European Actors Archives - Page 14 of 28

Michele Mercier

Michele Mercier was born in 1939 in Nice, France. At the age of seventeen, she came to Paris and joined Roland Petet’s dancing company. She had a small role in Francois Truffaut’s “Shoot the Pianist” in 1960. In 1963 she starred in “Angelique” from the novel of the same name, which became a popular box office success internationally. She made films outside of her native country including “The Call of the Wild” in 1972.

IMDB entry:

For Michèle Mercier, the role of Angélique, “the Marquise of the Angels”, was both a blessing and a curse. It catapulted her to almost instant stardom, rivalling Brigitte Bardot in her celebrity and popularity, but ruined her acting career. The character of Angélique made to forget the other aspects of the career of Mercier, but it is true that general public discovered her only in “Angélique”, and made her a real star of the French cinema of that time. By the end of the 1960s, the names Angélique and Michèle Mercier were synonymous, and to escape type-casting, Mercier was compelled to leave France and try to re-start her career in United States, unfortunately without any success.

Daughter of Nice’s pharmacists, born on January 1st, 1939 and named as Jocelyne Yvonne Renée, she initially wanted to be a dancer. Wartime, no money to buy food, but little Jocelyne wept all week, cadging father, wellknown pharmacist in Nice, to buy her balletskirts and points. In return she promised to work in drug-store. Father took this only as childish whim. But little girl got her wish through: of “small ballet-rat”, as they call little dancers, who participate in stageshows, she grew up to soloist in Opera of Nice. Then came Paris. First she was engaged to the troupe of Roland Petit, then she danced in the company of the “Ballets of the Eiffel tower”. At 15, she met Maurice Chevalier, who predicted her success and glory. They did arrive, but by another way that the dance. Parallel to her career as dancer, Jocelyne followed courses of dramatic art in the class of Solange Sicard. Her début in French cinema was for Mercier another compromise: her birthname seemed too long and too old-fashioned for movie credits. What, if she’ll take a name Michèle? She winced – this was name of her little sister, who died at the age of five by the fever typhoide, but she agreed. And it was also as in testimony of admiration for her partner Michèle Morgan, as she borrowed her name to her. After some romantic comedies and a small role in François Truffaut’s “Shoot the pianist” (1960; her favorite role), she approaches the Sixties mainly in the cinema of district. She also worked in England and made then mainly small-budget films in Italy, always in the same register of easy girl. To this moment Michèle already competed with Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, continuously shooting in Italy. She needed a role, which could make her a star. Only in 1963, when was decided to make movie by sensational novel “Angélique”, Michèle got this kind of chance.

Many actresses were approached to play the role of Angélique. The Producer Francis Cosne absolutely wanted Brigitte Bardot for the part. She refused, but later judged Michèle Mercier to be fantastic in it. Annette Stroyberg was considered next, but judged not to be sufficiently well-known. Catherine Deneuve was too pale, Jane Fonda spoke French with an American accent, and Virna Lisi was busy in Hollywood. The most serious actress considered was Marina Vlady. She almost sign a contract, but Michèle Mercier won the role after trying out for it – which she did not appreciate very much since she was being treated like a beginner while she was already a big star in Italy. At the time she was contacted to play Angélique, she had already acted in over twenty movies. During four years she made five Angélique-movies, enjoying the real success. Nevertheless the moment came, when she finally wanted to interrupt with this aggravating character. Michèle played with Jean Gabin in “The Thunder of God” of Denys de la Patellière. Then with Robert Hossein in “La seconde vérité” of Christian-Jaque… But the time has gone. That was also confirmed by Mercier’s flop in Hollywood… What life didn’t taught her, that’s the skill how to dominate men. Every time Michèle captivated regardlessly. She was deceived, betrayed. She suffered. “Men in their way, shattered my life. What I wanted from them? Real, mutual love. What they wanted – no hard to guess,” candidly confessed Michèle after sensational story with a shah, who overwhelmed actress with diamonds and bouquets of flowers, and then tryed to rape her. Press enjoyed Michèle’s love affairs and divorces. For some reason or other, in real life this beautiful and kind woman met only rascals, without exception. First husband turned out to be alcoholic. With well known racer Claude Bourillot she lived together 12 years. And she was shocked, when in one day she found out that he vanished with her jewels. Full of dramatism was story of her romance with Italian prince N., who after many years of courtship got intimate with Michèle and at the end betrayed her, refusing to marry her. Incidentally, all these failures even more hardened the character of Michèle Mercier. After a very long eclipse, she decided to return to the cinema. In 1998, the actress made in Cuba and in Italy “La Rumbera”, a feature film by Italian director Piero Vivarelli. In 1999, swindled of several million francs in a business venture, Mercier had serious financial problems. She even planned to sell famous wedding gown of the Marquise of the Angels. The actress confessed in Nice Matin: “I am ruined, I’ll be obliged to sell part of my paintings, my furnitures, my properties, my jewels and the costumes of Angélique”. In 2002, she presented at the Cannes Film Festival her second book of memories in which she affirms in the cover that “she’s not Angélique!”, entrusting her irritation to be summarized to this glamour-image of the Sixties. In this book Mercier also tells about how Italian actor Vittorio Gassman tried to take her by force, but remembers also the gentility of Marcello Mastroianni and the suppers of Bettino Craxi, former Prime Minister, and Silvio Berlusconi. In the end she admits: “All the men who have made the court of me, tried to seduce Angélique… not me. But then one day I understood that Angelique could not make more harm to me, therefore I have learned to consider she’s like a little sister, with whom I had to live hand in hand”.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Ivar Kümnik

