Jeanne Moreau

Born on January 23, 1928 in the French capital,  Jeanne Moreau  was given the acting vocation by her mother, the British Kathleen Sarah Buckley, who, after lavishing herself on the French scene, married the owner of a bohemian restaurant Montmartre neighborhood. A student of the Conservatoire national supérieur d’art dramatique, at the age of 20 she was already triumphing on stage, becoming the youngest member ever admitted by the Comédie-Française, the French national company to which Molière belonged, as the protagonist of “One month In the Field”, by Ivan Turgenev. Throughout the years, she never abandoned her theatrical activity, triumphing with titles such as “Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw.

He began his film journey with an important role in  Dernier Amour , together with  Annabella , in 1949. After the success of  Queen Margot , by  Jean Dréville , he starred in  La noche , one of Michelangelo Antonioni ‘s fundamental titles  , where he shared the screen with the great  Marcello Mastroianni . She already had a certain prestige when she became the face of the new generation of filmmakers that would make up the ‘nouvelle vague’, with titles like  Elevator to the Gallows ,  The Lovers , and  ¡Viv a María! by  Louis Malle, which would become his partner,  Dangerous Liaisons , by  Roger Vadim , or  The Four Hundred Blows , by  François Truffaut , where he appeared briefly. With the latter, she would also star in  Jules and Jim , emblematic title of the movement, and  The Bride Dressed in Black . With  Jean-Luc Godard  she participated in  A woman is a woman .

Internationally, she was considered for a long time the most popular French actress, along with  Brigitte Bardot , and for the public she came to be the example of the modern and sophisticated woman. She was recruited by  Luis Buñuel , for  Diary of a Waitress ,  Orson Welles , for  El proceso  and  Campanadas a midnight ,  John Frankenheimer , in  El tren , and  Elia Kazan  in  El último tycoon .

Throughout his life he was credited with numerous sentimental relationships. Divorced from Jean-Louis Richard, father of her son Jérôme, she later married  director William Friedkin . “I have seduced many men. I always favored talented men. I did not have lovers for having them,” she declared.

Decorated by the French Government as Officier des Arts et des Lettres, Officier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, over the years she received numerous awards, such as the Interpretation Award in Cannes for  Seven Days, Seven Nights , the BAFTA, for the aforementioned  ¡Viv a María! , the César, for  The Old Woman Who Walked on the Sea  , the Honorary Golden Lion in Venice, and the Donostia Award. Jeanne Moreau  was far from limited to acting. She debuted as a director with  Lumière , from 1976, followed by  The Adolescent , with  Simone Signoret, from 1979. In both cases she herself was the author of the script. He also excelled as a singer, despite his limited voice, as he displayed a worked technique, which made him successful with songs like “Le tourbillon de la vie”, “J’ai la memoire qui flanche” and “Oú- you go Mathilde”. She came to give a concert with  Frank Sinatra himself , in 1984.

Jeanne Moreau  remained active almost until the end of her days. For example, she was the mentor of the protagonist of  Nikita , by  Luc Besson , and she once again collaborated with Antonioni, in Beyond the Clouds. In 2012 she was successful on French billboards as the protagonist, in the role of an irritable old woman in  A Lady in Paris . Her last work was  Le talent de mes amis , from 2015, where she had a short appearance.