AIMEE, Anouk 1932(?)–

(Anouk)

PERSONAL

Original name, Francoise Sorya Dreyfus; born April 27, 1932 (some sources say 1934), in Paris, France; daughter of Henri (an actor; professional name Murray) and Genevieve Sorya (maiden name, Durand) Dreyfus; married Edouard Zimmermann, 1949 (divorced, 1950); married Nico Papatakis (a director), 1951 (divorced, 1954); married Pierre Barouh, 1966 (divorced, 1969); married Albert Finney (an actor), August 7, 1970 (divorced, 1978); children: (second marriage) Manuela. Education: Studied dance at Marseilles Opera; studied theater in England, then at Cours Bauer–Therond.

Addresses: Agent—Artmedia, 20, av. Rapp, Paris 75007, France.

Career: Actress.

Awards, Honors: Film Award nomination, best foreign actress, British academy of Film and Television Arts, 1963, for Lola; Academy Award nomination, best actress, 1966, Film Award, best actress, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Golden Laurel Award nomination, female dramatic performance, Golden Globe Award, best actress in a drama, 1967, all for Un omme et une femme; Fotogramas de Plata, best foreign performer, 1967; Cesar Award nomination, best actress, 1979, for Mon premier amour; Cannes International Film Festival Award, best actress, 1980, for Salto nel vuoto; Studios International Circle of Achievement, 1985; National Board of Review Award (with others), best acting by an ensemble, 1994, for Pret–a–Porter; Lifetime Achievement Award, Palm Beach International Film Festival, 2000; Honorary Cesar Award, 2002; Benhard Wicki Film Award–Honorary Award, Munich Film Festival, 2003, for La petite prairie aux bouleaux; Honorary Golden Berlin Bear, Berlin International Film Festival, 2003.

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

(Film debut) La maison sous la mer, 1946.

La fleur de l'age, 1947.

(As Anouk) Anna, The Golden Salamander, General Films, 1949.

Georgia Maglia (Juliette), Les amants de Verone (also known as The Lovers of Verona), Souvaine Selective, 1951.

Conquetes du froid, 1951.

Noche de tormenta (also known as Nuit d'orage), 1951.

Albertine, Le rideau cramoisi (also known as The Crimson Curtain), 1951.

Voice of la bergere, La bergere et le ramoneur (also known as The Shepherdess and the Chimneysweep, The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird, and Adventures of Mr. Wonderful), Raymond Stross/George Schaefer, 1953.

(As Anouk) Jeanne, The Man Who Watched Trains Go (also known as By The Paris Express), 1953.

Forever My Heart (also known as Happy Birthday), British Lion, 1954.

Contrabando, 1954.

Elena Vargas, Contraband Spain, British Pathe, 1955.

Francoise Maurer, Ich suche dich, 1955.

Catherine Racan, Les mauvaises rencontres (also known as The Bad Liaisons), 1955.

Nina Iwanowa, Nina (also known as Romeo and Julia in Wien), 1956.

Annette Stein, Stresemann, 1956.

Isabelle, Tous peuvent me tuer (also known as Anyone Can Kill Me and Tutti possono uccidermi), 1957.

Marie Pichon, Pot bouille (also known as The House of Lovers, Le donne degli altri, and Lovers of Paris), 1957.

Stephanie, La tete contre les murs (also known as The Keepers), 1958.

Carve Her Name with Pride, J. Arthur Rank, 1958.

Jeanne Hebuterne, Montparnasse (also known as The Lovers of Montparnasse, Modigliani, Modigliani of Montparnasse, Les amants de Montparnasse (Montparnasse 19), Les amants de Montparnasse, and Montparnasse 19), Franco–London/Astra–Pallavicina/Continental Distributing,1958.

Eva, The Journey (also known as Some of Us May Die), Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1959.

Jeanne, Les dragueurs (also known as The Chasers, The Dredgers, and The Young Have No Morals), 1959.

Stephanie, La tete contre les murs (also known as Head Against the Wall and The Keepers), 1959.

Helene LaRouche, Le farceur (also known as The Joker), Lopert, 1961.

Maddalena, La Dolce Vita (also known as The Sweet Life and La douceur de vivre), Astor/American International, 1961.

