Anouk Aimée

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anouk_Aimée

Anouk Aimée (French pronunciation: ​[anuk ɛme]; born 27 April 1932) is a French film actress, who has appeared in 70 films since 1947, having begun her film career at age 14. In her early years she studied acting and dance besides her regular education. Although the majority of her films were French, she also made a number of films in Spain, Great Britain, Italy and Germany, along with some American productions.

Among her films are Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960), after which she was considered a "rising star who exploded" onto the film world.[1] She subsequently acted in Fellini's 8½ (1963), Jacques Demy’s Lola (1961), George Cukor’s Justine (1969), Bernardo Bertolucci’s Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981) and Robert Altman’s Prêt à Porter (1994). She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her acting in A Man and a Woman (1966). The film "virtually reignited the lush on-screen romance in an era of skeptical modernism," and brought her international fame.[2]

She won the Award for Best Actress at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. In 2002 she received an honorary César Award, France's national film award.

She was noted for her "striking features" and beauty, and considered "one of the hundred sexiest stars in film history," according to a 1995 poll conducted by Empire Magazine.[2] Her acting style often portrays a femme fatale, with a melancholy aura. In the 1960s, Life magazine wrote that "after each picture her enigmatic beauty lingered" in the memories of her audience, and called her "the Left Bank's most beautiful resident."[3]

Early years

Aimée was born Nicole Françoise Florence Dreyfus[4] in Paris, France, the daughter of actor Henri Murray (born Henry Dreyfus)[2] and actress Geneviève Sorya (née Durand).

According to one historian, although some have speculated that her background may be related to Captain Alfred Dreyfus, this has never been confirmed.[2] Her father was Jewish, whereas her mother was Roman Catholic. She was raised Catholic but later converted to Judaism as an adult.[2][5]

Her early education took place at l'École de la rue Milton, in Paris; École de Barbezieux; Pensionnat de Bandol; and Institution de Megève. She studied dance at Marseille Opera; studied theater in England, after which she studied dramatic art and dance with Andrée Bauer-Thérond.[6]

Career

Aimée (then still Françoise Dreyfus) made her film debut in 1946, at the age of fourteen, in the role of "Anouk" in La Maison sous la mer, and she kept the name afterwards. Jacques Prévert, while writing Les amants de Vérone (The Lovers of Verona, 1949) specifically for her, suggested she take the symbolic last name Aimée, "that would forever associate her with the affective power of her screen roles."[2] In French, it means "beloved."[3][7]

Among her notable films were Alexandre Astruc’s Le Rideau Cramoisi (The Crimson Curtain, 1952), Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960), Fellini's 8½ (1963), Jacques Demy’s Lola (1961), André Delvaux’s Un Soir, un Train (One Evening, One Train, 1968), George Cukor’s Justine (1969), Bernardo Bertolucci’s Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981), Robert Altman’s Prêt à Porter (Ready to Wear, 1994) and, Claude Lelouch’s Un Homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman, 1966) — described as a "film that virtually reignited the lush on-screen romance in an era of skeptical modernism."[2] Words like "regal," "intelligent" and "enigmatic" are frequently associated with her, notes one author, giving Aimée "an aura of disturbing and mysterious beauty" that has earned her the status of "one of the hundred sexiest stars in film history," according to a 1995 poll conducted by Empire Magazine.[2]

Because of her "striking features" and her beauty, she has been compared to Jacqueline Kennedy. Film historian Ginette Vincendeau notes that Aimée's films "established her as an ethereal, sensitive and fragile beauty with a tendency to tragic destinies or restrained suffering."[2]

Her abilities as an actress and the photogenic qualities of her face, its "fine lines, expression of elation and a suggestive gaze," helped her achieve success in her early films. Among those were Pot-Bouille (1957), Les Amants de Montparnasse (Montparnasse 19) (The Lovers of Montparnasse, (1958) and La tête contre les murs (Head Against the Wall, 1958).[6]

Besides the French cinema, Aimée's career include a number of films made in Spain, Great Britain, Italy and Germany. She achieved worldwide attention in Fellini's La Dolce Vita (the Good Life, 1960) and Lola (1961). She appeared again in Fellini's 8½, and would remain in Italy during the first half of the 1960s, making films for a number of Italian directors. Because of her role in La Dolce Vita, biographer Dave Thompson describes Aimée as a "rising star who exploded" onto the film world. He adds that singer-songwriter Patti Smith, who in her teens saw the film, began to idolize her, and "dreamed of being an actress like Aimée."[1][8]

