Jeanne Moreau 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017 was a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. Moreau began playing small roles in films in 1949, later achieving prominence with starring roles in Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows (1958), Michelangelo Antonioni’s La Notte (1961), and François Truffaut’s Jules et Jim (1962). Most prolific during the 1960s, Moreau continued to appear in films into her 80s.
She won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for Seven Days… Seven Nights (1960), the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress for Viva Maria! (1965), and the César Award for Best Actress for The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea (1992). She was also the recipient of several lifetime awards, including a BAFTA Fellowship in 1996, Cannes Golden Palm in 2003 and César Award in 2008.
Early life and education[edit]
Moreau was born in Paris, the daughter of Katherine (née Buckley), a dancer who performed at the Folies Bergère (d. 1990), and Anatole-Désiré Moreau, a restaurateur (d. 1975).[1][2] Moreau’s father was French; her mother was English, a native of Oldham, Lancashire, England[3] and of part Irish descent.[2][4][5] Moreau’s father was Catholic and her mother, originally a Protestant, converted to Catholicism upon marriage.[2] When Jeanne was a young girl, “the family moved south to Vichy, spending vacations at the paternal ancestral village of Mazirat, a town of 30 houses in a valley in the Allier. “It was wonderful there”, Moreau said. “Every tombstone in the cemetery was for a Moreau”. During World War II, the family was split, and Moreau lived with her mother in Paris. Moreau ultimately lost interest in school and, at age 16, after attending a performance of Jean Anouilh’s Antigone, found her calling as an actor. She later studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Her parents separated permanently while Moreau was at the conservatory and her mother, “after 24 difficult years in France, returned to England with Jeanne’s[6] sister, Michelle.”[6]
Career[edit]
In 1947, Moreau made her theatrical debut at the Avignon Festival. She debuted at the Comédie-Française in Ivan Turgenev’s A Month in the Country[6] and, by her 20s, was already one of the leading actresses in the theatre’s troupe.[2] After 1949, she began appearing in films with small parts but continued primarily active in the theatre for several years — a year at the Théâtre National Populaire opposite among others Gérard Philipe and Robert Hirsch, then a breakout two years in dual roles in The Dazzling Hour by Anna Bonacci, then Jean Cocteau’s La Machine Infernale and others before another two-year run, this time in Shaw’s Pygmalion.[6] From the late 1950s, after appearing in several successful films, she began to work with the emerging generation of French film-makers. Elevator to the Gallows (1958) with first-time director Louis Malle was followed by Malle’s The Lovers (Les Amants, 1959).[7]
Moreau went on to work with many of the best known New Wave and avant-garde directors.[2] François Truffaut’s New Wave film Jules et Jim (1962), her biggest success internationally, is centered on her magnetic starring role.[2] She also worked with a number of other notable directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni (La notte and Beyond the Clouds), Orson Welles (The Trial, Chimes at Midnight and The Immortal Story), Luis Buñuel (Diary of a Chambermaid), Elia Kazan (The Last Tycoon), Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Querelle), Wim Wenders (Until the End of the World), Carl Foreman (Champion and The Victors), and Manoel de Oliveira (Gebo et l’Ombre).
In 1983, she was head of the jury at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival.[8] In 2005, she was awarded with the Stanislavsky Award at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.[9]
Moreau was also a vocalist. She released several albums and once performed with Frank Sinatra at Carnegie Hall in 1984.[2] In addition to acting, Moreau worked behind the camera as a writer, director and producer.[2] Her accomplishments were the subject of the film Calling the Shots (1988) by Janis Cole and Holly Dale.[citation needed]
Personal life[edit]
Moreau in 2009
Throughout her life, Moreau maintained friendships with prominent writers such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Genet, Henry Miller and Marguerite Duras, (an interview with Moreau is included in Duras’s book Outside: Selected Writings). She formerly was married to Jean-Louis Richard (1949–1964, separated in 1951) and then to American film director William Friedkin (1977–1979). She and Richard had a son, Jérôme.[10] Director Tony Richardson left his wife Vanessa Redgrave for her in 1967, but they never married. She also had affairs with directors Louis Malle and François Truffaut, fashion designer Pierre Cardin[11] and the Greek actor/playboy Theodoros Roubanis.[12]
In 1971, she was a signer of the Manifesto of the 343 which publicly announced that she had obtained an illegal abortion.[13]
Moreau was a close friend of Sharon Stone, who presented a 1998 American Academy of Motion Pictures life tribute to Moreau at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, academy headquarters in Beverly Hills. Orson Welles called her “the greatest actress in the world”,[14][3][15] and she remained one of France’s most accomplished actresses.