Title role, Donna di vita (also known as Lola), Rome Paris/Euro International/Films–Around–the–World, 1961.

Claire, L'imprevisto (also known as L'imprevu and Unexpected), 1961.

L'antiquaire, Quai Notre Dame, 1961.

Irene, Il guidizio universale (also known as The Last Judgment and Le jugement dernier), 1961.

Queen Bera, Sodome et Gomorrhe (also known as Sodom and Gomorrah, Sodom e Gomorra, and The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah), Titanus/Pathe Cinema/S.G.C./Twentieth Century–Fox, 1962.

Luisa Anselmi, Otto e mezzo (also known as 8 ½, Huit et demi, Federico' Fellini's "8 ½," and Fellini's "8 ½"), Embassy, 1963.

Mita Palumbo, Liola (also known as A Very Handy Man), Federiz–Francinex–Cinecitta/Rizzoli, 1963.

Il giorno piu corto (also known as The Shortest Day and Il giorno pui corto commedia umoristica), 1963.

Anna Braschi, Il terroista (also known as The Terrorist), 1963.

Laura, Il successo (also known as The Success), 1963.

Anna, Les Grands Chemins (also known as Of Flesh and Blood and Il baro), Copernic–Saphrene–Dear/Times, 1964.

Lorenza, Le sexe des anges (also known as Le voci bianche, I castrati, Undercover Rouge, Counter Tenors, and White Voices), Franca–Federiz–Francoriz/Rizzoli, 1965.

Valeria, Il morbidone (also known as The Dreamer), 1965.

Luisa, La fuga (also known as The Escape), Cine 3/International Classics (Fox), 1966.

Anne Gauthier, Un homme et une femme (also known as A Man and a Woman), Les Films 13/Allied Artists, 1966.

Mita, La stagione del nostro amore (also known as Seasons of Our Love), Federiz–Francinex–Cinecitta/Rizzoli, 1966.

Lo scandalo, 1966.

Anne, Un soir, un train (also known as One Night ... a Train), Parc–Fox Europa Films du Siecle/Twentieth Century–Fox, 1968.

Carla, The Appointment, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1969.

Title role, Justine, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1969.

Lola, The Model Shop, Columbia, 1969.

Sarah Gordon, Si c'etait a refaire (also known as Second Chance and If It Were To Do Over Again), United Artists, 1976.

Jane (Mother), Mon premier amour (also known as My First Love), 7 Films/Gaumont, 1978.

Marta Ponticelli, Salto nel vuoto (also known as A Leap in the Dark, Le saut dans le vide, and Leap into the Void), Summit, 1982.

Barbara, Tragedia di un uomo ridiculo (also known as The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man), Warner Bros., 1982.

Helene, Qu–est–ce qui fait courir David? (also known as What Makes David Run?), Columbia/EMI Warners/MK2–Diffusion, 1982.

Countess Betsy, Le general de l'armee morte (also known as The General of the Dead Army, and L'armata ritorna), WMF/Union Generale Cinematographique, 1983.

Monique de Fontaine, Success Is the Best Revenge (also known as Le succes a tout prix), Gaumont, 1984.

(As Anouk), Viva la vie! (also known as Long Live Life), Union Generale Cinematographique, 1984.

Un reve a peine commence, 1984.

Flagrant Desire, Hemdale, 1985.

Anne Gauthier, Un homme et une femme: Vingt ans deja (also known as A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later), Films 13/Warner Bros., 1986.

Laura, Arrivederci e grazie (also known as Goodbye and Thank You), Medusa Distribuzione, 1988.

Herself/la voix de la bergere, La table tournante, 1989.

Herself/seul film–annonce, Il y a des jours ... et des lunes (also known as There Were Days and Moons), JP2 Audiousvel/AFMD–Roissy, 1990.

Marie–France Coudaire, Bethune–The Making of a Hero (also known as Bethune, l'etoffe d'uno heroes and Dr. Bethune), 1990.

Das schicksal des Freiherrn von Leisenbohg (also known as The Fate of Baron Leisnbohg), 1991.

Francoise, Les marmottes (also known as The Groundhogs), 1993.

Marthe, Ruptures, 1993.

