DEMONGEOT, MYLÈNE

(1936- )

Actress and producer. Mylène Demongeot was born Marie-Hélène Demongeot in Nice. She studied acting under René Simon and Marie Ventura, and later became a model. She made her screen debut at the age of sixteen in Léonide Moguy'sLes Enfants de l'amour(1953), and subsequently appeared inMarc Allégret'sFutures vedettes(1955). She was initially viewed as a sex symbol, and her role in Allégret'sSois belle et tais-toi(1958) was therefore rather interesting from a feminist standpoint.

Demongeot's breakthrough performance was inRaymond Rouleau's 1957 filmLes Sorcières de Salem, in which she played Abigail Williams.Some of her other memorable early roles were in Otto Preminger'sBonjour,tristesse(1958), Michel Boisrond'sFaibles femmes(1959), Bernard Borderie'sLes Trois mousquetaires:La vengeance de Milady(1961) andLes Trois mousquetaires:Les ferrets de la reine(1961),Michel Deville'sL'Appartement des filles(1963) andA cause,à cause d'une femme(1963), and Jean Becker'sTendre Voyou(1966). She played alongsideJean MaraisinAndré Hunébelle's remake ofLouis Feuillade'sFantômas(1964), and in the sequelsFantômas se déchaine(1965) andFantômas contre Scotland Yard(1966).

Demongeot also ventured into British cinema with parts in Val Guest'sIt's a Wonderful World(1956), Ralph Thomas'sUpstairs and Downstairs(1959), and Roy Ward Baker'sThe Singer Not the Song(1961), and into Italian cinema with roles in Mauro Bolognini'sLa Notte brava(1959) and Dino Risi'sUn Amore a Roma(1960). In 1974 Demongeot acted in her husband Marc Simenon's filmPar le sang des autres. She later appeared in hisSigné Furax(1981). With Simenon, she leads the production company Kangourou Films. She has continued her film career into the twenty-first century and was nominated for aCésarfor Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Olivier Marchal's36 Quai des orfèvresin 2005. She also played inBertrand Blier'sTenue de soirée(1986), Liliane de Kermadec'sLa Piste du télégraphe(1994), Stéphanie Murat'sVictoire(2000), and Fabien Onteniente'sCamping(2006).