Anne Wiazemsky (14 May 1947 – 5 October 2017) was a French actress and novelist. She made her cinema debut at the age of 18, playing Marie, the lead character in

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, ellipses, and sparse use of scoring have le ...

's '' Au Hasard Balthazar'' (1966), and went on to appear in several of

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

's films, among them '' La Chinoise'' (1967), '' Week End'' (1967), and '' One Plus One'' (1968). Through her mother, she was the granddaughter of novelist and dramatist

François Mauriac François Charles Mauriac (, oc, Francés Carles Mauriac; 11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, a member of the'' Académie française'' (from 1933), and laureate of the Nobel Prize ...

Early life

Wiazemsky was born on 14 May 1947 in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, Germany. Her father Yvan Wiazemsky, a French diplomat, was a Russian prince who had emigrated to France following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

. Her mother Claire Mauriac was the daughter of

, a winner of the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 ...

. Wiazemsky spent her early years abroad following her father's postings around the world, including

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

and

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

before returning to Paris in 1962. She graduated from the high school Ecole Sainte Marie de Passy in Paris.

Career

Acting

Wiazemsky made her on screen acting debut at the age of 18, playing Marie, the lead character in

's '' Au Hasard Balthazar'' (1966) after being introduced to the director by actress

Florence Delay Florence Delay (born 19 March 1941 in Paris) is a French academician and actress. Biography The daughter of Marie-Madeleine Carrez and Jean Delay, Delay studied at the Lycée Jean de La Fontaine and then the Sorbonne. In 1962, she played the tit ...

. The film premièred at the 1966

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

where it won the OCIC ( International Catholic Organization for Cinema) Award, the San Giorgio Prize, and the New Cinema Award. It has since been listed by critics as one of the greatest films of all time. Filmmaker and ''

Cahiers du Cinéma ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab, ...

'' critic

wrote a glowing review for the film, writing that "everyone who sees this film will be absolutely astonished ..because this film is really the world in an hour and a half." Wiazemsky subsequently developed a relationship with Godard, and married him one year later, in 1967. She starred in several of his films, including '' La Chinoise'' (1967), '' Week End'' (1967), and '' One Plus One'' (1968). In the 1980s, she began to turn to work behind the camera. In 1994, she co-wrote the script ''Go Home'', which starred

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble E ...

in 1960s France. She began to direct television documentaries.

Writing

In addition to acting, Wiazemsky wrote several novels, including ''Canines'' (1993), ''Une Poignée de Gens'' (1998), and ''Aux Quatre Coins du Monde'' (2001). ''Hymnes à l'Amour'' was filmed in 2003 as ''Toutes ces belles promesses'' ('' All the Fine Promises''), directed by Jean-Paul Civeyrac and starring Valérie Crunchant and

Bulle Ogier Bulle Ogier (born Marie-France Thielland; 9 August 1939) is a French actress and screenwriter. She adopted the professional surname Ogier, which was her mother's maiden name. Her first appearance on screen was in ''Voilà l'Ordre'', a short film ...

. Her novel ''Jeune Fille'' (2007) was based on her experience of starring in '' Au Hasard Balthazar''. In 2015, she wrote the novel ''Un An Après'' (“One Year After”), which chronicled her time shooting Godard's film ''La Chinoise'' to when their relationship soured''.'' It was developed into a feature film, '' Le Redoubtable'', by '' The Artist'' director Michel Hazanavicius and Wiazemsky was played by Stacy Martin.

Personal life

During the 1966 filming of '' Au Hasard Balthazar'', director

proposed to her several times, though she refused. In 1967, she married

, and subsequently starred in several of his films; the marriage officially ended in divorce in 1979, though the couple had separated as early as 1970. In 1971, Wiazemsky signed the Manifesto of the 343, which publicly declared she had an

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

as a way to advocate for

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to human reproduction, reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproduct ...

, even though the procedure was illegal in France at the time.

Death

Wiazemsky died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

on 5 October 2017, aged 70.

Filmography

Actress (partial listing)

Bibliography

;Novels * 1989: ''Mon beau navire'', Gallimard, Paris * 1991: ''Marimé'', Gallimard, Paris * 1993: ''Canines'', Gallimard, Paris * 1998: ''Une poignée de gens'' (1998

Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française Le Grand Prix du Roman is a French literary award, created in 1914, and given each year by the Académie française. Along with the Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French litera ...

), Gallimard, Paris, * 2001: ''Aux quatre coins du monde'', Gallimard, Paris * 2002: ''Sept garçons'', Gallimard, Paris * 2004: ''Je m'appelle Elizabeth'' (''

Je m'appelle Élisabeth ''Call Me Elisabeth'' (French title: ''Je m'appelle Elisabeth'') is a 2006 French drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Améris, and based on a novel written by Anne Wiazemsky. Plot Betty, ten years old, is afraid of ghosts and dark corners. When he ...

''), Gallimard, Paris * 2007: ''Jeune Fille'', Gallimard, Paris, * 2009: ''Mon enfant de Berlin'', Gallimard, Paris * 2012: ''Une année studieuse'', Gallimard, Paris * 2015: ''Un an après'', Gallimard, Paris, ;Short stories * 1988: ''Des filles bien élevées'', Gallimard, Paris ;Juvenile * 2003: ''Les Visiteurs du soir'' (illustrations by Stanislas Bouvier) ;Memoirs * 1996: ''Hymnes à l'amour'' (1996 Prix Maurice Genevoix), Gallimard, Paris * 2017: ''Un saint homme'', Gallimard, Paris, ;Biography * 1992: ''Album de famille'' * 2000: ''Il était une fois... les cafés'' (photographs by Roger-Viollet) * 2000: ''Tableaux de chats'' * 2001: ''Venise'' (photographs by Jean Noël de Soye) ;Preface * 1994: ''En habillant''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiazemsky, Anne 1947 births 2017 deaths Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery French film actresses French women novelists French film directors French women screenwriters French screenwriters French people of Russian descent Prix Maurice Genevoix winners Prix Jean Freustié winners Prix Goncourt des lycéens winners Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners Actresses from Berlin Writers from Berlin 20th-century French actresses 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists Film directors from Berlin 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French women writers Deaths from cancer in France Prix Renaudot des lycéens winners Signatories of the 1971 Manifesto of the 343