Filmography[edit]
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Actress[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Last Love | Michèle | Jean Stelli | |
| 1950 | Meurtres ? | Martine Annequin | Richard Pottier | |
| Pigalle-Saint-Germain-des-Prés | La môme Pâquerette | André Berthomieu | ||
| 1952 | The Man in My Life | Suzanne Dubreuil | Guy Lefranc | |
| Il est minuit, docteur Schweitzer | Marie Winter | André Haguet | ||
| 1953 | Dortoir des grandes | Julie | Henri Decoin | |
| Julietta | Rosie Facibey | Marc Allégret | ||
| 1954 | Touchez pas au grisbi | Josy | Jacques Becker | |
| Les Intrigantes | Mona Rémi | Henri Decoin | ||
| Secrets d’alcôve | Jeanne Plisson | Various directors | (segment “Billet de logement, Le”) | |
| Queen Margot | Margaret of Valois | Jean Dréville | ||
| 1955 | Les Hommes en blanc | Marianne Déjazet | Ralph Habib | |
| M’sieur la Caille | Fernande | André Pergament | ||
| Opération gas-oil | Alice | Gilles Grangier | ||
| 1956 | Le Salaire du péché | Angèle Ribot | Denys de la Patellière | |
| 1957 | Jusqu’au dernier | Gina | Pierre Billon | |
| Les Louves | Agnès Vanaux | Luis Saslavsky | ||
| L’étrange Monsieur Steve | Florence | Raymond Bailly | ||
| Three Days to Live | Jeanne Fortin | Gilles Grangier | ||
| 1958 | The Lovers (Les amants) | Jeanne Tournier | Louis Malle | |
| Ascenseur pour l’échafaud | Florence Carala | |||
| Le Dos au mur | Gloria Decrey | Édouard Molinaro | ||
| 1959 | The 400 Blows | Woman with Dog | François Truffaut | cameo appearance |
| Les liaisons dangereuses | Juliette de Merteuil | Roger Vadim | ||
| 1960 | Five Branded Women | Ljuba | Martin Ritt | |
| Moderato Cantabile | Anne Desbarèdes | Peter Brook | ||
| Dialogue with the Carmelites | Mère Marie de l’Incarnation | Philippe Agostini | ||
| 1961 | La Notte | Lidia Pontano | Michelangelo Antonioni | |
| A Woman Is a Woman | Woman in Bar | Jean-Luc Godard | Uncredited, discussing Jules et Jim | |
| 1962 | Jules et Jim | Catherine | François Truffaut | |
| Eva | Eva Olivier | Joseph Losey | ||
| The Trial | Miss Burstner | Orson Welles | ||
| 1963 | Bay of Angels | Jacqueline “Jackie” Demaistre | Jacques Demy | |
| The Fire Within (Le feu follet) | Eva | Louis Malle | ||
| Banana Peel (Peau de banane) | Cathy | Marcel Ophüls | ||
| The Victors | the French lady | Carl Foreman | ||
| 1964 | Diary of a Chambermaid | Célestine | Luis Buñuel | |
| The Train | Christine | John Frankenheimer | ||
| The Yellow Rolls-Royce | Eloise, Marchioness of Frinton | Anthony Asquith | ||
| Mata Hari, Agent H21 | Mata Hari | Jean-Louis Richard | ||
| 1965 | Viva Maria! | Maria I | Louis Malle | |
| Chimes at Midnight | Doll Tearsheet | Orson Welles | ||
| 1966 | Mademoiselle | “Mademoiselle” | Tony Richardson | |
| 1967 | The Oldest Profession (episode “Mademoiselle Mimi”) | Mimi Guillotine | Philippe de Broca | (segment “Mademoiselle Mimi”) |
| The Sailor from Gibraltar | Anna | Tony Richardson | ||
| 1968 | The Bride Wore Black | Julie Kohler | François Truffaut | |
| The Immortal Story | Virginie Ducrot | Orson Welles | TV movie | |
| Great Catherine | Catherine | Gordon Flemyng | ||
| 1969 | Le Corps de Diane | Diane Vallier | Jean-Louis Richard | |
| 1970 | Monte Walsh | Martine Bernard | William A. Fraker | |
| The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir | the singer | Jean Renoir | TV movie, (segment “Quand l’amour meurt”) | |
| The Deep | Ruth Warriner | Orson Welles | Filming was unfinished | |
| Alex in Wonderland | Herself | Paul Mazursky | ||
| 1971 | Comptes à rebours | Madeleine St Rose | Roger Pigaut | |
| 1972 | Chère Louise | Louise | Philippe de Broca | |
| L’humeur vagabonde | Myriam Bingeot | Édouard Luntz | ||
| Nathalie Granger | “the other woman” | Marguerite Duras | ||
