"Deneuve" redirects here. For the magazine formerly published with this name, see Curve (magazine). For the fictional detective, see L (Death Note).
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Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (UK: /dəˈnɜːv/,[1]US: /dəˈnʊv/,[2]French:[katʁindənœv]ⓘ), is a French actress. She is considered one of the greatest European actresses on film.[3] In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.[4]
Deneuve made her screen debut in 1957 at age 13, in a film shot the previous year when she was only 12. A major figure of the New Wave, she became, like Brigitte Bardot and Alain Delon, one of the best-known French artists in the world.[5][6] In a career spanning nearly 70 years, she has played more than a hundred roles and is recognized in France and internationally for being one of the key faces of the musical film genre with appearances in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Young Girls of Rochefort,Donkey Skin, 8 Women and The Beloved. Early in her career, she gained acclaim for her portrayals of aloof and mysterious beauties while working for well-known directors such as Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, Jacques Demy, Roman Polanski, and Agnès Varda.[7] She played in films attracting a total of nearly 99 million spectators in theaters, making her the working actress with the most admissions in France.[8] In 1985, she succeeded Mireille Mathieu as the official face of Marianne, France's national symbol of liberty.[9]
Deneuve was born Catherine Fabienne Dorléac in Paris,[10] the daughter of French stage actors Maurice Dorléac and Renée Simonot. Deneuve had two sisters, Françoise Dorléac (21 March 1942 – 26 June 1967) and Sylvie Dorléac (born 14 December 1946),[11] as well as a maternal half-sister, Danièle, whom their mother had out of wedlock in 1936 with Aimé Clariond. Deneuve used her mother's maiden name, which she chose for her stage name, in order to differentiate herself from her sisters. Deneuve attended Catholic schools.[12]
Film career
1957–1970: Breakthrough and acclaim
Deneuve in 1969
Deneuve made her film debut with a small role in André Hunebelle's Les Collégiennes (1957) with her younger sister Sylvie Dorléac who, like their older half-sister Daniele, was an occasional child actress.[13] She subsequently appeared in several films for director Roger Vadim as well as in L'Homme à femmes (1960), which caught the eye of Jacques Demy, who cast Deneuve as Geneviève Emery in his romantic film musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), the film that brought her to stardom.[13] The film received critical acclaim winning the Palme d'Or at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. Variety praised her performance describing her writing, "Catherine Deneuve, a winsome-looking type that other directors have forced to act, here is allowed to be herself. She etches a fine portrait of a 16-year-old in love."[14] The same year she acted in several films including the anthology film The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers in a segment directed by Claude Chabrol and the comedy Male Hunt directed by Édouard Molinaro.
In her English-language debut, Deneuve played the cold but erotic persona, for which she would be nicknamed the "ice maiden", in Roman Polanski's psychological horror thriller Repulsion (1965). For her performance she was nominated for the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, "Catherine Deneuve's glassy stare of anxiety dominates the movie" comparing her to Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960).[15] In 1966 she starred in the Agnes Varda fantasy film Les Créatures and Jean-Paul Rappeneau's A Matter of Resistance. The following year, she reunited with Demy for another musical The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) acting alongside George Chakiris and Gene Kelly. She played a twin to her real-life older sister, Françoise Dorléac (as Solange), in what would be their only film together, Dorléac died in a car accident a few months after the movie opened.[16] That same year she starred in Luis Buñuel's psychological erotic drama Belle de Jour (1967). Deneuve stars as a young woman who spends her midweek afternoons as a high-class prostitute, while her husband is at work. For her performance, she received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Melissa Anderson writing for Criterion declared, "Deneuve's performance in Belle de jour turned out to be one of her most iconic".[17]
In 1969, Deneuve starred in Stuart Rosenberg's American romantic comedy film The April Fools, starring opposite Jack Lemmon. That same year she acted in François Truffaut's romantic crime drama Mississippi Mermaid acting alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo. The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby praised the film writing, "As in all of Truffaut's films, love leads only to an uncertain future that, at best, may contain some joy along with the inevitable misery. Truffaut's special talent, however, is for communicating a sense of the value of that joy."[18] She reunited with Buñel for the drama Tristana (1970) acting alongside Fernando Rey and Franco Nero.[19] Her work for Buñuel would be her best known.[20][21] That same year, she reunited with Jacques Demy for the musical fantasy Donkey Skin (1970) based on the 1965 fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault. Roger Ebert praised the film writing, "It provides a visual feast and fanciful imaginations, and Deneuve was then, as she was before and since, a great beauty with the confidence such beauty requires."[22]
Deneuve's part in Lars von Trier's musical drama Dancer in the Dark (2000), alongside Icelandic singer Björk was subject to considerable critical scrutiny. The film was selected for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. She made another foray into Hollywood the following year, starring in The Musketeer (2001) for Peter Hyams. In 2002, she shared the Silver Bear Award for Best Ensemble Cast at the Berlin International Film Festival for her performance in 8 Women. In 2005, Deneuve published her diary A l'ombre de moi-meme ("In My Own Shadow", published in English as Close Up and Personal: The Private Diaries of Catherine Deneuve); in it she writes about her experiences shooting the films Indochine and Dancer in the Dark. She also provided the voice role of Marjane Satrapi's mother in Satrapi's animated autobiographical film Persepolis (2007), based on the graphic novel of the same name.
