Françoise Pascal
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Françoise Pascal (born 14 October 1949) is a British actress, singer, dancer, fashion model, and producer born in
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
to French parents. She appeared in numerous film and television productions in her peak throughout the late 1960s to early 1980s. Film roles include two films with
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
, '' There’s A Girl In My Soup'' (1970) and ''
Soft Beds, Hard Battles ''Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting, starring Peter Sellers (in several roles), Curt Jurgens, Lila Kedrova and Jenny Hanley. Sellers reunited with the Boulting brothers for this farce, in which the ...
'' (1973). Her career further advanced with appearances in ''Burke & Hare'' (1972), '' La Rose De Fer'' (1973), and ''
Keep It Up Downstairs ''Keep It Up Downstairs'' is a 1976 British period sex comedy film, directed by Robert Young and starring Diana Dors, Jack Wild and William Rushton. Alternative titles for the film include ''Can You Keep It Up Downstairs?'' and ''My Favorite ...
'' (1976). Her greatest success was on the hit British sitcom ''
Mind Your Language ''Mind Your Language'' is a British sitcom that premiered on ITV in 1977. It was produced by London Weekend Television and directed by Stuart Allen. Three series were made by the London Weekend Television between 1977 and 1979 and briefly reviv ...
'' as Danielle Favre. She also became established as a
sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive.Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British Stars and Stardom: From Alma Taylor to ...
as
Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...
Pet of the Month This is a list of the models who have appeared in the American edition of '' Penthouse'' magazine and were either named Pet of the Month or Pet of the Year from September 1969 to the present. Pet of the Year names are in bold type and are typic ...
for August 1970, and appearing on the first cover of
Club International ''Club International'' is a British softcore pornographic magazine published by Paul Raymond Publications that features pictures of nude women. It is a sister magazine of American magazine ''Club''. History and profile ''Club International'' was ...
in 1972.


Early life

Pascal was born in Mauritius, then a colony of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, to Marcel and Claire Pascal. She grew up with her parents and four siblings in Mauritius, until age 6 when her family moved to London. She also lived in Paris for some time where she attended
La Sorbonne , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...
. Her father died when she was 14.


