Coline Serreau (born 29 October 1947) is a French actress, film director and writer.

Early life and education

She was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the daughter of

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Jean-Marie Serreau Jean-Marie Serreau (28 April 1915 – 22 May 1973) was a 20th-century French actor, theatre director and a former student of Charles Dullin. Serreau directed the in Paris during the 1950s-1960s and established the at in Vincennes in 1970. He c ...

and actress Geneviève Serreau. In Paris, Serreau studied literature, music and theatre as well as the circus.

Career

In 1970, she made her debut as an actress at the

Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier The Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier is a theatre located at 21, rue du Vieux-Colombier, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1913 by the theatre producer and playwright Jacques Copeau. Today it is one of the three theatres in Paris u ...

. Serreau wrote her first screenplay in 1973. Her first film, the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

''Mais qu'est-ce qu'elles veulent?'' (1978), literally: ''But What Is It That They Want?'', was a compilation of interviews with women from various backgrounds. The frankness of the statements shocked parts of the public. Her biggest commercial success was the

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

Three Men and a Cradle ''Three Men and a Cradle'' (french: Trois hommes et un couffin) is a 1985 French comedy film by Coline Serreau. The film was remade in Hollywood as ''Three Men and a Baby'' in 1987 which was subsequently remade into seven movies in six languages ...

'' (''Trois hommes et un couffin''; 1985), for which she received three

César Award 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 * C ...

s in 1986. It was also nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. In 1986, her first drama for the stage ''Lapin Lapin'' (''Rabbit Rabbit''), directed by

Benno Besson Benno Besson (born René-Benjamin Besson; 4 November 1922 in Yverdon-les-Bains – 16 February 2006 in Berlin, Germany) was a Swiss actor and director. He had great success as director at Volksbühne Berlin, Deutsches Theater and Berliner Ense ...

, had its world premiere. She collaborated with Besson for several years and he also staged ''Le théâtre de verdure'' (1987) and ''Quisaitout et Grobêta'' (1993).

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serreau, Coline 1947 births Living people 20th-century French actresses 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French actresses 21st-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French women writers Actresses from Paris César Award winners French documentary filmmakers French film actresses French stage actresses French women dramatists and playwrights French women screenwriters French screenwriters Writers from Paris Recipients of the Legion of Honour French women film directors Women documentary filmmakers