Aimée's greatest success came in 1966 with the film Un homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman,) directed by little known Claude Lelouch. Primarily due to the excellent acting by its stars, Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant, the film became an international success, winning both the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966 and an Oscar. Tabery states that with her "subtle portrayal of the heroine—self-protective, then succumbing to a new love—Aimée seemed to create a new kind of femme fatale. . ."[6]

Film historian Jurgen Muller adds, "whether one like the film or not, it's still hard for anyone to resist the melancholy aura of Anouk Aimée."[9] In many of her subsequent films, she would continue to play that type of role, "a woman of sensitivity whose emotions are often kept secret."[6]

In 1969 she starred in the American film production of Justine, costarring Dirk Bogarde and directed by George Cukor and Joseph Strick. The film contained some nudity, with one writer observing, "Anouk is always impeccable, oozing the sexy, detached air of the elite . . . when she drops these trappings, along with her couture clothing, Anouk's naked perfection will annihilate you."[10]

Photojournalist Eve Arnold, assigned to photograph and write a story about Aimée and her role, spoke to Dirk Bogarde, who had known her since she was fifteen. He said that "She is never so happy as when she is miserable between love affairs," referencing her recent love affair with Omar Sharif.[5]

Arnold photographed Aimée, who talked about her role as the character Justine. Justine was also Jewish. Arnold recalls one of their talks:

I am still haunted by two things she quoted. They seemed to say more about her than anything else I experienced with her during the three weeks I knew her on the film: Quote from Treblinka: "The Jews are prone to anguish but seldom given to despair." And a quote by an anonymous Jewish poet to his wife when the Nazis came to get them: "Till now we have lived with fear, now we can know hope."[5]

Another American film, La Brava, starring Dustin Hoffman, was set to be made in 1984 but was never completed. Hoffman at first decided it would play better if he were in love with a younger girl rather than the original story's older woman. "Where are you going to get a good-looking older woman?" he asked. He rejected Faye Dunaway, feeling she was "too obvious." A month later, after a chance meeting with Aimée in Paris, he changed his mind, telling his producer, "I can fall in love with the older woman. I met Anouk Aimée over the weekend. She looks great." He begged his producer to at least talk to her: "Come on, get on the phone, say hello to her. . . Just listen to her voice, it's great."[11]

Robert Altman, at another time, wanted to use Aimée in a film to be called Lake Lugano, about a woman who was a Holocaust survivor returning long after the war. She "loved the script," according to Altman. However, she backed out after discussing the part with him more thoroughly:

I do remember he was like a bomb. He had a strong personality. He was tall, and he had a big voice. "I want this," and "I want that." I remember thinking it would be very difficult to work with him, and we didn't make the film.[12]

In 2002, she received an honorary César Award, France's national film award, and in 2003 received an honorary Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.[13] In the 1960s, Life Magazine called her "the Left Bank's most beautiful resident ... after each picture her enigmatic beauty lingered" in the memories of her audience.[3]

In late 2013, the Cinemania film festival in Montreal, Canada, paid tribute to Aimée's career.[14]

Personal life

Aimée has been married and divorced four times: Edouard Zimmermann (1949-1950), director Nico Papatakis (1951-1955), actor and musical producer Pierre Barouh (1966-1969) and actor Albert Finney (1970-1978). She had one child, Manuela Papatakis (born 1951), from her second marriage.

Wikipedia

Nicole Dreyfus, dite Anouk Aimée, est une actrice française née le 27 avril 1932 à Paris.

Biographie et carrière

Nicole Dreyfus est la fille du comédien Henry Murray (de son vrai nom Henri Dreyfus) et de la comédienne Geneviève Sorya — née Geneviève Durand). Son père joue au théâtre sous le pseudonyme d'Henry Murray. Elle grandit entre Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire (Charente) où elle est envoyée par ses parents pour fuir les rafles de juifs et Paris. Pendant l'occupation allemande de la France, Françoise Dreyfus prend le nom de sa mère, Durand, pour échapper au port de l'étoile jaune. Inscrite en pensionnat à Morzine, elle y rencontre Roger Vadim. Repérée à Paris dans un restaurant chinois où elle dîne avec sa mère pour sa beauté par Henri Calef, elle débute au cinéma à l'âge de 14 ans. Il lui donne le rôle d'Anouk dans La Maison sous la mer (1947). Marcel Carné l'engage ensuite pour La Fleur de l'âge (1947). Le film est resté inachevé. Sur le tournage du film, elle fait la rencontre de Jacques Prévert, scénariste du film. Elle choisit de prendre pour pseudonyme le prénom de son premier personnage, Anouk. Prévert lui suggère d'ajouter le nom d'Aimée. Après des études secondaires en Angleterre, elle suit des cours d'art dramatique et de danse, le métier qu'elle aurait voulu faire, avec Andrée Bauer-Thérond. Sa carrière débute avec un enchaînement de films. Elle tourne Les Amants de Vérone (1948) d'André Cayatte, face à Serge Reggiani, sur un scénario de Jacques Prévert puis prête sa voix à la bergère dans Le Roi et l'Oiseau de Paul Grimault, tourne dans deux films d'Alexandre Astruc qui achèvent de la lancer et participe ensuite à des films prestigieux tels Pot-Bouille de Julien Duvivier et Montparnasse 19 de Jacques Becker au côté de Gérard Philipe ainsi qu'au premier film réalisé par Jean-Pierre Mocky. Très tôt, elle travaille en Grande-Bretagne, en Allemagne et en Italie - dans ce dernier, avec les maîtres Vittorio De Sica, Alberto Lattuada, Alessandro Blasetti, Sergio Leone, Dino Risi, plus tard Marco Bellocchio ou encore Bernardo Bertolucci.

