Jeanne Moreau


Jeanne Moreau was a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director. She won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for Seven Days... Seven Nights , the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress for Viva Maria!, and the César Award for Best Actress for The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea. 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.
Moreau made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. She began playing small roles in films in 1949, with impressive performances in the Fernandel vehicle :fr:Meurtres_?|Meurtres? and alongside Jean Gabin as a showgirl/gangster's moll in the film Touchez pas au grisbi. She achieved prominence as the star of Elevator to the Gallows, directed by Louis Malle, and Jules et Jim, directed by François Truffaut. Most prolific during the 1960s, Moreau continued to appear in films into her 80s.

Early life and education

Moreau was born in Paris, the daughter of Katherine, a dancer who performed at the Folies Bergère, and Anatole-Désiré Moreau, a restaurateur. Moreau's father was French; her mother was English, a native of Oldham, Lancashire, England and of part Irish descent. Moreau's father was Catholic and her mother, originally a Protestant, converted to Catholicism upon marriage. When 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 at age 16, and 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 sister, Michelle."

Career

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 and, by her 20s, was already one of leading actresses in the theatre's troupe. 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. 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 with first-time director Louis Malle was followed by Malle's The Lovers.
Moreau went on to work with many of the best known New Wave and avant-garde directors. François Truffaut's New Wave film Jules et Jim, her biggest success internationally, is centered on her magnetic starring role. She also worked with a number of other notable directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Orson Welles, Luis Buñuel, Elia Kazan, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, Carl Foreman, and Manoel de Oliveira .
In 1983, she was head of the jury at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2005, she was awarded with the Stanislavsky Award at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.
Moreau was also a vocalist. She released several albums and once performed with Frank Sinatra at Carnegie Hall in 1984. In addition to acting, Moreau worked behind the camera as a writer, director and producer. Her accomplishments were the subject of the film Calling the Shots by Janis Cole and Holly Dale.

Personal life

Throughout her life, Moreau maintained friendships with prominent writers such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Genet, Henry Miller and Marguerite Duras,. She formerly was married to Jean-Louis Richard and then to American film director William Friedkin. 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 and the Greek actor/playboy Theodoros Roubanis.
In 1971, she was a signer of the Manifesto of the 343 which publicly announced she obtained an illegal abortion.
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", and she remained one of France's most accomplished actresses.

Filmography

Actress

Director

Films

YearGroupAwardFilmResult
2008César AwardsHonorary CésarLifetime achievementWon
2005Moscow International Film FestivalStanislavsky AwardLifetime achievementWon
2003Cannes Film FestivalHonorary Golden PalmLifetime achievementWon
2003Taormina International Film FestivalTaormina Arte AwardLifetime achievementWon
2001Pusan International Film FestivalHand Printing Lifetime achievementWon
2000Berlin International Film FestivalHonorary Golden BearLifetime achievementWon
1999Hamptons International Film FestivalDistinguished Achievement AwardLifetime achievementWon
1999Créteil International Women's Film FestivalHomageLifetime achievementWon
1998Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesTributeLifetime achievementWon
1997European Film AwardsLife Achievement AwardLifetime achievementWon
1997San Sebastián International Film FestivalDonostia Lifetime Achievement AwardLifetime achievementWon
1996BAFTA AwardsAcademy FellowshipLifetime achievementWon
1995César AwardsHonorary CésarLifetime achievementWon
1994Women in Film Crystal AwardInternational AwardLifetime achievementWon
1992Venice Film FestivalCareer Golden LionLifetime achievementWon
1992César AwardsBest ActressThe Old Lady Who Walked in the SeaWon
1988César AwardsBest ActressLe MiraculéNominated
1987César AwardsBest Supporting ActressLe PaltoquetNominated
1984Razzie AwardsGolden Raspberry Award for Worst Original SongQuerelle – song: "Young and Joyful Bandit"Nominated
1979Berlin International Film FestivalGolden BearL'adolescenteNominated
1979Chicago International Film FestivalGold HugoL'adolescente Nominated
1976Chicago International Film FestivalGold HugoLumière Nominated
1976Taormina International Film FestivalGolden CharybdisLumière Nominated
1967BAFTA AwardsBest Foreign ActressViva Maria!Won
1964Karlovy Vary International Film FestivalBest ActressDiary of a ChambermaidWon
1963BAFTA AwardsBest Foreign ActressJules et Jim Nominated
1962Jussi AwardsDiploma of Merit – Foreign ActressLa notteWon
1961Fotogramas de PlataBest Foreign PerformerLe dialogue des Carmélites Won
1960Cannes Film FestivalBest ActressModerato cantabileWon
1958Venice Film FestivalBest ActressLes amantsWon

Theater