| Repeated Absences | nostalgie | Guy Gilles | Voice | |
| 1973 | Joanna Francesa | Joana | Cacá Diegues | |
| 1974 | Je t’aime | Elisa Boussac | Pierre Duceppe | |
| Les Valseuses | Jeanne Pirolle | Bertrand Blier | ||
| Creezy | Renee Vibert | Pierre Granier-Deferre | ||
| 1975 | The Garden That Tilts | Maria | Guy Gilles | |
| Hu-man | Sylvana | Jérôme Laperrousaz | ||
| Hu-Man | Sylvana | Jérôme Laperrousaz | ||
| 1976 | Lumiere | Sarah Dedieu | Jeanne Moreau | |
| Monsieur Klein | Florence | Joseph Losey | ||
| The Last Tycoon | Didi | Elia Kazan | ||
| 1979 | The Adolescent | La narratrice | Jeanne Moreau | Voice, Uncredited |
| 1981 | Plein sud | Hélène, la mère de Caroline | Luc Béraud | |
| Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid | Lili Marlene | George Kaczender | ||
| 1982 | A Thousand Billion Dollars | Mme Benoît-Lambert | Henri Verneuil | |
| Querelle | Lysiane | Rainer Werner Fassbinder | ||
| La Truite | Lou Rambert | Joseph Losey | ||
| 1986 | Le paltoquet | The Brothel-Keeper | Michel Deville | |
| Sauve-toi, Lola | Marie-Aude Schneider | Michel Drach | ||
| 1986–1987 | Le Tiroir secret | Vivi | (different directors) | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | The Miracle | Sabine | Jean-Pierre Mocky | |
| Remake | Herself | Ansano Giannarelli | ||
| 1989 | Jour après jour | Janine Weisman | Alain Attal | |
| 1990 | La Femme Nikita | Amande | Luc Besson | |
| Alberto Express | the Baroness | Arthur Joffé | ||
| La Femme fardée | Le Doria | José Pinheiro | ||
| 1991 | Anna Karamazoff | the Lady | Rustam Khamdamov | |
| To meteoro vima tou pelargou | the Lady | Theo Angelopoulos | ||
| The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea | Lady M | Laurent Heynemann | ||
| Until the End of the World | Edith Farber | Wim Wenders | ||
| 1992 | The Lover | Narrator | Jean-Jacques Annaud | Voice |
| Map of the Human Heart | Sister Banville | Vincent Ward | ||
| La nuit de l’océan | Hélène Sauveterre | Antoine Perset | ||
| The Absence | the writer’s wife | Peter Handke | ||
| À demain | Tete | Didier Martiny | ||
| 1993 | Screen Two | Lili | Waris Hussein | Episode: “The Clothes in the Wardrobe” |
| Je m’appelle Victor | Rose | Guy Jacques | ||
| Screen One | Angelique | Charles Sturridge | Episode: “A Foreign Field” | |
| 1995 | One Hundred and One Nights | La première ex-épouse de M. Cinéma | Agnès Varda | |
| Catherine the Great | Empress Elizabeth Petrovna | Marvin J. Chomsky | ||
| Beyond the Clouds | a Lady | Michelangelo Antonioni and Wim Wenders | ||
| 1996 | I Love You, I Love You Not | Nana | Billy Hopkins | |
| The Proprietor | Adrienne Mark | Ismail Merchant | ||
| 1997 | Amour et confusions | Libra | Patrick Braoudé | |
| Witch Way Love | Eglantine | René Manzor | ||
| 1998 | Ever After | Grande Dame | Andy Tennant | |
| 1999 | Balzac | Charlotte-Laure de Balzac | Josée Dayan | TV movie |
| 2000 | The Prince’s Manuscript | Alessandra Wolf (Licy) | Roberto Andò | |
| Les Misérables | Mere Innocente | Josée Dayan | 4 episodes | |
| 2001 | Lisa | Lisa (old) | Pierre Grimblat | |
| Cet amour-là | Marguerite Duras | Josée Dayan | ||
| 2003 | Love Actually | Lady at Marseilles Airport | Richard Curtis | Uncredited |
| Les Parents terribles | Tante Leo | Josée Dayan | ||
| 2005 | Akoibon | Madame Paule | Édouard Baer | |
| Time to Leave | Laura | François Ozon | ||
| Go West | Novinar | Ahmed Imamović | ||
| Les Rois maudits | Mahaut, Countess of Artois | Josée Dayan | 5 episodes | |
| 2006 | Roméo et Juliette | Laurence | Yves Desgagnés | |
| 2007 | Chacun son cinéma | The old woman / Herself | Various directors | (segment “Trois Minutes”) |
| Désengagement | Françoise | Amos Gitai | ||
| 2008 | One Day You’ll Understand | Rivka | Amos Gitai | |
| Everywhere at Once | Narrator | Holly Fisher | ||
