Aimée, Anouk (1932—)

French actress, best known for her work in A Man and a Woman. Name variations: Anouk. Born Françoise Sorya Dreyfus in Paris, France, on April 27, 1932; daughter of actors; studied acting and dancing in France and England; married Nico Papatakis (a director), 1952 (divorced 1954); married twice more; married Albert Finney (an actor), in 1970 (divorced 1978); married once more.

Selected filmography:

La Maison Sous La Mer (1947); Les Amants de Vérone (The Lovers of Verona,1949); The Golden Salamander (U.K., 1950); Le Rideau cramoisi (1951); The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By (also titled The Paris Express, U.K., 1952); Les Mauvaises Rencontres (1955); Pot-Bouille (1957); Montparnasse 19 (also titled Modiliani of Montparnasse, 1958); La Tête contre les Murs, Les Dragueurs (also titled The Chasers, the Journey, United States, 1959); La Dolce Vita (1960); Lola (1960); L'Imprevisto (1961); Il Giudizio Universale (1961); Le Farceur (The Joker, 1961); Sodoma e Gomorra (1961); Les Grands Chemins (Of Flesh and Blood, 1963); 8½; (Otté e Mezzo, 1963); Le Voci bianche (White Voices, 1964); La Fuga (1965); Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman, 1966); Justine (1969); The Model Shop (1969); The Appointment (1969); Si c'était à refaire (Second Chance, 1976); Mon Premier Amour (My First Love, 1978); Salto nel Vuoto (Leap Into Void, 1980); Tragedia di un Uomo ridicolo (The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man, 1981); Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David (1982); Le Général de l'Armée Morte (1983); Vive la Vie (1984); Success is the Best Revenge (U.K., 1984); Flagrant Desire (1985); Un Homme et une Femme: 20 Ans déjà (A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later (1986); Arrivederci e Grazie (1988); La Table tournante (1988); Bethuen: The Making of a Hero (1990); Il y a des jours … et des lunes (1990).

Originally known only as Anouk, Anouk Aimée made her film debut at age 14 in La Maison Sous La Mer (1947). Two years later, in a Juliet-like role created for her by poet Jacques Prévert, she was brought to the attention of the French public in André Cayette's Les Amants de Vérone (The Lovers of Verona). A few undistinguished films followed before her international breakthrough as the nymphomaniac in La Dolce Vita (1960), Federico Fellini's view of decadent life in the high society of postwar Rome. Aimée followed that with the giggling, flighty Lola in Jacques Demy's new-wave film Lola. In 1963, she performed once again for Fellini in his auto-biographical mixture of fact and fantasy, 8½ (Otté e Mezzo).

In 1966, Aimée starred with Jean-Louis Trintignant in Claude Lelouch's Un Homme et

une Femme (A Man and a Woman), a romantic drama that gleaned most of its power from the performances of its leads. For her performance, Aimée was nominated for an Oscar and was awarded Britain's Academy Award for Best Foreign Actress. (The film won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.) The two actors reprised their roles in Un Homme et une Femme: 20 Ans déjà (A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later) in 1986. Aimée was also named Best Actress at Cannes for her role in Salto nel Vuoto (Leap Into Void), 1980. Anouk Aimée has worked for a string of prominent international directors, including Anatole Litvak, Vittorio de Sica, Robert Aldrich, Sidney Lumet, Bernardo Bertolucci, George Cukor, and Jerzy Skolimowski.