV host Carlos Lozano . While most of her confirmed liaisons have been with much older men, Lozano was 19 years her junior, and in his late teens when he and Deneuve were involved in the early 1980s.

In recent decades, Deneuve’s lack of a boyfriend of record – in combination with the fact that she’s kissed women in five films – has prompted speculation about her sexual orientation, which she acknowledged in a 2002 interview with Knack magazine: “Now that people know nothing about my private life, they start guessing: is there still a man in her life and who is he then? When they see me two or three times with a female friend they say: we’ve always known that. Well, they can enjoy it to their heart’s content.” Reports from 2000 claimed her beau was a 25-year-old technician she’d met on a recent film, but no writers could identify him. In 2006, Deneuve told The Daily Telegraph that she was in a relationship, but would not disclose the name of her partner.

Deneuve is close friends with the artist Nall and owns some of his works.

On 6 November 2019, BBC News reported that Deneuve suffered a mild stroke and was recuperating in a Paris hospital. Despite the health scare, there was no damage to her motor functions. Five weeks later, she was released from the hospital and spent the remainder of 2019 recuperating at her Paris home.

A 2020 biography of Johnny Hallyday by Gilles Lhote claims that the singer maintained a carefully hidden, 56-year affair with Deneuve that started when they were teenagers in 1961 and continued until Hallyday’s death in 2017.

Deneuve started smoking in 1960 at age 16, and has been known to smoke up to three packs a day. She quit in 1985 with the aid of hypnotherapy, but started again in 1996. In 2020, her friend Juliette Binoche told Vanity Fair that Deneuve has stopped smoking since the recent stroke.

Filmography

Year Title Role Director Notes
1957 Les Collégiennes Schoolgirl André Hunebelle Credited as Catherine Dorléac
1960 Les Petits Chats  Jacques R. Villa 
1960 L’Homme à femmes  Catherine Jacques-Gérard Cornu 
1960 Les Portes claquent  Dany Michel Fermaud
Jacques Poitrenaud
1962 Ça c’est la vie  Claude Choublier Short film
1962 Tales of Paris Sophie Marc Allégret French: Les Parisiennes
1962 And Satan Calls the Turns Manuelle Grisha Dabat  French: Et Satan conduit le bal
1963 Vice and Virtue Justine Morand Roger Vadim French: Le Vice et la Vertu
1963 Portuguese Vacation Catherine Pierre Kast French: Vacances portugaises
1964 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Geneviève Emery Jacques Demy French: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
1964 The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers Swindler Claude Chabrol French: Les Plus belles escroqueries du monde
1964 Male Hunt Denise Édouard Molinaro French: La Chasse à l’homme
1964 Male Companion Isabelle Philippe de Broca French: Un monsieur de compagnie
1964 La costanza della ragione Lori Pasquale Festa Campanile
1965 Repulsion Carol Ledoux Roman Polanski Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
1965 Who Wants to Sleep? Angela Claasen Rolf Thiele
Axel von Ambesser
Alfred Weidenmann
German: Das Liebeskarussell
1965 Le Chant du monde Clara Marcel Camus
1966 A Matter of Resistance Marie Jean-Paul Rappeneau French: La Vie de château
1966 Les Créatures Mylène Agnès Varda
1967 The Young Girls of Rochefort Delphine Garnier Jacques Demy French: Les Demoiselles de Rochefort
1967 Belle de Jour Séverine Serizy / Belle de Jour Luis Buñuel Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1968 Benjamin Anne de Clécy Michel Deville French: Benjamin ou les Mémoires d’un puceau
1968 Manon 70 Manon Jean Aurel
1968 Mayerling Maria Vetsera Terence Young
1968 La Chamade Lucile Alain Cavalier
1969 The April Fools Catherine Gunther Stuart Rosenberg
1969 Mississippi Mermaid Julie Roussel / Marion Vergano François Truffaut French: La Sirène du Mississipi
1969 Tout peut arriver  Herself (interviewee) Philippe Labro
1970 Tristana Tristana Luis Buñuel
1970 Donkey Skin Princess / ‘Donkey Skin’ Jacques Demy French: Peau d’Âne
1971 It Only Happens to Others Catherine Nadine Trintignant French: Ça n’arrive qu’aux autres
1972 Liza Liza Marco Ferreri
1972 Un flic Cathy Jean-Pierre Melville
1973 A Slightly Pregnant Man Irène de Fontenoy Jacques Demy French: L’Événement le plus important depuis que l’homme a marché sur la Lune
1974 Don’t Touch the White Woman! Marie-Hélène de Boismonfrais Marco Ferreri French: Touche pas à la femme blanche !
1974 The Murri Affair Linda Murri Mauro Bolognini
1974 La femme aux bottes rouges  Françoise LeRoi Juan Luis Buñuel
1975 Zig-Zig  Marie László Szabó
1975 L’Agression Sarah Gérard Pirès
1975 Lovers Like Us Nelly Jean-Paul Rappeneau French: Le Sauvage


