Danielle Darrieux


Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux was a French actress of stage, television and film, as well as a singer and dancer.
Beginning in 1931, she appeared in more than 110 films. She was one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career was among the longest in film history.

Life and career

Darrieux was born in Bordeaux, France, during World War I, the daughter of Marie-Louise and Jean Darrieux, a medical doctor who was serving in the French Army. Her mother was born in Algeria. Her father died when she was seven years old.
Raised in Paris, she studied the cello at the Conservatoire de Musique. At 14, she won a part in the musical film Le Bal. Her beauty combined with her singing and dancing ability led to numerous other offers; the film Mayerling brought her to prominence.
In 1935, Darrieux married director/screenwriter Henri Decoin, who encouraged her to try Hollywood. She signed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios to star in The Rage of Paris opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Afterwards, she elected to return to Paris.
Under the German occupation of France during World War II, Darrieux continued to perform, a decision that was severely criticized by her compatriots. However, it is reported that her brother had been threatened with deportation by :de:Alfred Greven|Alfred Greven, the German manager of Continental, the only film production company permitted in occupied France. She received a divorce and then fell in love with Porfirio Rubirosa, a Dominican Republic diplomat and notorious womanizer. They married in 1942. His anti-Nazi opinions resulted in his forced residence in Germany. In exchange for Rubirosa's freedom, Darrieux agreed to make a promotional trip in Berlin. The couple lived in Switzerland until the end of the war, and divorced in 1947. She married scriptwriter Georges Mitsikidès in 1948, and they lived together until his death in 1991.
Darrieux appeared in the MGM musical Rich, Young and Pretty. Joseph L. Mankiewicz lured her back to Hollywood to star in 5 Fingers with James Mason. Upon returning to France, she appeared in Max Ophüls' The Earrings of Madame de... with Charles Boyer, and The Red and the Black with Gérard Philippe. She starred in Lady Chatterley's Lover, whose theme of uninhibited sexuality led to its being proscribed by Catholic censors in the United States. She played a supporting role in her last American film, United Artists' epic Alexander the Great starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom.
At the request of director Lewis Gilbert, Darrieux worked in England to shoot The Greengage Summer with Kenneth More. In 1963, she starred in the romantic comedy La Robe Mauve de Valentine at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. The play was adapted from the novel by Françoise Sagan.
In Jacques Demy's film musical The Young Girls of Rochefort her role was the only one in which a principal actor in any of Demy's film-musicals sang his or her own musical parts. During the 1960s, she also was a concert singer.
In 1970, Darrieux replaced Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway musical Coco, based on the life of Coco Chanel, but the play, essentially a showcase for Hepburn, soon folded without her. In 1971 and 1972 she also appeared in the short-lived productions of Ambassador. She worked again with Demy for his film Une chambre en ville, an opera-like musical melodrama reminiscent of the director's earlier work The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Once again, Darrieux provided her own vocals for her songs.

Honors

For her long service to the motion picture industry, in 1985 she was given an Honorary César Award. She continued to work, her career spanning eight decades, most recently providing the voice of the protagonist's grandmother in the animated feature, Persepolis, which deals with the impact of the Islamic revolution on a girl's life as she grows to adulthood in Iran.

Death

Danielle Darrieux died on 17 October 2017 at the age of 100, due to complications from a fall.