The above IMDB entry can also be accessed online here.

Steve Reeves obituary in “The Guardian” in 2000.

New of the death – at the age of 74 – of Steve Reeves, the American body-building champion and star of 1950s mythological movies like Hercules, termed his films “European-made”. They were, in fact, “Italian-made”, though they made him the highest-paid European star of the time.

His first film, made in Rome in 1957 by the director Pietro Francisci, and called in Italian Le Fatiche di Ercole (The Labours Of Hercules), was to launch a box-office genre for the Italian cinema, much as with spaghetti westerns a few years later.

Ironically, Reeves came close to becoming the symbol of that second cult genre too. When Mario Bonnard, the director making The Last Days Of Pompeii in 1959, fell ill during shooting, the film was finished by Sergio Leone, who, watching Reeves at work as the centurion, thought seriously of casting him as the nameless cowboy in A Fistful Of Dollars.

Reeves later told an Italian journalist: “I turned the part down because it seemed to me impossible that the Italians could make a western. I was wrong. And Clint Eastwood was perfect for the part.” Reeves also said that he had been offered the part of James Bond before Sean Connery.

Even though he was born in Montana, the same state as his childhood hero Gary Cooper, the young Reeves never aspired to become an actor; indeed, most of the Italian directors who worked with him thought he never became one. It was, of course, his muscles that made him famous.

He won the Mr America title in 1947, when he was 21, and followed it up by becoming, first, Mr World, and then Mr Universe (twice, in 1948 and 1950). He was tested by De Mille for the lead in Samson And Delilah, but apparently Victor Mature was preferred.

A photo of Reeves, as the young Mr Universe, reached Francisci’s casting desk when he was preparing the Hercules film in 1957. There was an illustrious precedent for putting muscles before acting talent in casting mythological heroes.

What is generally considered the first masterpiece in cinema history, Pastrone’s Cabiria (1914), featured a strongman character, Maciste, whose name was invented by the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio. He was played by a docker from Genoa.

The idea of returning to the mythological genre had come from scriptwriter Ennio de Concini, who had great difficulty finding a producer. I remember being summoned to a press conference in Rome when Reeves arrived to start filming. None of us journalists had ever heard of him, and didn’t think he would make a good story.

The projected film seemed like a potboiler, and it only became a cult event when the enterprising American producer, Joe Levine, bought it, dubbed it into English and spent $1m launching it in the US – it made him a fortune.

The market soon became saturated with imitations, and both ancient history and mythology were ransacked for muscular heroes. Reeves himself became the muscle-man most in demand, but as his salary increased proportionately, producers were signing up anybody who had won a bodybuilding contest.

