Girardot, Annie

(1931- )

   Actress. Annie Girardot was born in Paris and graduated from the Paris Conservatoire d'art dramatique with honors. She began her career on the stage, appearing at the Comédie Française from 1954 to 1957 and in cabarets before making her debut in André Hunébelle's Treize à table (1956). Her early major roles were in Jean Delannoy's Maigret tend un piège (1957) alongside Jean Gabin, Marc Allégret's L 'amour est en jeu (1957), and Jean-Charles Dudrumet's La corde raide (1960). She debuted in Italian cinema under the direction of Luchino Visconti, who had directed Girardot in the play Deux sur la balançoire. She also appeared in Visconti's Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960) with her husband Renato Salvatori.

   In the 1960s, Girardot established a career in both French and Italian cinema. She starred in Franco Rossi's Smog (1962), Denys de La Patellière's Le Bateau d'Emile (1962), Marco Ferreri's La Donna scimmia (1963), Robert Thomas's La Bonne soupe (1963), François Villiers's L 'Autre femme (1963), Roger Vadim's Le Vice et la vertu (1963), Ugo Gregoretti's Le Belle famiglie (1964), and Philippe Clair's Déclic et des claques (1965). She also appeared with a multinational cast in La Guerre secrete, directed by Christian-Jacque and others, in 1965. She won a Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her performance in Marcel Carné's Trois chambres à Manhattan (1965). Later in the 1960s, she acted with Yves Montand in Claude Lelouch's Vivre pour vivre (1967) and starred with Jean-Paul Belmondo in Lelouch's Un Homme qui me plaît (1969). In the 1970s, Girardot was one of France's most beloved and versatile actresses. She starred in André Cayatte's Mourir d'aimer (1970), Michel Audiard's Elle boit pas, elle fume pas, elle drague pas, mais . . . elle cause! (1970), and Elle cause plus, elle flingue (1972), Guy Casaril's Les Novices (1970), Edouard Molinaro's La Mandarine (1972), Jean-Pierre Blanc's La vieille fille (1972), Alain Jessua's Traitement de choc (1973), Cayatte's Il n'y a pas de fumée sans feu (1973), Rémo Forlani's Juliette et Juliette (1974), and Claude Pinoteau' La Gifle (1974). Girardot won a César for Best Actress in Jean-Louis Bertucelli's 1975 film, Docteur Françoise Gailland. She landed further leading roles in Cayatte's A chacun son enfer (1977) and L 'Amour en question (1978), Philippe de Broca's Tendre poulet (1977), Claude Zidi's La Zizanie (1978), Nicole de Buron's Vas-y maman (1978), Yves Boisset's La Clé sur la porte (1978), Molinaro's Cause toujours . . . tu m'intéresses (1979), and Walter Bal's Bobo Jacco (1979).

   In the early 1980s, Girardot added to her repetoire with leading roles in films such as de Broca's On a volé la cuisse de Jupiter (1980), Franck Apprenderis's Le Coeur à l'envers (1980), José Giovanni's Une robe noire pour un tueur (1981), Moshé Mizrahi's La Vie continue (1981), Pierre Lary's La Revanche (1981), Alain Bonnot's Liste noire (1984), and Lelouch's Partir, Revenir (1984). She also appeared in Jean-Claude Tramont's All Night Long (1981) with Gene Hackman and Barbara Streisand. Later in the 1980s she was less active in cinema, but appeared on television. She also starred in Bob Decout's Adieu blaireau (1985), Charlotte Silvera's Prisonnières (1988), and Michel Legrand's Cinq jours en juin (1989).

   Later in her career, Girardot was awarded two Césars for Best Supporting Actress in Lelouch's Les Misérables (1995) and Michael Haneke's La Pianiste (2000). She also appeared in Lelouch's Il y a des jours . . . et des lunes (1990), Bertrand Blier's Merci la vie (1991), Gérard Mordillat's Toujours seuls (1991), Italian director Aldo Lado's Alibi perfetto (1992), Jean-Paul Salomé's Les Braqueuses (1994), Leduc's L'Age de braise (1998), Grégoire Delacourt's Préférence (1998), Haneke's Caché (2003), and Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache's Je préfère qu'on reste amis (2005).