Sur le tournage de Dangerous Meeting sur la côte d'Azur, elle fait la rencontre de Nico Papatakis, le patron du cabaret La Rose rouge à Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Pour la séduire, il lui fait rencontrer Picasso et Jean Genet. Elle l'épouse un peu plus tard.

Jean Genet écrit pour elle le scénario Les Rêves interdits. Il a souhaité réaliser le film lui-même mais n'a pas trouvé de financement. Ensuite, il a vendu son scénario par besoin d'argent à Tony Richardson qui l'a réalisé en 1966 sous le titre Mademoiselle avec Jeanne Moreau.

Federico Fellini l'engage pour jouer le rôle central de Maddalena dans La dolce vita (1960) puis le rôle tout aussi important de Luisa dans Huit et demi5 avec Marcello Mastroianni pour partenaire. À la même période, elle interprète une mythique Lola dans le film de Jacques Demy du même nom — elle retrouve le même personnage en 1969 dans Model Shop tourné en Amérique5 — et Le Farceur, une comédie de Philippe de Broca, associée à Jean-Pierre Cassel.

En 1966, elle joue le rôle principal aux côtés de Jean-Louis Trintignant dans le film Un homme et une femme, de Claude Lelouch, qui fait un triomphe international, et dans lequel les deux comédiens forment l'un des couples les plus fameux du cinéma français. Son rôle lui vaut un Golden Globe de la meilleure actrice dramatique et une nomination à l'Oscar. Quelques années plus tard elle est engagée à Hollywood et collabore avec Sidney Lumet et George Cukor.

Sa beauté et sa classe, la qualité de son jeu et de ses choix (citons encore André Delvaux, Jerzy Skolimowski, Robert Altman et Mika Kaurismäki), font assez naturellement d'Anouk Aimée une vedette capable de donner la réplique aux plus grands, de Catherine Deneuve à Yves Montand. Son charme éperdument énigmatique et sa suprême élégance en font la "grande sœur" de Dominique Sanda et de Fanny Ardant.

Au théâtre, où elle débute tardivement, Aimée s'illustre aux côtés de Jean-Louis Trintignant, Philippe Noiret, Jacques Weber, Alain Delon, Gérard Depardieu et Bruno Crémer. À la télévision elle tourne notamment Adrienne Mesurat réalisé par Marcel L'Herbier, tiré du roman de Julien Green, avec pour partenaire Alain Cuny (1953), Une page d'amour d'Élie Chouraqui d'après Émile Zola en compagnie de Crémer (1980), Mon dernier rêve sera pour vous avec Francis Huster en François-René de Chateaubriand (1989), L'Amour maudit de Leisenbohg sous la direction d'Édouard Molinaro d'après Arthur Schnitzler (1991), L'île bleue de Nadine Trintignant (2001).

Vie privée

Elle s'est mariée trois fois : avec Nico Papatakis, avec Pierre Barouh, rencontré sur le film Un homme et une femme, puis avec Albert Finney ; elle a vécu avec Élie Chouraqui. Elle a eu une fille, Manuella, avec Papatakis et elle a une petite-fille, Galaad Milinaire. Dans les années 1950, elle fréquente Jean Genet, Jean Cocteau, Raymond Queneau. Elle a eu une brève relation avec Warren Beatty et une autre avec Omar Sharif, juste avant d'épouser Albert Finney.

Engagement

Anouk Aimée est également une femme engagée pour la protection de la nature et des animaux. Elle est une amie fidèle du Dr Jane Goodall et membre de l'Institut Jane Goodall France

Wikipedia