Deneuve appeared nude in two Playboy pictorials in 1963 and 1965.[28] Her image was used to represent Marianne, the national symbol of France,[29] from 1985 to 1989.[30] As the face of Chanel No. 5 in the late 1970s, she caused sales of the perfume to soar in the United States – so much so that the American press, captivated by her charm, nominated her as the world's most elegant woman.[31] In 1983, American Home Products retained her to represent their cosmetics line and hired world-renowned photographer Richard Avedon to promote its line of Youth Garde cosmetics, for which she famously proclaimed, "Look closely. Next year, I will be 40."
She is considered the muse of designer Yves Saint Laurent; he dressed her in the films Belle de Jour, La Chamade, La sirène du Mississipi, Un flic, Liza, and The Hunger. In 1992, she became a model for his skincare line.
In 2001, she was chosen as the new face of L'Oréal Paris. In 2006, Deneuve became the third inspiration for the M•A•C Beauty Icon series and collaborated on the colour collection that became available at M•A•C locations worldwide in February that year. Deneuve began appearing in the new Louis Vuitton luggage advertisements in 2007. Deneuve was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by the Guardian in March 2013.[32] In July 2017, Deneuve appeared in a video campaign for Louis Vuitton entitled Connected Journeys, celebrating the launch of the brand's Tambour Horizon smartwatch, which also featured celebrities, including Jennifer Connelly, Bae Doona, Jaden Smith and Miranda Kerr.[33]
Entrepreneurial
In 1986, Deneuve introduced her own perfume, Deneuve.[34] She is also a designer of glasses, shoes, jewelry and greeting cards.[35] In 2005, she launched a limited-edition makeup collection for MAC Cosmetics.[36] For the Catherine Deneuve eyewear line, she has had licensing agreements with Viva International (from 1989) and Marcolin (2014–2019) for the design, production and distribution of sunglasses and optical frames.[37]
Charities
Deneuve was appointed UNESCOGoodwill Ambassador for the Safeguarding of Film Heritage in 1994 until her resignation on 12 November 2003.
Deneuve asked that the rights owed to her from her representation of Marianne be given to Amnesty International.[38]
Deneuve is also involved with Children Action, Children of Africa, Orphelins Roumains and Reporters Without Borders.
Douleur sans frontiers (Pain Without Borders) – At the end of 2003, Deneuve recorded a radio commercial to encourage donations to fight against the pain in the world, notably for the victims of landmines.[39]
Handicap International – In the middle of July 2005, Deneuve lent her voice to the message of radio commercials, TV and cinema, which denounced the use of the BASM (cluster bombs).
Voix de femmes pour la démocratie (Voice of women for democracy) – Deneuve read the text, "Le petit garçon", of Jean-Lou Dabadie, on the entitled CD, "Voix de femmes pour la démocratie." The CD was sold for the benefit of the female victims of the war and the fundamentalisms that fight for democracy.
Deneuve has also been involved with various charities in the fight against AIDS and cancer.[39]
In 1971, Deneuve signed the Manifesto of the 343. The manifesto was an admission by its signers to have had illegal abortions, and therefore exposed themselves to judicial actions and prison sentences. It was published in Le Nouvel Observateur on 5 April 1971. That same year, feminist lawyer Gisèle Halimi founded the group, Choisir ("To Choose"), to protect the women who had signed the Manifesto of the 343.
Deneuve is involved with Amnesty International's program to abolish the death penalty.