| 2009 | Carmel | Amos Gitai | Voice | |
| Face | Jeanne | Ming-liang Tsai | ||
| La guerre des fils de la lumière contre les fils des ténèbres | Amos Gitai | |||
| Kérity, la maison des contes | Aunt Eleanor | Dominique Monfery | Voice | |
| 2012 | Une estonienne à Paris | Frida | Ilmar Raag | |
| Gebo et l’Ombre | Candidinha | Manoel de Oliveira | ||
| 2015 | Le talent de mes amis | La grand-mère de Thibault | Alex Lutz | (final film role) |
Director[edit]
- Lumière (1976)
- L’Adolescente (1979)
- Lillian Gish (1983, TV documentary)
Awards and nominations[edit]
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Films[edit]
| Year | Group | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | César Awards | Honorary César | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 2005 | Moscow International Film Festival | Stanislavsky Award | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 2003 | Cannes Film Festival | Honorary Golden Palm | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 2003 | Taormina International Film Festival | Taormina Arte Award | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 2001 | Pusan International Film Festival | Hand Printing (tribute) | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 2000 | Berlin International Film Festival | Honorary Golden Bear | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1999 | Hamptons International Film Festival | Distinguished Achievement Award | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1999 | Créteil International Women’s Film Festival | Homage | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1998 | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | Tribute | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1997 | European Film Awards | Life Achievement Award | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1997 | San Sebastián International Film Festival | Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1996 | BAFTA Awards | Academy Fellowship | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1995 | César Awards | Honorary César | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1994 | Women in Film Crystal Award | International Award | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1992 | Venice Film Festival | Career Golden Lion | Lifetime achievement | Won |
| 1992 | César Awards | Best Actress | The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea | Won |
| 1988 | César Awards | Best Actress | Le Miraculé | Nominated |
| 1987 | César Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Le Paltoquet | Nominated |
| 1984 | Razzie Awards | Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song | Querelle – song: “Young and Joyful Bandit” | Nominated |
| 1979 | Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Bear | L’adolescente | Nominated |
| 1979 | Chicago International Film Festival | Gold Hugo | L’adolescente | Nominated |
| 1976 | Chicago International Film Festival | Gold Hugo | Lumière | Nominated |
| 1976 | Taormina International Film Festival | Golden Charybdis | Lumière | Nominated |
| 1967 | BAFTA Awards | Best Foreign Actress | Viva Maria! | Won |
| 1964 | Karlovy Vary International Film Festival | Best Actress | Diary of a Chambermaid | Won |
| 1963 | BAFTA Awards | Best Foreign Actress | Jules et Jim | Nominated |
| 1962 | Jussi Awards | Diploma of Merit – Foreign Actress | La notte | Won |
| 1961 | Fotogramas de Plata | Best Foreign Performer | Le dialogue des Carmélites | Won |
| 1960 | Cannes Film Festival | Best Actress | Moderato cantabile | Won |
| 1958 | Venice Film Festival | Best Actress | Les amants | Won |
Theater[edit]
| Year | Group | Award | Play | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Molière Awards | Best Actress | Le Récit de la servante Zerline | Won |