Michèle Morgan (; born Simone Renée Roussel; 29 February 1920 – 20 December 2016) was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered one of the greatest French actresses of the 20th century. Morgan was the inaugural winner of the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1992, she was given an honorary César Award for her contributions to French cinema.
Early life
Morgan was born Simone Renée Roussel in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, a suburb of Paris. She grew up in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France. She took acting lessons from René Simon while serving as an extra in several films to pay for her drama classes. Morgan did work for Warners, however, in Passage to Marseille (1944) with Humphrey Bogart. In 1977 she released her memoir, titled With Those Eyes (Avec ces yeux-là).
Despite living to the age of 96, she technically only had 24 birthdays due to being born on 29 February.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Title
! scope="col"| Role
! scope="col"| Director
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1935
|Mademoiselle Mozart
|The trainer of the white elephant
|Yvan Noé
|credited as Simone Morgan
|-
|1937
|Gribouille
|Nathalie Roguin
|Marc Allégret
|remade as The Lady in Question in 1940
|-
|rowspan=3|1938
|Orage
|Nelly
|Marcel Carné
|with Jean Gabin
|-
|Nightclub Hostess
|Suzy
|Albert Valentin
|written by Charles Spaak
|-
|rowspan=2|1939
|Coral Reefs
|Lieutenant Saulnier
|Georges Lacombe
|with Michel Simon
|-
|rowspan=2|1940
|Stormy Waters
|Marie Froment-Léonard
|Julien Duvivier
|with Raimu
|-
|1941
|My Life with Caroline
|"Annette" (uncredited)
|Lewis Milestone
|written by John Van Druten
|-
|rowspan=2|1942
|La Loi du nord
|Jacqueline Bert
|Jacques Feyder
|based on a novel by Maurice Constantin-Weyer
|-
|Joan of Paris
|Joan
|Robert Stevenson
|with Paul Henreid
|-
|rowspan=2|1943
|Two Tickets to London
|Claire Magny
|Jean Delannoy
|with Jean Marais
|-
|rowspan=2|1949
|The Fighting Gladiator
|Fabiola
|Alessandro Blasetti
|with Henri Vidal
|-
|Here Is the Beauty
|Jeanne Morel
|Jean-Paul Le Chanois
|based on a novel by Vicki Baum
|-
|rowspan=3|1950
|The Glass Castle
|Irène Voisin-Larive
|Jean Grémillon
|with Henri Vidal
|-
|The Naked Heart
|Anne-Marie de Pallières
|Claude Autant-Lara
|episode "Pride"
|-
|1952
|The Moment of Truth
| Madeleine Richard
|Jean Delannoy
|with Jean Gabin
|-
|1953
|The Proud and the Beautiful
|Nelly
|Yves Allégret
|with Gérard Philipe
|-
|rowspan=3|1954
|Love, Soldiers and Women
|Hélène Giovanni
|Jean Delannoy
|based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich
|-
|Napoléon
|Marguerite
|Claude Autant-Lara
|with Yves Montand
|-
|Marie Antoinette Queen of France
|Gabrielle d'Estrées
|Sacha Guitry
|portraying the mistress of Henry IV of France
|-
|1956
|Oasis
|Françoise Lignières
|Yves Allégret
|with Pierre Brasseur
|-
|rowspan=2|1957
|The Vintage
|Léonne Morel
|Jeffrey Hayden
|with Mel Ferrer
|-
|There's Always a Price Tag
|Hélène Fréminger
|Denys de La Patellière
|with Daniel Gélin and Peter van Eyck
|-
|rowspan=3|1958
|The Mirror Has Two Faces
|Marie-Josée Tardivet, Pierre's wife
|André Cayatte
|with Bourvil and Ivan Desny
|-
|Maxime
|Jacqueline Monneron
|Henri Verneuil
|with Charles Boyer
|-
|Girls for the Summer
|Micheline
|Gianni Franciolini
|comedy with Alberto Sordi
|-
|rowspan=4|1959
|Menschen im Hotel
|La Grusinskaïa
|Gottfried Reinhardt
|with O. W. Fischer
|-
|Winter Holidays
|Steffa Tardier
|Camillo Mastrocinque
|with Georges Marchal
|-
|The Wretches
|Thelma Rooland
|Robert Hossein
|with Olivier Hussenot
|-
|Why Do You Come So Late?
|Catherine Ferrer
|Henri Decoin
|with Henri Vidal
|-
|1960
|Fortunat
|Juliette Valcourt
|Alex Joffé
|title character played by Bourvil
|-
|rowspan=2|1961
|Three Faces of Sin
|Renée Plège
|François Villiers
|with Jean-Claude Brialy
|-
|The Lions Are Loose
|Cécile
|Henri Verneuil
|with Jean-Claude Brialy
|-
|rowspan=4|1962
|Landru
|Célestine Buisson
|Claude Chabrol
|with Charles Denner
|-
|Meetings
|Bella Krastner
|Philippe Agostini
|with Gabriele Ferzetti
|-
|Crime Does Not Pay
|Jeanne Hugues
|Gérard Oury
|episode "The Hugues Case"
|-
|The Winner
|As herself
|François Reichenbach
|Louis Delluc Prize, Golden Leopard
|-
|rowspan=2|1963
|Be Careful Ladies
|Denise Duparc
|André Hunebelle
|with Paul Meurisse
|-
|Web of Fear
|Constance
|François Villiers
|with Dany Saval
|-
|rowspan=3|1964
|Marked Eyes
|Florence
|Robert Hossein
|starring the film's director
|-
|The Last Steps
|Yolande Simonet
|Jacques Robin
|with Jean-Louis Trintignant
|-
|The Scapegoat
|Princess Sofia
|Duccio Tessari
|based on a novel by Francesco Dall'Ongaro
|-
|1965
|Tell Me Whom to Kill
|Geneviève Montanet
|Étienne Périer
|with Paul Hubschmid
|-
|1966
|Lost Command
|Fanny Dréal
|Jacques Doniol-Valcroze
|TV film
|-
|The Diary of an Innocent Boy
|Colette Dutilleul-Lemarchand
|Édouard Molinaro, Roger Gillioz, Michel Boisrond, Nadine Trintignant
|TV miniseries, 6 episodes
|-
|1990
|Everybody's Fine
|A woman in the train
|Giuseppe Tornatore
|with Marcello Mastroianni
|}
Trivia
The former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet was named after Michèle Morgan.
She almost played Ilsa Lund in Casablanca.
References
Further reading
External links
- Michèle Morgan at filmsdefrance.com
- Photographs of Michèle Morgan