Most of them had even less acting potential than Reeves, but a former Tarzan, Gordon Scott, was his top competitor. They appeared together in Romulus And Remus, made in 1962 by Sergio Corbucci, one of the best genre directors of Cine Città. Corbucci said that Reeves’s muscles “seemed made of cornflour”, and that when he had to lift actress Virna Lisi in the air (she couldn’t have weighed more than 50 kilos), he dropped her. During that film, Reeves left Scott with a broken nose, although apparently by accident.

During the filming of The Last Days Of Pompeii, Reeves dislocated his shoulder when his chariot slammed into a tree, but he continued working in Italy and was to star in 18 films over the next decade. Among his pictures was an off-beat Thief Of Baghdad, directed in 1960 by the documentarist Bruno Vailati. Although he’d missed out on A Fistful Of Dollars, he did do a western in 1968, his last film before returning to America, A Long Ride From Hell.

Reeves married his secretary, Aline, and they settled on a ranch in California, where he bred horses. He continued to take an interest in fitness, wrote a workout guide, Building The Classic Physique The Natural Way, and instructed others in bodybuilding, which he believed could help youngsters turn away from drugs.

His wife died in 1989.

Steve Reeves, bodybuilder and actor, born January 21 1926; died May 1 2000

Marie Versini was born in Paris in 1940. She was capivating as the seamstress on her way to the gallows with Dirk Bogarde in “A Tale of Two Cities.

Silvana Mangano was born in Rome in 1930 of an English mother and an Italian father. She came to international fame for her role in “Bitter Rice” in 1939. Her other films include “Anna” in 1951, “Gold of Naples”, “Mambo”, “Death in Venice” and “Conversation Piece”. She died in 1989.

TCM Overview:

Beautiful leading lady who came to international prominence as a struggling, scantily-clad peasant in Giuseppe De Santis’ neorealist drama, “Bitter Rice” (1949). Mangano later proved her ability in films by such directors as Vittorio De Sica (“Gold of Naples” 1954), Pier Paolo Pasolini (“Teorema” 1968) and Luchino Visconti (“Death in Venice” 1971). She married producer Dino DeLaurentiis in 1949 and appeared in a number of his films, as well as one–“Dune” (1985)–produced by their daughter Raffaella DeLaurentiis.

New York Times obituary in 1989:

Silvana Mangano, the Italian film actress who created a sensation as a passionately earthy peasant in ”Bitter Rice” in 1948 and shaped increasingly compelling characterizations in later movies, died yesterday in Madrid. She was 59 years old and had been hospitalized in a coma for several days.

Representatives of the Luz Hospital in Madrid told The Associated Press that the actress had suffered a heart attack there during surgery for a tumor between her lungs. She had been suffering from cancer for several years.

Miss Mangano’s three daughters, Veronica, Rafaella and Francesca, flew to Madrid to be with her, the Spanish National Radio reported. Federico, the actress’s only son, died in a plane crash in 1981 while making a film in Alaska, prompting her to go into seclusion for several years.

Their father is Dino De Laurentiis, the producer whom Miss Mangano married in 1949 soon after the release of ”Bitter Rice,” his first international success. They avoided publicity in their private lives and seemed happy, but they separated in 1983 and began divorce proceedings last year. Made 30 Films

The actress worked with many of Italy’s leading directors, including Alberto Lattuada, Vittorio De Sica, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Luchino Visconti, but she made only 30 films, preferring to spend time with her family.

Her roles included a sensitive prostitute in ”Gold of Naples” (1954), a loveless movie goddess in ”The Witches” (1967), a cool aristocrat in ”Death in Venice” (1971) and the wealthy, rejected wife of Marcello Mastroianni in ”Dark Eyes” (1987). Other films were ”Ulysses” (as both Penelope and Circe, 1954), ”Barabbas” (1961), ”Oedipus Rex” (1967), ”Ludwig” (1973) and ”Conversation Piece” (1975).

