The Dancing Actress who Wowed the Greatest Directors

Iconic French actress Jeanne Moreau captivated audiences with her magnetic presence, and unforgettable roles in cinematic history.

Οrson Welles called her the best actress in the world. Louis Malle fell in love with her. And François Truffaut directed her in one of the French New Wave’s most iconic films.

And there’s no doubt Jeanne Moreau was a woman of many talents. Born in Paris on January 23, 1928, to a French father and an English mother, her early life was marked by a move to Vichy, although during World War II, she lived in Paris with her mother. Having initially wanted to be a dancer like her mother, who’d performed with the Folies Bergère, Moreau decided on a career in acting and (against her father’s wishes) enrolled in the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris. She later joined the Comédie Française in 1948, becoming the youngest member at the time.

By the early 1950s, she’d begun to take on roles in films, but her breakthrough didn’t come until 1958, when she starred in Louis Malle’s Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (Lift to the Scaffold). Her natural screen presence and nuanced performance put her front and centre of the French New Wave, wowing audiences and critics alike. That same year, Moreau delivered another powerful performance in Les Amants (The Lovers), again with Malle, a film which was controversial for its frank depiction of female sexuality and which, she claimed, put an end to her relationship with Malle, who “could no longer stand to see me as others then saw me, and as only he had seen me until then”.

Her most famous role came in 1962’s Jules et Jim, directed by François Truffaut, in which she played the free-spirited Catherine in a doomed love triangle. Her work with the likes of Orson Welles (The Trial, Chimes at Midnight, The Immortal Story) and Michelangelo Antonioni, (La Notte, Beyond the Clouds) cemented her as a muse of avant-garde cinema. She also collaborated with celebrated filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel (Diary of a Chambermaid, 1964) and Wim Wenders (Until the End of the World, 1991).

Her career, which spanned more than six decades, earned her numerous accolades, including a César Award for Best Actress in 1992 for Laurent Heynemann’s La vieille qui marchait dans la mer (The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea) and an honorary Oscar in 1998. She died on July 31, 2017, aged 89, leaving behind a legacy as one of cinema’s most enduring talents.

JEANNE MOREAU 10-SECOND CV

Name: Jeanne Moreau

Born: January 23, 1928, in Paris

Died: Aged 89 on July 31. 2017, at home in Paris

Early career: Eschewing dance as a career, she studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and in 1948 joined the Comédie-Française.

I know the name…

And so you should. Of all of France’s finest actresses, Jeanne Moreau has worked with some of the greatest names in cinema, from Louis Malle and François Truffaut to US film legend Orson Welles

What should I watch first?

With so many great films to choose from you’re spoilt for choice, but we’d recommend diving in at the top with the iconic New Wave classic, Jules et Jim. Don’t forget to grab the hankies now.

C’est pas vrai!

Moreau was also a singer. She released a number of albums and was awarded the Grand Prix de l’Académie nationale du disque français 1967. In 1984, she performed at the Carnegie Hall…. with Frank Sinatra.

From France Today Magazine