JOYEUX, ODETTE

(1914-2000)

Actress and screenwriter. Odette Joyeux began her career as an actress in the early 1930s. She had smaller roles in films such as Charles de Rochefort'sLe Secret du docteur(1930) and Jean Tarride'sLe Chine Jaune(1932), before Jean Choux cast her in his filmJean de la lune(1932). Subsequently, Joyeux appeared inMarc Allégret'sLac aux dames(1934) andGaston RoudèsLe Chant de l'amour(1935).

In 1935, Joyeux was cast inLouisJouvet's production of Jean Giradoux's playIntermezzo. It was during her performance in the play that Joyeaux metPierre Brasseur, whom she would later marry.Brasseur went on to cast her in a play of his own, and the two appeared together in Max Neufeld'sValse éternelle(1936), Maurice Cammage'sUne femme qui se partage(1936), and Maurice de Canonge'sGrisou(1938). During the same period, Joyeux also appeared inMarie EpsteinandJean Benoît-Lévy'sHélène(1936) andAltitude 3,200(1938) and Choux'sLa Glu(1936).

Joyeux went on to appear in several other films during the 1930s and 1940s, includingClaude Autant-Lara'sLe Mariage de Chiffon(1942),Lettres d'amour(1942), andSylvie et le fantôme(1946),Serge de Poligny'sLe Baron fantôme(1943), Allégret'sLes Petites du quai aux fleurs(1944),Jean-Paul Paulin'sL'Échec au roy(1945), Gilles Grangier'sLeçon de conduite(1946),Jean-Paul Le Chanois'sMessieurs Ludovic(1946), Edmond T. Greville'sPour une nuit d'amour(1947), René LeHenaff's Scandale(1948), Maurice de Canonge'sDernière heure,edition spéciale(1949),Max Ophuls'sLa Ronde(1950), andSacha Guitry'sSi Paris nous était conté(1955).Le Mariage de Chiffonremains probably Joyeux's best-known role, although it is not clear it was her best role, due to her presence in a number of important films, particularly those by independent directors.

In addition to her contributions as an actress, Joyeux also worked as a screenwriter. Her primary contributions were to television in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, but she did work on films such as Pierre Gaspard-Huit'sLa Mariée est trop belle(1956), Allegret'sL'Amour est en jeu(1957) andSois belle et tais-toi(1958), and Philippe Agostini'sRencontres(1962). Joyeux is also the mother of the actorClaude Brasseur.