Miss Mangano was born in Rome on April 21, 1930, one of four children of Amedeo Mangano, a railroad employee, and an Englishwoman, the former Ivy Webb. She studied dancing, won the title Miss Rome 1946 in a beauty contest, modeled and got minor parts in several movies before gaining the leading role in ”Bitter Rice” as a lustful rice harvester in the Po Valley. Contrast to Private Life

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times reflected international approval in hailing her as a sensation. He said she embodied ”Anna Magnani minus 15 years, Ingrid Bergman with a Latin disposition and Rita Hayworth plus 25 pounds.”

David Thomson, the film historian and critic, said in recalling ”Bitter Rice” that its social comment ”was swamped by its popular elements, chief of which was Mangano, her skirts tucked up, standing in the rice fields and leaving no doubts in the viewer’s mind.”

Miss Mangano’s sensual film image contrasted with her private life, in which she wore conservative clothes and no makeup. In her maturity, she was a cool, sculptured, high-fashion beauty whose penchants included tennis, horseback riding and well-prepared food.

Besides her children, survivors include two sisters, Patrizia and Natasha.

The hospital gave no information regarding funeral or memorial services. The Spanish national news agency EFE quoted a family representative as saying Miss Mangano’s body would be cremated today and the remains sent to New York to be placed next to those of her son

Scilla Gabel was born in Riminini in Italy in 1938. Her movie debut was in “Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure” in 1959. Her other credits include “Modesty Blaise” in 1966 and “Target for Killing”.

Page on “Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen” here.

Zeljko Ivanek was born in Slovenia in 1957. When he was three years old, his parents emigrated to the U.S. His movie debut came in 1982 in “The Soldier”. Another early film credit was “Mass Appeal” with Jack Lemmon. He has had an extensive career on the stage and in television. He was part of the cast of the long running HBO series “Oz”.

TCM overview:

Even though most people could not pronounce Zeljko Ivanek’s name, there was no denying he made an impression every time he appeared onscreen. Already an accomplished stage star, Ivanek appeared in several film and TV projects, often as conniving and evil men who wore three-piece suits. His performance as a smooth-talking Southern lawyer in “Damages” (FX, 2007- ) earned the Slovenian-born actor his first time Emmy Award nomination and win in 2008, where he went up against his co-star Ted Danson for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Zeljko Ivanek (pronounced Zhel-ko Ee-vah-nik) was born on Aug. 15, 1957 in Ljubljana, Slovenia (then a part of Yugoslavia). The actor was just three years old when his parents brought him to the United States in 1960. Ivanek graduated from Yale University in 1978 before attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. “I started in theater in New York, and it’s a smaller community, and it feels like you know the ins and outs more,” Ivanek said. His theater training paid off in 1981, when the actor won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, for a production of Caryl Churchill’s “Cloud Nine.” A year later, he originated the role of Hally in the Athol Fugard play, “Master Harold and the Boys.”

Broadway gave Ivanek an outlet to showcase his exceptional acting skills, even honoring him with multiple Tony Award nominations, including one for his performance in the original production of “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (1983). He also received critical praise – and more Tony nods – for “Two Shakespearean Actors” (1992) and for playing Captain Queeg in “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” (2006). The marquee star never thought about changing his name, stating that even though it had been suggested, “it always seemed very peculiar to have my parents see me using a different name.”

Ivanek’s first feature film appearance was playing a hitchhiker in “Tex” (1982). Since that time, the actor’s roles got bigger and meatier, with unforgettable turns as Bobby Kennedy in “The Rat Pack” (1998), a District Attorney in Lars Von Trier’s heartbreaking “Dancer in the Dark” (2000), and a doctor in “Hannibal” (2001). Von Trier was so enthralled by the passion and depth Ivanek brought his characters that he cast the actor in two more films, “Dogville” (2003) and “Manderlay” (2005).

Perhaps even more than his stage and film appearances, Ivanek was mostly recognized for his extensive and impressive television resume. While still acting on Broadway, Ivanek joined the cast of the mystery soap series “The Edge of Night” (CBS, 1956-1975, ABC, 1975-1984) as Sammy Wheaton. He had supporting roles throughout the 1980s in shows like “St. Elsewhere” (NBC, 1982-88) and “L.A. Law” (NBC, 1986-1994) before landing a recurring role as prosecuting attorney Ed Danvers in “Homicide: Life on the Street” (NBC, 1993-99).