Nominated—César Award for Best Actress

1975 Hustle Nicole Britton Robert Aldrich
1976 If I Had to Do It All Over Again Catherine Berger Claude Lelouch French: Si c’était à refaire
1977 Anima persa Sofia Stolz Dino Risi
1977 March or Die Simone Picard Dick Richards
1977 Beach House Woman in the dream Sergio Citti Italian: Casotto
1978 L’Argent des autres Cécile Rainier Christian de Chalonge
1979 Ils sont grands, ces petits  Louise Mouchin Joël Santoni
1979 Us Two Françoise Claude Lelouch French: À nous deux
1979 Courage fuyons Eva Yves Robert
1979 Écoute voir Claude Alphand Hugo Santiago
1980 The Last Metro Marion Steiner François Truffaut French: Le Dernier Métro


César Award for Best Actress
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress

1980 Je vous aime Alice Claude Berri
1981 Choice of Arms Nicole Durieux Alain Corneau French: Le Choix des armes
1981 Hotel America Hélène André Téchiné French: Hôtel des Amériques


Nominated—César Award for Best Actress

1982 Le choc Claire Robin Davis
1983 L’Africain  Charlotte Philippe de Broca
1983 The Hunger Miriam Blaylock Tony Scott
1984 Le Bon Plaisir Claire Després Francis Girod
1984 Fort Saganne Louise Alain Corneau
1984 Paroles et Musique Margaux Élie Chouraqui
1986 Speriamo che sia femmina Claudia Mario Monicelli
1986 Scene of the Crime Lili Ravenel André Téchiné French: Le Lieu du crime
1987 Agent trouble Amanda Weber Jean-Pierre Mocky Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
1988 Fréquence meurtre Jeanne Quester Élisabeth Rappeneau
1988 A Strange Place to Meet France François Dupeyron French: Drôle d’endroit pour une rencontre


Nominated—César Award for Best Actress

1991 La Reine blanche  Liliane Ripoche Jean-Loup Hubert
1992 Indochine Éliane Devries Régis Wargnier César Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
1993 My Favorite Season Émilie André Téchiné French: Ma saison préférée


Goldene Kamera for Best International Actress
Nominated—César Award for Best Actress

1994 La Partie d’échecs  Marquise Yves Hanchar 
1995 One Hundred and One Nights The star-fantasy Agnès Varda French: Les Cent et Une Nuits de Simon Cinéma
1995 The Convent Hélène Manoel de Oliveira Portuguese: O Convento
1996 Thieves Marie Leblanc André Téchiné French: Les Voleurs


Nominated—César Award for Best Actress

1996 Court toujours : L’inconnu Marianne Ismaël Ferroukhi Short film
1996 The Snow Queen the Snow Queen Lev Atamanov voice
1997 Genealogies of a Crime Jeanne / Solange Raúl Ruiz
1997 Sans titre Leos Carax Short film
1998 Place Vendôme Marianne Malivert Nicole Garcia Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
1999 Le vent de la nuit Hélène Philippe Garrel
1999 Belle maman Léa Gabriel Aghion
1999 Pola X Marie Leos Carax
1999 Time Regained Odette de Crécy Raúl Ruiz French: Le Temps retrouvé
1999 East/West Gabrielle Develay Régis Wargnier French: Est-Ouest; Russian: Восток-Запад
2000 Dancer in the Dark Kathy Lars von Trier Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
2001 I’m Going Home Marguerite Manoel de Oliveira French: Je rentre à la maison, Portuguese: Vou Para Casa
2001 Absolument fabuleux A spectator of the parade Gabriel Aghion Cameo appearance
2001 The Musketeer The Queen Peter Hyams
2001 Le petit poucet The Queen Olivier Dahan
2002 8 Women Gaby François Ozon French: 8 femmes


52nd Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement
European Film Award for Best Actress

