MOREAU, JEANNE

(1928- )

Actress, director, and screenwriter. Jeanne Moreau was born in Paris, the daughter of a French father and British mother. She studied at the Conservatoire d'art dramatique in Paris with Denis d'Inès. She became a stage actress at the Festival d'Avignon, where she worked under theater director Jean Vilar and with actorGérard Philipe. She also acted at the Comédie-Française and the Théâtre National Populaire. Moreau debuted in cinema in Jean Stelli'sDernier amour(1949). Some of her early leading roles were inJacques Becker's acclaimedTouchez pas au grisbi(1954), Jean Dréville'sLa Reine Margot(1954), Gilles Grangier'sGas-oil(1955), andEdouard Molinaro'sLe Dos au mur(1957). Her career as an art-house film star and her image as a femme fatale were launched with her performance inLouis Malle'sAscenseur pour l'échafaud(1957). She also starred in Malle'sLes Amants(1958) and acted again with Gérard Philipe inRoger Vadim'sLes liaisons dangereuses(1959).

In 1960, she won Best Actress at theCannes Film Festivalfor her performance in Peter Brook'sModerato Cantabile. In that decade Moreau became famous for her seductive, intellectual persona in films byNouvelle Vagueor New Wave andauteurdirectors. Some of her most memorable starring roles were inFrançois Truffaut'sJules et Jim(1962) andLa mariée était en noir(1968), Joseph Losey'sEva(1962),Jacques Demy'sLa Baie des anges(1963), and Luis Bunuel'sLe journal d'une femme de chambre(1964). She is also a singer and performed the theme song forJules et Jim, titled "Le Tourbillon de la vie." She played a singer inJean Renoir's television film,Le petit théâtre de Jean Renoir.Moreau furthered her international prestige in Michaelangelo Antonioni'sLa Notte(1960), Orson Welles'sThe Trial(1962) andChimes at Midnight(1965), and John Frankenheimer'sThe Train(1964), among others. She costarred with Welles in hisImmortal Story(1967). She worked again with Malle inLe feu follet(1963) andViva Maria(1965); the latter costarredBrigitte Bardot. Critics have contrasted Moreau's cerebral allure and professional expertise with Bardot's supermodel status. Indeed, although Bardot was a role model forwomenwho wished to express their sexuality freely, her fame hinged largely on her beauty. Moreau was the ultimate model, being at once freely seductive, independent, adventurous, and smart.

In the 1970s, Moreau played significant parts inMarguerite Duras'sNathalie Granger(1972),Bertrand Blier'sLes Valseuses(1973),André Téchiné'sSouvenirs d'en France(1975), and Joseph Losey'sMonsieur Klein(1975). She also acted with Robert De Niro and Tony Curtis in Elia Kazan'sThe Last Tycoon(1975). Moreau headed the jury at Cannes in 1975. In 1976, she made her directorial debut with the featureLumière, which she scripted. Later in the decade, she directed and coscriptedL'Adolescent(1978). It was nominated for a Golden Berlin Bear. In the 1980s, Moreau directed one documentary—Lillian Gish—in1984. She played leading roles in Losey'sLa Truite(1982) andMichel Drach'sSauve-toi,Lola(1986) and was nominated for aCésarfor Best Actress inJean-Pierre Mocky'sLe Miraculé(1987). In 1992, she won the César for Best Actress in Laurent Heynemann'sLa Vieille qui marchait dans la mer.

Moreau continued to enchant film audiences throughout the 1990s and beyond. Her role as Amande inLuc Besson'sNikita(1990) recalled the character of Catherine in Truffaut'sJules et Jim(1962), the film for which she is best known. She provided the voiceover for Jean-Jacques Annaud'sL'amant(1992), a film adapted from Duras's novel. She would later play Duras in Josée Dayan'sCet amour-là(2001). She had much in common with Duras, who was, herself, something of a sultry intellectual, a type that is a bit uncommon in the cinema. Moreau also played principal roles in Theo Angelopoulos'sThe Suspended Step of the Stork(1991), Guy Jacques'sJe m'appelle Victor(1993), and Ismail Merchant'sThe Proprietor(1996). More recently, Moreau appeared in François Ozon'sLe Temps qui reste(2005) and Serbian director Ahmed Imamovic'sGo West(2005). She is expected to appear in Zoe R. Cassavetes's filmBroken English, scheduled for release in 2007. Moreau was awarded a Career Golden Lion at Venice in 1992, an honorary César for her life's work in 1995, an honorary Golden Berlin Bear in 2000, and an honorary Golden Palm at Cannes in 2003. She has performed in over one hundred films.