In 1998, Ivanek was cast as Astronaut Ken Mattingly in the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon” (HBO). He reprised his role of Ed Danvers for the 2000 film “Homicide, and two years later, Ivanek got cast in another recurring role – this time as Andre Drazen, the man who plotted to kill Senator David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) and frame Jack Bauer ( Keifer Sutherland) in “24” (FOX, 2001- ).

Ivanek was not one to take on one acting job at a time. While acting in “24,” he also appeared on episodes of “The Practice” (ABC, 1997-2004), “The Twilight Zone” (UPN, 2002-03), and the gritty prison drama “Oz” (HBO, 1997-2003). In the latter, Ivanek played chillingly evil Governor James Devlin, the inmate-hated politician who advocated “No perks for prisoners.” The year 2007 proved to be a big year for the Slovenian star, playing FBI Agent Molina in the film “Live Free or Die Hard” with Bruce Willis, and getting cast as the charmingly manipulative Southern lawyer Ray Fiske in the FX series “Damages.”

Though his character ended up committing suicide in the first season of the show, Ivanek’s performance caught the attention of Emmy voters, who gave him the statue in 2008. Asked about the irony of getting nominated for a role he could not reprise, the actor said, “It was just such a great part that when it happened, it was a wonderful way to end it and put a cap on it. It was such a nice bow to tie it all up.” That same year, Ivanek portrayed Pennsylvania representative John Dickinson in the HBO miniseries “John Adams,” opposite Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney.

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Leticia Roman was born in 1941 in Rome. Her career spanned the 1960’s and included “Pirates of Tortuga” in 1961 and “The Spy in the Green Hat” in 1967 which was made in Hollywood.

IMDB entry:

Letícia Román was born on August 12, 1941 in Rome, Lazio, Italy as Letizia Novarese. She is an actress, known for The Evil Eye (1963), G.I. Blues (1960) and The Reunion(1963). Daughter of costume designer Vittorio Nino Novarese and actress Giuliana Gianni.

A friend of Sally Field. Studied drama under famed acting coach Sanford Meisner for about four months. Her parents did not want her to become an actress. Speaks 5 languages: her native Italian, French, Spanish, German, and English. She learned English when she came to the U.S.

Came to the U.S. (Hollywood) in late 1958 with her father Vittorio Nino Novarese, when he was was hired to design costumes for Spartacus (1960) and stayed on to do The Story of Ruth (1960), Cleopatra (1963), and other films. (As of 1986) As a Beverly Hills real estate broker, she exclusively represented the Ten Five Sixty Wilshire building since October 1985. Since 1982, she took over sales at the 82-unit Westford at 10750 Wilshire Blvd., and subsequently sold its 67 remaining units.

As a West Hollywood landlord, she filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court to exempt her 15-unit apartment building from the city’s freeze on rents because she was suffering a net loss of $1,600 a month. It was the first legal action taken against West Hollywood’s rent control law. [April 1985]

(As of 2011) Her son, Oliver John Gelles, is a director of global marketing for Ormco Corp (since 2003). He is married to Jennifer Gelles, a real estate negotiator in short sales and foreclosure properties. They live in Orange County, California. Former actress. Has a career as a prominent real estate broker in Beverly Hills, California (c. 1969) under the name Letizia Gelles. (As of 2012) Retired from being a successful, long-time California real estate agent and living in Italy.

Former president of Italy-America Chamber of Commerce West (IACCW) in Los Angeles, California.

Longtime real estate broker in Beverly Hills, California

The above IMDB entry can also be accessed online here.

4050629 Leticia Roman, Sigrid Maier And Juliet Prowse With Elvis Presley.; (add.info.: G.I. BLUES 1960 DIRECTED BY NORMAN TAUROG); © Hal Wallis Production/Paramount Pictures; Diltz.