2002 Au plus près du paradis Fanette Tonie Marshall
2003 Les Liaisons dangereuses Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil Josée Dayan Miniseries
2003 A Talking Picture Delfina Manoel de Oliveira Portuguese: Um Filme Falado
2004 Princesse Marie  Princess Marie Bonaparte Benoît Jacquot Television film
2004 Kings and Queen Mme Vasset Arnaud Desplechin
2004 Changing Times Cécile André Téchiné
2005 Palais royal !  Eugénia Valérie Lemercier Nominated—César Award for Best Supporting Actress
2006 Le concile de pierre  Sybille Weber Guillaume Nicloux
2006 Nip/Tuck Diana Lubey Ryan Murphy Episode: “Diana Lubey”
2006 Le héros de la famille Alice Mirmont Thierry Klifa 
2007 Après lui Camille Gaël Morel
2007 Persepolis Taji Satrapi, Marjane’s mother Marjane Satrapi
Vincent Paronnaud
Voice role
2007 Pouvoir et séduction Elegant Lady Maria von Heland  Television film
2008 A Christmas Tale Junon Vuillard Arnaud Desplechin French: Un conte de Noël


Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture
Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actress

2008 Je veux voir  The famous actress Joana Hadjithomas
Khalil Joreige
2008 Mes stars et moi  Solange Duvivier Laetitia Colombani 
2009 Cyprien  Vivianne Wagner David Charhon 
2009 The Girl on the Train Louise André Téchiné French: La Fille du RER
2009 Park Benches The client to the cupboard Bruno Podalydès French: Bancs publics (Versailles Rive-Droite)
2009 Hidden Diary Martine Julie Lopes-Curval French: Mères et Filles
2010 Potiche Suzanne Pujol François Ozon Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
2010 The Big Picture Anne Eric Lartigau French: L’Homme qui voulait vivre sa vie
2011 Les yeux de sa mère  Lena Weber Thierry Klifa 
2011 Beloved Madeleine Christophe Honoré French: Les Bien-aimés
2012 Lines of Wellington Severina Valeria Sarmiento French: Les Lignes de Wellington
2012 God Loves Caviar Empress Catherine II of Russia Yannis Smaragdis French: Dieu aime le caviar
2012 Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia Queen Cordelia Laurent Tirard French: Astérix et Obélix : Au service de sa Majesté
2013 On My Way Bettie Emmanuelle Bercot French: Elle s’en va


Cabourg Romantic Film Festival: Favorite Actress
Nominated—César Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Lumières Award for Best Actress

2014 In the Courtyard Mathilde Pierre Salvadori French: Dans la cour


Nominated—César Award for Best Actress

2014 Three Hearts Madame Berger Benoît Jacquot French: 3 cœurs
2014 In the Name of My Daughter Renée Le Roux André Téchiné French: L’Homme qu’on aimait trop
2015 The Brand New Testament Martine Jaco Van Dormael French: Le Tout Nouveau Testament
2015 Standing Tall Florence Blaque Emmanuelle Bercot French: La Tête haute


Nominated—César Award for Best Actress

2016 Le Cancre Marguerite Paul Vecchiali
2017 The Midwife Béatrice Sobolevski Martin Provost French: Sage femme


Nominated—Globes de Cristal Award for Best Actress

2017 Belle à croquer The Angel Axel Courtière Short film
2017 Bonne Pomme Barbara Florence Quentin
2017 All That Divides Us Louise Keller Thierry Klifa 
2017 Naissance d’une étoile Mlle Jean James Bort Short film
2018 Claire Darling Claire Darling Julie Bertuccelli French: La Dernière Folie de Claire Darling
2018 Bad Seeds Monique Kheiron French: Mauvaises Herbes
2019 The Truth Fabienne Hirokazu Kore-eda French: La vérité

