Bernadette Lafont (28 October 1938 – 25 July 2013) was a French actress who appeared in more than 120 feature films. She has been considered "the face of
French New Wave".
In 1999 she told ''The New York Times'' her work was "the motor of my existence".
Career
Bernadette Lafont had her debut in ''
Les Mistons
''Les Mistons'' (''The Mischief Makers'') is a short film directed by François Truffaut in 1957. It was his second film after '' Une Visite'' in 1955 but it is considered his "first short film of any real consequence". Truffaut simply called it ...
'' ("The Mischief Makers") in
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
and became part of the
Nouvelle Vague
French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...
in the 1960s because of her films with
François Truffaut and
Claude Chabrol.
In 1986 Lafont was awarded a
César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol
* ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt
* César Award, a French film award
Places
* Cesar, Portugal
* Ce ...
for ''
An Impudent Girl
''An Impudent Girl'' (french: L'Effrontée) is a 1985 French film directed by Claude Miller. It stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, who won the César Award for Most Promising Actress, and Bernadette Lafont, who won the César Award for Best Actress in a S ...
(L'Effrontée)''.
In the following year, she was again nominated, this time for ''
Masques
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...
''. For her long service to the French motion picture industry, she was awarded an
Honorary César
The César Award is France's national film award. Recipients are selected by the members of the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. The following are the recipients of the Honorary César award since 1976.
Recipients
1970s
1980s
199 ...
in 2003 .
In May 2007, she chaired the jury for the fifth edition of the Award for Education presented at the 60th
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
.
She was made an Officer of the
Legion of Honor on 14 July 2009.
Her complete filmography includes TV shows,
and she also worked successfully as a stage actress.
Her last film
''Paulette'', released in 2013, was a success in and outside France.
Personal life
Lafont had three children with her husband
Diourka Medveczky: David,
Elisabeth and
Pauline (1963–1988).
In 1971, Lafont signed the
Manifesto of the 343
The Manifesto of the 343 (), was a French petition signed by 343 women "who had the courage to say, 'I've had an abortion. It was an act of civil disobedience, since abortion was illegal in France, and by admitting publicly to having aborted, they ...
, which publicly announced she had an illegal abortion.
Death
Lafont died from complications of
heart failure following
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
on 25 July 2013 at Nimes, France the age of 74. Her body was cremated and her ashes were given to her family
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafont, Bernadette
1938 births
2013 deaths
Best Supporting Actress César Award winners
César Honorary Award recipients
French film actresses
Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
People from Nîmes
20th-century French actresses
21st-century French actresses
Signatories of the 1971 Manifesto of the 343