Mickey Hargitay

Mickey Hargitay was born in 1926 in Budapest, Hungary. He was an underground fighter during World War Two. He came to the U.S. after the end of the war. He won the “Mr Universe” bodybuilding title in 1955. Mae West used him in her nightclub act. His first major film role was “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter” in 1957. The film starred his future wife Jayne Mansfield. His other film credits include “The Love of Hercules” in 1960 and “Promises, Promises” in 1963. He died in Los Angeles in 2006. The actress Mariska Hargitay is the daughter of Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield.

Tom Vallance’s “Independent” obituary:

A champion body-builder, the Hungarian-born Mickey Hargitay won the Mr Universe title in 1955, and became one of the muscle-men backing Mae West in her renowned night-club act, but he is best remembered as the actor husband of Jayne Mansfield.

Mansfield was the buxom blonde who made a career out of parodying Marilyn Monroe, notably in the George Axelrod’s Broadway satire on Hollywood Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? The year after her sensational début in the play, she married Hargitay, who appeared with her in the film version.

The son of an acrobat, he was born Miklos Hargitay in Budapest in 1926. Raised as an athlete, he took part in his father’s stage act, and also became a fine soccer player and a champion speed-skater. After fighting with the resistance in the Second World War, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Indianapolis, working as a plumber and carpenter while attending gym and pursuing his body-building activities. He also performed an adagio act in night-clubs with his first wife, Mary Birge, from whom he was divorced in 1956.

He started competing in “body beautiful” competitions at the start of the Fifties, and won local events (Mr Indianapolis, Mr Eastern America) before becoming “Mr Universe”. His victory in the competition was described by Arnold Schwarzenegger as inspirational:

Body-building was dominated by American champions; there was no hope for anyone else.

That someone from central Europe became Mr Universe gave hope for someone like myself and others to dream about.

Hargitay is credited with stimulating the enormous interest in physical culture prevalent in the US of the Fifties. He became a pin-up in fitness magazines, and, shortly after he won the title, Hargitay’s photograph was noticed by the ageing, legendary vamp Mae West on the cover of Strength and Health magazine, and she asked him to join her troupe of muscle-men in her Las Vegas night-club act, The Mae West Revue.

The act, in which West was backed by a line of muscular young men clothed only in leopard-skin loincloths, provoked derision from many critics, but the public loved it. It went on to break attendance records at the Latin Quarter in New York, Variety commenting,

The femme ringsiders give blushing gasps of admiration to the muscle-men, while their paunchy

and/or anaemic escorts cringe before the displays of physical excellence.

Hargitay was spotted in the show by Jayne Mansfield, who, when asked what she would like to have, reputedly answered, “I’ll have a steak and the man on the left.” Their subsequent romance attracted publicity when Hargitay claimed that West had jealously taken away his lines of dialogue in the show, and a fist fight between Hargitay and one of West’s other muscle-men ensued. Hargitay and Mansfield were married in 1958, lived in a Beverly Hills mansion with a heart-shaped swimming pool and 13 bathrooms, and had three children before divorcing in 1964.

The couple also appeared in four films together, notably the sparkling screen version of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), substantially rewritten by the director Frank Tashlin, in which Hargitay was Mansfield’s boyfriend, a television star of jungle adventures. When Mansfield’s career was fading, they appeared in less distinguished films, including a witless comedy about wife-swapping on a cruise, Promises! Promises! (1963). Several films that they made in Italy included two in which they appeared together, The Loves of Hercules (1960) and Primitive Love (1966), while Hargitay alone starred as the sadistic owner of a castle complete with torture chamber in Bloody Pit of Horror (1965), supposedly based on the writings of the Marquis de Sade. Hargitay made over a dozen more films – westerns and horror movies – in Italy until 1973.

Mansfield died in a car crash in 1967, and in 1980 the couple were the subject of a television movie, The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980), with Loni Anderson as Mansfield and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Hargitay. Now Governor of California, Schwarzenegger said this week:

Mickey was such an inspiration and always had such a positive attitude. He was a role model of mine for being a successful immigrant who came to this country and pursued his dreams.

In recent years Hargitay had a new career in real estate. His actress daughter Mariska received an Emmy Award last month for her recurring role as Detective Olivia Benson in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and in 2003 Hargitay acted with her in an episode of the show.

“I enjoyed my career,” he recently said. “I never wanted to be any more than what I was, and I had fun doing it.”