Career


Acting

Represented by Hazel Malone Management, her earliest films were
Norman J. Warren Norman John Warren (25 June 1942 – 11 March 2021) was an English film director best known for such 1970s horror films as '' Satan's Slave'' (1976), ''Prey'' (1977) and '' Terror'' (1978). Warren is also known for sex comedies such as '' Oute ...
's ''
Loving Feeling ''Loving Feeling'' is a 1968 British sex comedy-drama film directed by Norman J. Warren and starring Simon Brent, Georgina Ward and Paula Patterson. Premise Steve, a womanising DJ, wants to get back with his wife Suzanne, from whom he is separ ...
'' and Pete Walker's ''
School for Sex ''School for Sex'' is a 1969 British sex comedy film directed, produced and written by Pete Walker. Cast * Derek Aylward as Giles Wingate * Rose Alba as Duchess of Burwash * Bob Andrews as Sgt. Braithwaite * Vic Wise as Horace Clapp * Hugh L ...
'' (both 1969), and she also appeared briefly in a scene in the troubled cult horror film ''
Incense for the Damned ''Incense for the Damned'' (aka ''Bloodsuckers'', ''Freedom Seeker'' and ''Doctors Wear Scarlet'') is a 1971 British horror film.Senn, Bryan (2019). Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills! Horror and Science Fiction Double Features 1955-1974. Jeff ...
'' (1970). However her breakthrough role was playing Paola in ''
There's a Girl in My Soup '' There's a Girl in My Soup'' is a 1970 British romantic comedy film based on the stage play of the same name, directed by Roy Boulting and starring Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn. The film was Sellers' last commercial success until '' Return ...
'' (1970) with
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
. She went on to do the black comedy '' Burke & Hare'' (1972), playing Marie, and another Sellers film, ''
Soft Beds, Hard Battles ''Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting, starring Peter Sellers (in several roles), Curt Jurgens, Lila Kedrova and Jenny Hanley. Sellers reunited with the Boulting brothers for this farce, in which the ...
'' (1974). After that appearance, she moved to France where she starred in such films as ''Et si tu n'en Veux Pas'' (1974) and '' Les Raisins de la Mort'' (1978), directed by
Jean Rollin Jean Michel Rollin Roth Le Gentil (3 November 193815 December 2010) was a French film director, actor, and novelist best known for his work in the fantastique genre. Overview Rollins' career, spanning over fifty years, featured early short film ...
. The producer of Rollin's '' La Rose de Fer'', then gave her the lead in the film but it was not a success. Later she returned to England to appear in ''
Keep It Up Downstairs ''Keep It Up Downstairs'' is a 1976 British period sex comedy film, directed by Robert Young and starring Diana Dors, Jack Wild and William Rushton. Alternative titles for the film include ''Can You Keep It Up Downstairs?'' and ''My Favorite ...
'' (1976) alongside
Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was pr ...
,
Jack Wild Jack Wild (30 September 1952 – 1 March 2006) was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as the Artful Dodger in the film ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at t ...
and
Mary Millington Mary Ruth Maxted (née Quilter; 30 November 1945 – 19 August 1979), known professionally as Mary Millington from 1974 onwards, was an English model and pornographic actress. Her appearance in the short softcore film ''Sex is My Business'' ...
. Her first television work came in October 1971 with a role in ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...
'', playing Ray Langton's friend. Then came guest starring roles in an episode of ''
Play of the Month ''Play of the Month'' is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different wor ...
'' for the BBC in "Don Quixote" (1973) with
Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play ''French Without Tears'', in what ...
and for ITV's ''Sunday Night Theatre'' "Giants & Ogres" (1971). She was cast in numerous guest starring appearances in many television comedy series such as '' Happy Ever After'' (1976) with
Terry Scott Owen John "Terry" Scott (4 May 1927 – 26 July 1994) was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven of the ''Carry On films''. He is also best known for appearing in the BBC1 sitcom ''Terry and June'' with June Whitfield. Early lif ...
and
June Whitfield Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television, and film actress. Her big break was a lead in the radio comedy ''Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1953. ...
, as well as ''My Honourable Mrs'' (1975) with
Derek Nimmo Derek Robert Nimmo (19 September 193024 February 1999) was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom ''All G ...
for the BBC. She co-starred in an episode of the thriller ''You're on Your Own'' starring
Denis Quilley Denis Clifford Quilley, OBE (26 December 1927 – 5 October 2003) was an English actor and singer. From a family with no theatrical connections, Quilley was determined from an early age to become an actor. He was taken on by the Birmingham Re ...
, for the BBC. She played seductive French au-pair Danielle Favre in the first three series of the ITV sitcom ''
Mind Your Language ''Mind Your Language'' is a British sitcom that premiered on ITV in 1977. It was produced by London Weekend Television and directed by Stuart Allen. Three series were made by the London Weekend Television between 1977 and 1979 and briefly reviv ...
'' (1977–79); she then took on her stage roles in ''Happy Birthday'' (reuniting with Frazer Hines), and starring in a pantomime of ''
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...
''. Pascal left for the United States in 1980, where she acted in Hollywood with a two-year contract in ''
The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...
'', ''Gavillan'', ''My Man Adam'', ''Lightning'', ''The White Stallion''. She returned to England in 1987. In 2015, Pascal joined the cast for a new comedy series called ''For the Love of Ella''. The series also stars
Ewen Macintosh Ewen Douglas MacIntosh (born 25 December 1973) is a British actor and comedian known for his role as Keith Bishop in ''The Office'' (2001–2003). Early life MacIntosh was born in Merionethshire. He was educated at Repton School in Derbyshire, ...
, Lucy Drive,
Bobby Ball Robert Harper (28 January 1944 – 28 October 2020), known professionally as Bobby Ball, was a British comic, actor, singer and television host. He was best known as a member of the comic double act Cannon and Ball, with Tommy Cannon (Thomas ...
, Alex Reid,
Daniel Peacock Daniel Peacock (born 2 October 1958) is an English actor, director, writer and carer. He has worked with the team of ''The Comic Strip, The Comic Strip Presents...'' and played "Mental Mickey" in ''Only Fools and Horses''. Early and personal ...
,
Melanie Sykes Melanie Ann Sykes (born 7 August 1970) is an English television and radio presenter. She is best known for co-hosting '' Today with Des and Mel'' with Des O'Connor and '' Let's Do Lunch'' with Gino D'Acampo. She also co-hosted '' Going Out with ...
,
Darren Day Darren Day is an English actor, singer and television presenter, well known for his West End theatre starring roles. Early life Day's paternal grandfather was a support act to George Formby in the days of music hall. Day undertook drama classe ...
and
Billy Pearce Billy Pearce (born 1 February 1951) is an English performer, comedian, actor and entertainer. A regular on UK television in the 1980s and 1990s, Pearce has been described as a "supreme entertainer". He particularly loves performing at the Alhambr ...
. Since work had been scarce as an actress for some years, Pascal has turned her talent to producing her first film ''
Cold Sun Jason Figgis is an Irish film director. Early life, family and education Jason was born in Ranelagh, Dublin and attended St. Mary’s College in Rathmines. He attended Ballyfermot Senior College in Dublin to study art and was soon working for ...
'' starring
Patrick Bergin Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer perhaps best known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in ''Sleeping with the Enemy'' (1991), the title character in Robin Hood (1991 film), terrorist Kevin O ...
and
Ian Ogilvy Ian Raymond Ogilvy (born 30 September 1943) is an English actor, playwright, and novelist. Early life Ogilvy was born in Woking, Surrey, England, to Francis Fairfield Ogilvy, brother of advertising executive David Ogilvy, and actress Aileen ...
. The film is produced by Pascal's own company MFC Productions Ltd and Pascal Productions Ltd. She is also to make an appearance in the film.


