PRESLE, MICHELINE

(1922- )

Actress. Micheline Presle made her screen debut in 1937. She had small roles in Pierre Caron'sLa Fessée(1937), Jean de Limur'sPetite peste(1938), and Christian Stengel'sJe Chante(1938) before being "discovered" by director Georg Wilhelm Pabst, who cast her in a leading role in his filmJeunes filles en détresse(1939). Presle went on to appear in more than one hundred films after that, including films on both sides of the Atlantic. She has also worked extensively in television. She is one of the most prolific actresses ever to have worked in French cinema.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Presle appeared in such films asGeorge Lacombe'sElles étaient douze femmes(1940),Marc Allegret'sParade en sept nuits(1941),La Belle aventure(1942), andFélicie Nanteuil(1945),Marcel L'Herbier'sLa Nuit fantastique(1942),Jacques de Baroncelli'sFausse alerte(1945),Christian-Jacque'sBoule de suif(1945),Claude Autant-Lara'sLe Diable au corps(1946), andJean Delannoy'sLes Jeux sont faits(1946). She went to Hollywood in the early 1950s after marrying American actor and producer William Marshall. She spent two years working in Hollywood, where she appeared in such films as Jean Negulesco'sUnder My Skin(1950) and Marshall'sThe Adventures of Captain Fabian(1951) but returned to making films in France when the American response was lukewarm.

Presle's career seemed only to reach another high point in France in the 1950s. She starred in such films as Raymond Bernard'sLa Dame aux Camélias(1953),Sacha Guitry'sSi Versailles m'était conté(1954) andNapoléon(1955), Pierre Gaspard-Huit'sLa Mariée est trop belle(1956) andChristine(1958), andAndré Hunébelle'sTreize à table(1956).Her career went from strength to strength, and she appeared in a number of films in the 1960s and 1970s including Delannoy'sLe Baron de l'écluse(1961),Philippe de BrocaandClaude Chabrol'sLes Sept péchés capitaux(1962),Julien Duvivier'sLe Diable et les dix commandements(1962), Raoul Lévy'sJe vous salue,mafia! (1965),Jacques Rivette'sLa Religieuse(1966), de Broca'sRoi de coeur(1966), Allegret'sLe Bal du comte d'Orgel(1970),Jacques Demy'sPeau d'âne(1970), Christian-Jacque'sLes Pétroleuses(1973), and Claude d'Anna'sTrompe l'oeil(1975).

During the late 1970s and 1980s, Presle worked predominantly in television. Those film roles she had were in fairly insignificant films. Some exceptions were her roles in Chabrol'sLe Sang des autres(1984), Gérard Frot-Coutaz'sBeau temps mais orageux en fin de journée(1986), andAlain Resnais'sI Want to go Home(1989). Presle has acted in a fair number of films in the last two decades. Among her other roles, she has appeared in Alexandre Jardin'sFanfan(1993), her daughterTonie Marshall'sPas très catholique(1994),Enfants de salaud(1996),Vénus beauté(institut) (1999), andFrance boutique(2005),Claude Lelouch'sLes Misérables(1995), Danièle Dubroux'sLe Journal du séducteur(1996),Gérard Jugnot'sFallait pas! (1996), Francis Girod'sMauvais genre(2001), and Merzak Allouache'sChouchou(2003). Presle has acted in a wide variety of genres, but she is a particularly good comic actress.