Tom Vallance

The above “Independent” obituary can also be accessed online here.

“People have heard of Brigitte Bardot who have never heard of any other French star. People have seen a Brigitte Bardot movie who have never seen any other French movie. When she rose to world prominence in 1956, she was the first non-Hollywood star ever to make it -and no one was more surprised than the French, becasue the French are always so sexy or sex obsessed or whatever. The French themselves were not originally especially turned on by Bardot but they were flattered to have a world star who belonged solely to their native film industry.The bourgeois did not like her and even fans failed to see her as a national treasure like the Lourve. She was not very good at acting – but then for most of the time she was about to make love or had just finished making it” -David Shipman in “The Great Movie Stars- The International Years”. (1972).

Brigitte Bardot was one of the icons on 1950’s international cinema. It is remarkable that that she managed to achieve this status while working primarily in French movies and never making a Hollywood film. She was born in Paris in 1934. She made her film debut in 1952 in “Crazy for Love”. She met the actor/director Roger Vadim who guided her career and he gave her the major role in “And God Created Woman” in 1956. Her other films iucluded “Docor at Sea” opposite Dirk Bogarde, “Babette Goes to War”, “Viva Maria” with Jeanne Moreau and “Shaliko” opposite Sean Connery. Her film career wound down in the 1970’s and she became a noted animal rights activist.

TCM overview:

With a coquettish allure like no other actress of her time, Brigitte Bardot became a member of a rare club – that of foreign-language stars who attain international success on the silver screen. The original sex kitten – a term actually coined for the French actress – Bardot’s sultry appeal made her a star in Europe in the 1950s. With the international success of “Et Dieu Crea la Femme” (“And God Created Woman”) (1956), Bardot became an international sex symbol. Credited with popularizing the bikini, Bardot’s uninhibited sexuality was unlike any American star of her era, save perhaps Marilyn Monroe. Bardot brought more to the film world than just sex appeal, however; her popularity proved to be a key factor in establishing a market for foreign films in English-speaking countries. Bardot would go on to age gracefully in her native land and become one of the most outspoken advocates of animal rights, proving she was always much more than a beautiful face and muse of inspiration for everyone from musicians to filmmakers to fashion designers. In fact, decades later, German supermodel Claudia Schiffer owed her entire career to Bardot, as she became the face of Guess, Inc. in the early 1990s, due simply to her amazing resemblance to the actress – proving the Bardot look of wild, cascading blonde hair and pouty lips would never go out of style.

Born Sept. 28, 1934 in Paris, France to Anne-Marie Mucel and wealthy industrialist, Louis Bardot, the future star was raised in Paris. Encouraged to study music and dance at an early age, Bardot focused on ballet, studying under Russian choreographer Boris Knyazev for three years; she was later accepted as a student of Paris’ Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in 1947. At the age of 15, Bardot took up modeling, appearing in the fashion magazine Jardin des Modes and later landing the coveted cover of Elle in March of 1950. Bardot’s cover-shot caught the eye of young film director Roger Vadim who brought Bardot to the attention of his friend, director Marc Allégret. The model was soon offered an audition for Allégret’s film “Les Lauriers sont coupés.” Though Bardot landed the role, the film never went into production, but she had made a lasting impression on Vadim – the pair went on to marry in 1952, much to the dismay of Bardot’s parents who had tried to keep the couple apart until Bardot’s turned 18. Bardot made her film debut the same year in Jean Boyer’s comedy “Le Trou Normand” (“Crazy for Love”) (1952) and went on to appear in supporting roles in a number of French films thereafter.

Bardot went on to make her American film debut in “Act of Love” (1953) starring Kirk Douglas and went on to appear in Warner Brothers’ epic “Helen of Troy” (1956). Though she was offered a seven-year contract with the studio, Bardot declined and returned to France to film Marc Allégret’s “Futures Vedettes” (“Joy of Loving”) (1955). Next, Bardot appeared in the British comedy, “Doctor at Sea” (1955) and landed her first starring role in “La Lumiere d’en Face” (“Female and the Flesh” (1956). Still a rising star, Bardot next appeared in a number of popular French films including “Cette Sacree Gamine” (“Naughty Girl”) (1956), “Mi Figlio Nerone” (“Nero’s Mistress”) (1956) and Allégret’s “En Effeuillant la Marguerite” (“Plucking the Daisy”) (1956).