In 2001, Deneuve delivered a petition organized by the French-based group, "Together Against the death penalty", to the U.S. Embassy in Paris.[40]
In April 2007, Deneuve signed a petition on the internet protesting against the "misogynous" treatment of socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal. More than 8,000 French men and women signed the petition, including French actress Jeanne Moreau.[41]
In 2011, among other French celebrities Deneuve signed a petition asking the future President of France to propose a vote at the United Nations General Assembly to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide.[42]
In January 2018, Deneuve, along with 99 other French women writers, performers and academics, signed an open letter that argued the #Me Too movement had gone too far, turning into a "witch hunt", and denounced it as a form of puritanism, resulting in a backlash.[43][44] Although she later apologized to all the victims who might have felt assaulted by the letter, she still supported it saying there was "nothing in the letter" to Le Monde that said "anything good about harassment, otherwise I wouldn't have signed it".[45]
Personal life
Besides her native French, Deneuve speaks fluent Italian and English, and has some knowledge of Spanish. Her hobbies and passions include gardening, drawing, photography, reading, music, cinema, fashion, antiques and decoration.[39] According to a 1996 The New York Times article, she is a practising Roman Catholic.[46]
Deneuve has two children: actor Christian Vadim (born 18 June 1963), from her relationship with Roger Vadim, and actress Chiara Mastroianni (born 28 May 1972), from her relationship with Marcello Mastroianni. She has five grandchildren. Deneuve has not had a public relationship since her breakup with Lescure in 1991, with whom she remains friends; Deneuve's two children consider him their stepfather. According to Gala, in late 2019 Deneuve relied on Lescure while she recuperated from a stroke.[52] In 2020, she told Paris Match that the two still talk to each other every day.[53]
In recent decades, Deneuve's highly private life has prompted speculation about her sexual orientation, which she acknowledged in a 2002 interview with Knack magazine: "Now that people know nothing about my private life, they start guessing: is there still a man in her life and who is he then? When they see me two or three times with a female friend they say: we've always known that."[68] Reports from 2000 said her beau was a 25-year-old technician she had met on a recent film, but no writer could identify him.[69] In 2006, Deneuve told The Daily Telegraph that she was in a relationship, though she did not disclose his name.[70]
A 2020 biography of Johnny Hallyday by Gilles Lhote says the singer maintained a carefully hidden, 56-year affair with Deneuve that started when they were teenagers in 1961 and continued until Hallyday's death in 2017.[71][72]
Deneuve was a close friend of the artist Nall, and owns some of his works.[73]
Health
On 6 November 2019, BBC News reported that Deneuve suffered a mild stroke and was recuperating in a Paris hospital. Despite the health scare, there was no damage to her motor functions.[74] Five weeks later, she was released from hospital, and spent the remainder of 2019 recuperating at her Paris home.[75]
Deneuve began smoking in 1960 at age 16, and was known to smoke up to three packs a day.[76] She quit in 1985 with the aid of hypnotherapy,[77] but started again in 1996.[78] In 2020, French actress and recent co-star Juliette Binoche told Vanity Fair that Deneuve stopped smoking after suffering a stroke.[79]
^Upton, Clive; Kretzschmar, William A. Jr. (2017). "Deneuve". The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English (2nd ed.). Routledge. ISBN978-1-138-12566-7.
^Block, Maxine; Anna Herthe Rothe; Marjorie Dent Candee; Charles Moritz (1978). Current Biography Yearbook. H.W. Wilson Co. p. 98. ISBN978-99973-770-2-9. Catherine Deneuve has also ... been called the "ice maiden" because of the aloof and enigmatic personality she has glacially portrayed in such classic art films as Polanski's Repulsion ...
^Jones, Alice (7 March 2007). "Catherine the great: Deneuve's five finest roles". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 November 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2008. The first and most chilling of Deneuve's classic ice-maiden roles." "Deneuve's best-known role.
^Siskel, Gene (29 December 1975). "'Hustle': a holiday film in a class by itself". Chicago Tribune. Section 1, p. 27. ISSN1085-6706.
^Sweet, Matthew (29 November 2002). "My lips are sealed". The Independent. UK. Archived from the original on 2 June 2007. she cackles with delight when I ask her if the scene has pleased her army of lesbian fans ... She acquired this following Tony Scott's vampire flick "The Hunger" (1983), in which she played a fanged seductress ... who took her sweet time getting to Susan Sarandon's jugular ...(subscription required)
^Cartner-Morley, Jess; Mirren, Helen; Huffington, Arianna; Amos, Valerie (28 March 2013). "The 50 best-dressed over 50s". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016.
^Foreman, Liza (6 October 2009). Written at Vence, France. "In France, an Artist's Retreat". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