Selected filmography

YearTitleRoleDirector
1931Le BalAntoinetteWilhelm Thiele
1934Volga in FlamesMachaVictor Tourjansky
1934The Crisis is OverNicoleRobert Siodmak
1934Mauvaise GraineJeannetteBilly Wilder and Alexander Esway
1934My Heart Is Calling YouNicole NadinCarmine Gallone and Serge Véber
1934Gold in the StreetGabyCurtis Bernhardt
1935DédéDeniseRené Guissart
1935Mad GirlLucieLéo Joannon
1935The Green DominoHélène and Marianne de RichmondHerbert Selpin and Henri Decoin
1936Mademoiselle MozartDeniseYvan Noé
1936MayerlingMaria VetseraAnatole Litvak
1936Taras BulbaMarinaAlexis Granowsky
1936Women's ClubClaire DerouveJacques Deval
1936Port ArthurYoukiNicolas Farkas
1936Counsel for RomanceJacqueline ServalJean Boyer and Raoul Ploquin
1937My Mother Is a MissJacqueline LetournelHenri Decoin
1937Abused ConfidenceLydiaHenri Decoin
1938The Rage of ParisNicoleHenry Koster
1938KatiaKatia DolgoronskyMaurice Tourneur
1938Return at DawnAnita AmmerHenri Decoin
1940Beating HeartArletteHenri Decoin
1941Her First AffairMicheline ChevasseHenri Decoin
1942CapricesLiseLéo Joannon
1942Twisted MistressLilian RanderAndré Cayatte
1947BethsabéeArabella DalvertLéonide Moguy
1948Ruy BlasQueen of SpainPierre Billon
1949Keep an Eye on AmeliaAmélieClaude Autant-Lara
1950La RondeEmma BreitkopfMax Ophüls
1950Romanzo d'amoreArchduchess Louise of AustriaDuilio Coletti
1951Rich, Young and PrettyMarie DevaronneNorman Taurog
1952The Truth About Bebe DongeElisabeth "Bébé" DongeHenri Decoin
1952House of Pleasure
RosaMax Ophüls
19525 FingersCountess Anna StaviskaJoseph L. Mankiewicz
1952Adorable CreaturesChristineChristian-Jaque
1953The Earrings of Madame de…Countess LouiseMax Ophüls
1953Le Bon Dieu sans confessionJanine FréjoulClaude Autant-Lara
1954Escalier de serviceBéatrice BerthierCarlo Rim
1954Le Rouge et le NoirMadame de RénalClaude Autant-Lara
1954One Step to EternityConstance Andrieux dite PoussyHenri Decoin
1955NapoléonEléonore Denuelle de La PlaigneSacha Guitry
1955'Madame de MontespanHenri Decoin
1955Lady Chatterley's LoverConstance ChatterleyMarc Allégret
1956If Paris Were Told to UsAgnès SorelSacha Guitry
1956Alexander the GreatOlympiasRobert Rossen
1957Lovers of ParisCaroline HédouinJulien Duvivier
1957Typhon sur NagasakiFrançoise FabreYves Ciampi
1958Le désordre et la nuitThérèse MarkenGilles Grangier
1958Life TogetherMonique LebeautClément Duhour
1959Marie-OctobreMarie-Hélène Dumoulin Julien Duvivier
1959'Jeanne MoncatelDenys de La Patellière
1960Murder at 45 R.P.M.Eve FaugeresÉtienne Périer
1960Gabrielle / FrançoiseJacques-Gérard Cornu
1961The Greengage SummerMadame ZisiLewis Gilbert
1961The Lions Are LooseMarie-LaureHenri Verneuil
1962Le Crime ne paie pas
Lucienne MarsaisGérard Oury
1962The Devil and the Ten Commandments
Clarisse ArdanJulien Duvivier
1963BluebeardBerthe HéonClaude Chabrol
1963Be Careful LadiesHedwigeAndré Hunebelle
1967The Young Girls of RochefortYvonne GarnierJacques Demy
196824 Hours in the Life of a WomanAliceDominique Delouche
1975DivineMarion RenoirDominique Delouche
1977Miss
a. k. a. Ein Fall für Madame
MissRoger Pigaut
1982Une chambre en villeMargot LangloisJacques Demy
1983At the Top of the StairsFrançoise CanavaggiaPaul Vecchiali
1986Scene of the CrimegrandmotherAndré Téchiné
1988A Few Days with MeMadame Pasquier Claude Sautet
20018 WomenMamyFrançois Ozon
2003Les Liaisons dangereuses
Madame de RosemondeJosée Dayan
2006Oh La La!Odette Saint-GillesAnne Fontaine
2006Persepolis grandmother Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi
2007L'Heure ZéroCamille TressilianPascal Thomas
2010C'est toi, c'est tout
CamilleJacques Santamaria
2010Pièce montéeMadeleineDenys Granier-Deferre

Awards