As Bardot’s career began to take off, Vadim was offered the chance to direct his wife in “Et Dieu Crea la Femme” (“And God Created Woman”) (1956). As the coy, sexy Juliette Hardy, an orphan whose beauty has caught the eye of all St. Tropez’s men, Bardot made the leap to international stardom. Exuding an uninhibited sexuality unlike any American actress of the time – even Monroe, who skewered more toward a babyish, dumb blonde persona – the film cemented Bardot’s status as a sex symbol worldwide. Though her career was at its peak, Bardot’s personal life had hit a low point. The actress had an affair with her “Femme” co-star Jen-Louis Trintignant and, inevitably, her marriage to Vadim ended in 1957, though Bardot and Vadim maintained a professional relationship long after. In spite of any personal issues, Bardot would never deny that it was Vadim who had discovered her and changed her life’s direction forever.

Now popular in America – a rare thing for a non-English speaking actress – Bardot was offered a reported $225,000 three-picture deal with Columbia. She starred in the French comedy “Une Parisienne” (1957) and followed it with the Vadim-directed “Les Bijoutiers du Clair de Lune” (“The Night Heaven Fell”) (1958). Bardot was next slated to appear opposite Frank Sinatra in the Vadim-directed “Paris by Night” but the project eventually fell through. She next starred in “Babette s’en va-t-en Guerre” (“Babette Goes to War”) (1959) opposite French actor Jacques Charrier, whom Bardot went on to marry that year.

With Charrier, Bardot gave birth to her first and only child, Nicholas-Jaques Charrier on Jan. 11, 1960 – an experience that Bardot did not enjoy. Her personal life again tumultuous – her marriage to Charrier was much publicized and the pair was constantly hounded by paparazzi – Bardot hit yet another low point emotionally. On her 26th birthday, she attempted suicide for the second time during production on Henri-Georges Clouzot’s crime drama “La Verite” (“The Truth”) (1960). Bardot completed the film, which became one of the highest grossing films in France the year it was released and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Bardot’s personal life proved to be less successful – her marriage to Charrier ended in divorce in 1962 and her son, Nicholas, was raised by the Charrier family following the divorce.

Attempting to get her life back on track and expand her creativity, Bardot branched out into a singing career in the 1960s, releasing the pop album Inside Brigitte Bardot in 1960, followed by Brigitte Bardot Sings in 1963. Bardot also collaborated on a number of popular singles with singer Serge Gainsbourg, whom she also dated. She continued to act as well, starring in ex-husband Vadim’s “Le Repos du guerrier” (“Love on a Pillow”) (1962) and opposite Marcello Mastroianni as a movie star hounded by the paparazzi in the somewhat autobiographical Louis Malle film, “Vie Privée” (“A Very Private Affair”) (1962). Knowing her sex kitten heyday was coming to a close, Bardot withdrew from the public eye for a brief time following the release of “Privée” but returned to the screen in 1963 to star in Jean-Luc Godard’s acclaimed “Le Mépris” (“Contempt”). For all of Godard’s acclaim as a filmmaker, “Mépris” received mixed reviews at the time of its release. Bardot continued to act, however, and went on to appear as herself in the American film “Dear Brigitte” (1964) starring James Stewart and in Louis Malle’s “Viva Maria!” (1965), opposite Jeanne Moreau.

Bardot’s box office appeal had been in slow decline for some time, with her next hit not coming until “L’Ours et la Poupee” (“The Bear and the Doll”) in 1970. After filming “L’Histoire très bonne et très joyeuse de Colinot Trousse-Chemise” (“The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot”) in 1974, Bardot retired from acting. Instead, she devoted the rest of her life to political causes – most notably, animal rights. In 1986, Bardot auctioned off a number of her own personal belongings to found the Brigitte Bardot Foundation – an organization devoted to the welfare and protection of animals. Outspoken about animal rights for many years,.