Simone Lowenthal, Ready to Wear (also known as Pret–a–Porter and Pret–a–Porter: Ready to Wear), Miramax, 1994.

Actor for a Day, Les cent et une nuits (also known as A Hundred and One Nights, A Hundred and One Nights of Simon Cinema, and Les cent et une nuits), Mecure Distribution, 1995.

Claire Charvet, Dis–moi oui (also known as Say Yes), Lumiere Pictures, 1995.

Herself, L'univers de Jacques Demy (also known as The Universe of Jacques Demy and The World of Jacques Demy; documentary), 1995.

Widow, Hommes, femmes: Mode d'emploi (also known as Men, Women: A User's Manual), UFD, 1996.

Les menteurs (also known as The Liars), Lumiere Pictures, 1996.

La fee, Riches, belles, etc. (also known as Riches, belles et cruelles), 1998.

Herself, L.A. without a Map (also known as I Love L.A. and Los Angeles without a Map), United Media, 1998.

Eve, Madeleine's mother, Madeleine, Columbia–TriStar/Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1999.

La femme du musicien, Une pour toutes (also known as One 4 All), Bac Films, 1999.

Title role, Eve, 2000.

Millie Marquand, Festival in Cannes, Paramount Classics, 2001.

Herself, L'ultima sequenza (documentary; also known as The Lost Ending), 2003.

Herself, Federico Fellini—Mit den augen der anderen (documentary; also known as Federico Fellini—Through the Eyes of Others), Preview Release GmbH, 2003.

Myriam, La petite prairie aux bouleaux (also known as Birkenau und Rosenfeld and The Birch–Tree Meadow), 2003.

La mere de Vincent, Ils se marierent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants, Pathe, 2004.

Herself, Freedom2speak v.2.0 (documentary), 2004.

De particulier a particulier, 2005.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Piazza navona, 1987.

Sarah Ives, Mon dernier reve sera pour vous, 1989.

Bethsheba, Solomon (also known as Die Bibel–Salomon and Salomone), PAX, 1997.

Victoire, ou la douleur des femmes, 2000.

Letizia Bonaparte, Napoleon, Arts and Entertainment, 2002.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Helene, Une page d'amour, 1979.

Ferdnanda, 1988.

Eugenie, L'ile bleue (also known as The Blue Island), 2001.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Adrienne Mesurat, 1953.

Elle, Hors jeu, 1961.

Herself, Portrait de Vittorio Gassman, 1979.

Haute Couture: The Great Designers, PBS, 1987.

Cuckoo, Des voix dans le jardin (also known as Voices in the Garden), 1991.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

(As Anouk) Wanda, "Happy Birthday," Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents, NBC, 1953.

Herself, Tout le monde en parle, 2002.

Herself, Les feux de la rampe, 2002.

Stage Appearances:

Sud, 1954.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, 4th ed., St. James Press, 2000.

AIMÉE, Anouk

Nationality: French. Born: Françoise Sorya Dreyfus in Paris, 27 April 1932, daughter of the actor Henri Dreyfus (performed as Henri Murray, or simply Murray) and Geneviève Sorya (family name Durand). Education: Attended École de la rue Milton, Paris; École de Barbezieux; Pensionnat de Bandol; Institution de Megève; studied dance at Marseilles Opera; studied theater in England, then at Cours Bauer-Therond. Family: Married 1) Edouard Zimmermann, 1949 (divorced); 2) the director Nico Papatakis, 1951 (divorced 1954), daughter: Manuela; 3) Pierre Barouh, 1966 (divorced); 4) the actorAlbert Finney, 1970 (divorced 1978). Career: Began stage acting at age 14; 1946—film debut in La Maison sous la mer (as "Anouk"); 1948—first screen success in Les Amants de Vérone in role written for her by Jacques Prévert. Awards: Best Foreign Actress, British Academy, for Un Homme et une femme, 1966; Best Actress, Cannes Festival, for Salto nel vuoto, 1979. Agent: Artmédia, 10 av George V, 75008 Paris, France.