Music

Pascal made her music debut in August 1968 with the UK release of her promo double single ''When It Comes to Love / Got It Badly''. Released on SNB Records UK, the
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
-driven songs received good reviews from critics, but failed to make a commercial impact. With her acting career taking off, Pascal pursued acting full time and didn’t return to the music scene for over a decade. In 1979, Pascal returned to the music industry with record executives hoping to cash in on her burgeoning success from ''Mind Your Language''. Signed to RCA Victor UK, she released her biggest music hit to date, ''Woman Is Free,'' as a promo single along with ''Symphony Just For Me''. Released only in the United Kingdom, ''Woman Is Free'' achieved modest success and was a bop hit in disco clubs. The popularity of the song continued when it was covered by Grace Kennedy for her debut album ''Desires'' the following year. The moderate success of ''Woman Is Free'' propelled RCA UK to release Pascal’s next single ''I Can’t Get Enough'' in 1981. The synth pop/soul inspired song, along with the singles second track ''Make Love To Me'', failed to find success on the music charts. Subsequently Pascal was dropped from the label without releasing a full length studio album. Since 1981, Pascal has remained mostly inactive in the music industry. As of 2020, her catalogue of music is out of print, and physical copies of the vinyl singles are hard to find. Although her music has yet to be remastered and released on music streaming platforms, Pascal does feature her entire collection of songs on her official website.


Filmography


Film


Television


Discography


Personal life

Pascal had a child, Nicholas Johnson, with actor Richard Keith Johnson. On 4 December 2010, she joined Rolling Stones guitarist
Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a nu ...
at Claygate Village to turn on the village Christmas lights and singing a solo of
Silent Night "Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...
. In December 2012, Pascal took part in the
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
programme ''Storage Hoarders'', in which she sorted and sold at auction some of her more valuable possessions which she had kept in storage for months. One of Pascal’s closest friends was British actress,
Lynne Frederick Lynne Frederick (25 July 1954 – 27 April 1994) was an English actress, film producer, and fashion model. In a career spanning ten years, she made over thirty appearances in film and television productions. Known for her classic English rose b ...
. She first became acquainted with Frederick in 1972, when they co-starred on an episode of the television anthology series, ''
BBC Play of the Month ''Play of the Month'' is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different wor ...
''. The two actresses quickly became “firm friends” and frequently saw each other during the height of their careers in the 1970s. Pascal recalled that they regretfully lost contact in 1977 after Frederick married Peter Sellers. Frederick later died in 1994. In April 2020, a few weeks before the 26th anniversary of Frederick’s death, Pascal tweeted a photo of herself and Frederick, with the caption “I think of her very often! Always had that fresh baby face! RIP Lynne! Xxx”.


References


Further reading


I Am'' Autobiography Information, Published by Pegasus Elliot McKenzie 2012
* Simon Sheridan Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema (2011) (fourth edition) (Titan Publishing, London)


External links

* *


''For the Love of Ella''
at
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pascal, Francoise 1949 births British film actresses British television actresses People from Plaines Wilhems District Mauritian people of French descent Mauritian emigrants to the United Kingdom Living people Penthouse Pets 20th-century British actresses 21st-century British actresses