Discography

  • 1980:
    • Dieu fumeur de havanes – by and with Serge Gainsbourg (original film soundtrack Je vous aime by Claude Berri)
    • Quand on s’aime – duet with Gérard Depardieu, for a television programme
  • 1981: Her first and only album issued – Souviens-toi de m’oublier written by Serge Gainsbourg
  1. Digital delay
  2. Depression au-dessus du jardin
  3. Epsilon
  4. Monna Vanna et Miss Duncan
  5. Marine bond tremolo
  6. Ces petits riens (duet with Serge Gainsbourg) – original version performed by Gainsbourg and Juliette Gréco (1964)
  7. Souviens-toi de m’oublier (duet with Serge Gainsbourg)
  8. Overseas telegram
  9. What tu dis qu’est-ce tu say
  10. Oh Soliman
  11. Alice helas
  • 1993: Paris Paris – by and with Malcolm McLaren
  • 1997: Allo maman bobo – by Alain Souchon, during an evening with Les Enfoirés in 1997 with Alain Souchon, Jean-Jacques Goldman and Laurent Voulzy
  • 1999: Joyeux anniversaire maman – by Stomy Bugsy (original film soundtrack Belle-maman by Gabriel Aghion)
  • 2000: Cvalda – by and with Björk (included in Selmasongs, the soundtrack for Dancer in the dark by Lars von Trier)
  • 2001: Toi jamais – original film soundtrack Huit Femmes by François Ozon (original version performed by Sylvie Vartan en 1976)
  • 2006: Ho capito che ti amo – original film soundtrack Le héros de la famille by Thierry Klifa
  • 2010: C’est beau la vie by Jean Ferrat – original film soundtrack Potiche by François Ozon
  • 2011: Tout est si calme with Clara Couste, Ludivine Sagnier and Chiara Mastroianni, Une fille légère in duet with Chiara Mastroianni, Je ne peux vivre sans t’aimer – original film soundtrack Beloved by Christophe Honoré
  • Audiobooks for Éditions des Femmes:
    • Cendrillon by Charles Perrault
    • Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan
    • Les Petits Chevaux de Tarquinia by Marguerite Duras
    • Les Paradis aveugles by Duong Thu Huong
    • La Marquise d’O by Heinrich von Kleist
    • Lettres à un jeune poète by Rainer Maria Rilke
    • Lettres à ma mère by Sylvia Plath

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Year Award Title Result
1993 Best Actress Indochine Nominated

BAFTA Awards

Year Award Title Result
1968 Best Actress Belle de Jour Nominated

César Awards

Year Award Title Result
1976 Best Actress Le Sauvage Nominated
1981 Le Dernier métro Won
1982 Hôtel des Amériques Nominated
1988 Agent trouble Nominated
1989 Drôle d’endroit pour une rencontre Nominated
1993 Indochine Won
1994 Ma saison préférée Nominated
1997 Les Voleurs Nominated
1999 Place Vendôme Nominated
2006 Best Supporting Actress Palais Royal! Nominated
2011 Best Actress Potiche Nominated
2014 On My Way Nominated
2015 In the Courtyard Nominated
2016 La Tête haute Nominated

Other awards

Year Group Award Title Result
1965 NYFCC Award Best Actress Repulsion 3rd Place
1976 Bambi Award Film International Lovers Like Us Won
1981 David di Donatello Best Foreign Actress The Last Metro Won
1993 WIFTI Award Crystal Award – International Herself Won
1994 Goldene Kamera Best International Actress My Favorite Season Won
1995 San Sebastián IFF Award Donostia Award Herself Won
1997 Moscow IFF Award Silver St. George Won
1998 Venice FF Award Volpi Cup – Best Actress Place Vendôme Won
Berlin IFF Award Honorary Golden Bear Herself Won
2000 AFF Award Actor’s Mission Award Won
2001 Bambi Award Film International East/West Won
I’m Going Home
Dancer in the Dark
Satellite Award Best Supporting Actress – Drama Dancer in the Dark Nominated
2002 Berlin IFF Award Silver Berlin Bear 8 Women
(shared with cast)
Won
EFA Award Best Actress Won
2005 Cannes IFF Award Palme d’Or d’honneur Herself Won
2006 Bangkok IFF Award Golden Kinnaree Award Won
Istanbul IFF Award Cinema Honorary Award Won
2008 Cannes IFF Award Special Jury Award (shared with Clint Eastwood) Won
Satellite Award Best Actress – Motion Picture A Christmas Tale Nominated
2009 Globes de Cristal Award Best Actress Nominated
2011 Lumières Award Best Actress Potiche Nominated
2012 FSLC Award Gala Tribute Herself Won
Lumières Award Best Actress Beloved Nominated
Manaki Brothers FF Award Special Golden Camera 300 Herself Won
Moscow International FF Stanislavsky Award Herself Won
2013 Cabourg Film Festival Coup de Cœur On My Way Won
Lumières Award Best Actress Nominated
2015 Filmfest Hamburg Douglas-Sirk-Award Herself Won
2018 Globes de Cristal Award Best Actress The Midwife Nominated

In 2000, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. In 2013, she was honored for her lifetime achievement at the 26th European Film Awards. In 2015, she received the Lifetime Achievement Golden Orange Award from International Antalya Film Festival, Turkey. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #21 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.