Films as Actress:

1946

La Maison sous la mer (Calef)

1947

La Fleur de l'âge (Carné—unfinished)

1948

Les Amants de Vérone (The Lovers of Verona) (Cayatte) (as Georgia "Juliette" Maglia)

1949

Golden Salamander (Neame) (as Anna)

1951

Conquêtes du froid (Vidal); Noche de tormenta (Nuit d'orage) (de Moyora)

1952

La Bergère et le ramoneur (Grimault) (as voice); The Paris Express (The Man Who Watched Trains Go By) (French) (as Jeanne); Le Rideau cramoisi (Les Crimes de l'amour; The Crimson Curtain) (Astruc) (as Albertine)

1953

Ich suche dich (Fischer)

1954

Forever My Heart (Happy Birthday) (Arliss and Knowles)

1955

Contraband Spain (Huntington) (as Elena Vargas); Les Mauvaises Rencontres (Astruc)

1956

Nina (Jugert) (as Nina Iwanowa); Stresemann (Braun)

1957

Tous peuvent me tuer (Anyone Can Kill Me) (Decoin); Pot-Bouille (The House of Lovers) (Duvivier); Montparnasse 19 (Modigliani of Montparnasse; The Lovers of Montparnasse) (Jacques Becker) (as Jeanne Hebuterne)

1958

La Tête contre les murs (The Keepers) (Franju); Carve Her Name with Pride (Gilbert)

1959

The Journey (Some of Us May Die) (Litvak) (as Eva); Les Dragueurs (The Chasers; The Young Have No Morals) (Mocky)

1960

La dolce vita (Fellini) (as Maddalena)

1961

Lola (Donna di vita) (Demy) (title role); Le Farceur (The Joker) (de Broca) (as Helene Laroche); L'imprévisto (Lattuada); Quai Notre Dame (Berthier); Il giudizio universale (The Last Judgment) (de Sica)

1962

Sodoma e Gomorra (Sodom and Gomorrah; The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah) (Aldrich and Leone) (as Queen Bera); Les Grands Chemins (Of Flesh and Blood; Il Baro) (Marquand) (as Anna)

1963

8½ (Otto e mezzo) (Fellini) (as Luisa Anselmi); Il giorno più corto (The Shortest Day) (Corbucci); Il terrorista (de Bosio); Il successo (Morassi and Risi) (Blasetti)

1964

Liolà (A Very Handy Man); Le voci bianche (White Voices; Le Sexe des Anges; Under Cover Rouge) (Campanile and Franciosa) (as Lorenza); La fuga (Spinola) (as Luisa)

1965

Il morbidone (Franciosa); La stagione del nostro amore (A Very Handy Man; Liola) (Vancini) (as Mita)

1966

Lo scandalo (Gobbi); Un Homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman) (Lelouch) (as Anne Gauthier)

1968

Un Soir, un train (One Night, a Train) (Delvaux) (as Anne)

1969

The Model Shop (Demy) (as Lola); Justine (Cukor) (title role); The Appointment (Lumet) (as Carla)

1976

Si c'était à refaire (If I Had to Do It All over Again; A Second Chance) (Lelouch) (as Sarah Gordon)

1978

Mon Premier Amour (My First Love) (Chouraqui) (as Jane Romain)

1979

Salto nel vuoto (A Leap in the Dark; Leap into the Void) (Bellocchio) (as Marta Ponticelli); Une Page d'amour (Chouraqui—for TV)

1981

La Tragedia di un uomo ridiculo (The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man) (Bertolucci) (as Barbara Spaggiari)

1982

Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David? (Chouraqui); Le Général de l'armée morte (Il generale dell'armata morta) (Tovoli)

1984

Vive la vie (Lelouch); Success Is the Best Revenge (Skolimowski) (as Monique de Fontaine)

1985

Flagrant Desire (A Certain Desire) (Faraldo)

1986

Un Homme et une femme: vingt ans déjà (A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later) (Lelouch) (as Anne Gauthier)

1989

La Table tournante (Grimault); Arrivederce e Grazie (Capitani)

1990

There Were Days and Moons; Bethune: The Making of a Hero (Dr. Bethune) (Borsos—released in U.S. in 1993) (as Marie-France Coudaire)

1991

Voices in the Garden (Bouton); Das Schicksal des Freiherrn von Leisenbohg (Molinaro)

1993

Ruptures (Citti) (as Marthe); Les Marmottes (The Groundhogs) (Chouraqui) (as Françoise)

1994

Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter) (Altman) (as Simone Lowenthal)

1995

Les Cent et une Nuits (A Hundred and One Nights) (Varda) (as Actor for a Day); Dis-Moi Oui

1996

Hommes, femmes, mode d'emploi (Lelouch) (as The Widow)

1998

L.A. Without a Map (Kaurismäki) (as Herself)

1999

1999 Madeleine (Bouhnik) (as Madeleine's Mother)

Publications

By AIMÉE: book—

Fables de la Fontaine en bandes dessinées, Paris, 1984.

By AIMÉE: article—

Interview in Télérama (Paris), 24 May 1980.

On AIMÉE: articles—

Ecran (Paris), November 1979.

Ciné Revue (Paris), 3 April 1980, 26 March 1981, 17 March 1983, and 12 July 1984.

Anouk Aimée made her film debut in 1946 in a small role in the Calef film La Maison sous la mer. Her first starring role was in Marcel Carné's La Fleur de l'âge, but that film remained unfinished. In effect, then, her first real success was in Cayatte's love drama Les Amants de Vérone, a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Critics had reservations about the script, but there was no doubt about the obvious talent of the young actress. She went on to play in Astruc's Le Rideau cramoisi and Les Mauvaises Rencontres. Not only her abilities as an actress but also the photogenic qualities of her face, with its fine lines, expression of elation, and suggestive gaze, were used to particular effect in Duvivier's Pot-Bouille, Becker's Montparnasse 19, and Franju's La Tête contre les murs.

But she was not always lucky. In spite of being known outside France (she made films in Spain, Great Britain, and Germany), she did not always work with directors who knew how to make use of her art. Then in the early 1960s she attracted worldwide attention in the title role of Demy's Lola and particularly in the part of the rich, haughty Maddalena in Fellini's La dolce vita, in which her aristocratic demeanor provided a telling contrast to the more elemental charms of Anita Ekberg. She appeared again for Fellini in the role of the patient wife in 8½. Aimée remained in Italy during the first half of the 1960s, and made a variety of films for Italian directors which are of varying qualities and genres—among them, Liolà, Le voci bianche, and La stagione del nostro amore.

The greatest success of her career came in 1966, in a film by the then still relatively unknown French director Claude Lelouch, Un Homme et une femme. The young director succeeded in rendering a seemingly banal love story in an unexpected and new way, through his mastery of camera technique and setting the action in the milieu of automobile racing. Yet the tremendous international success it enjoyed (it won both the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966 and an American Oscar) were undoubtedly due to the excellent performances of the stars, Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

In her subtle portrayal of the heroine—self-protective, then succumbing to a new love—Aimée seemed to create a new kind of femme fatale and a characterization she would return to in the future: a woman of sensitivity whose emotions are often kept secret. She has continued to play that woman, with the same moderation and tact but within a growing gamut of different emotions. A good example is Belgian director André Delvaux's Un Soir, un train in which she plays a Walloon woman who sacrifices herself to her husband, a university professor played by Yves Montand. The complicated relationship between the couple, exacerbated by their different languages and hovering on the boundary between reality and fantasy, ends in painful and tragic misunderstanding. Aimée's interpretation is perfect.

—Karel Tabery

AIMÉE, ANOUK

AIMÉE, ANOUK (Françoise Dreyfus ; 1932– ), French actress. Starting her film career as a teenager and the daughter of actress Geneviève Sorya, the Paris-born Aimée gained the attention of the French public in 1957 in the film Les Mauvaises Rencontres. In Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960), and 8½ (1963), she was cast in roles reflecting modern boredom and world-weariness. She was nominated for an Academy Award as best actress for her part in Lelouch's A Man and a Woman (1966). Among her more than 80 films are Justine (1969), The Appointment (1970), Salto nel Vuoto (Cannes Award for Best Actress, 1980), Un Homme et une Femme: 20 Ans deja (1986), Il y a des jours…et des lunes (1990), and Robert Altman's Ready to Wear (1994). She was married to the actor Albert Finney from 1970 to 1978.

[Jonathan Licht]