Sylvette Herry (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Miou-Miou (), is a French actress. A ten-time

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 ...

nominee, she won the

César Award for Best Actress The César Award for Best Actress (french: César de la meilleure actrice, link=no) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the ''Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma'' to recognize the outstanding performance in a leading role ...

for the 1979 film ''

Memoirs of a French Whore ''Memoirs of a French Whore'' (French: ''La Dérobade'') is a French film released in 1979. It was directed by Daniel Duval. It stars Miou-Miou, Maria Schneider and Niels Arestrup. Plot Marie is 19 and is bored in her little suburban life with ...

''. Her other films include ''

This Sweet Sickness ''This Sweet Sickness'' (1960) is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith, about a man who is obsessed with a woman who has rejected his advances. It is a "painful novel about obsessive imaginary love". Composition Highsmith dedicate ...

'' (1977), '' Entre Nous'' (1983), ''

May Fools May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, Ma ...

'' (1990), '' Germinal'' (1993), ''

Dry Cleaning Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Dry cleaning still involves liquid, but clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent. Tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene), known in ...

'' (1997) and ''

Arrêtez-moi ''Arrêtez-moi'' (Stop Me) is a 2013 French thriller film directed by Jean-Paul Lilienfeld and starring Sophie Marceau, Miou-Miou, and Marc Barbé. Written by Jean-Paul Lilienfeld and Jean Teulé, the film is about a woman who shows up at a police ...

'' (2013). In her career she has worked with a number of international directors, including

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...

Bertrand Blier Bertrand Blier (; born 14 March 1939) is a French film director and writer. His 1978 film ''Get Out Your Handkerchiefs'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards. He is the son of famous French actor Bernard ...

Claude Berri Claude Berri (; 1 July 1934 – 12 January 2009) was a French film director, writer, producer, actor and distributor. Early life Born Claude Beri Langmann in Paris, Berri was the son of Jewish immigrant parents. His mother, Beila (née Bercu), w ...

Jacques Deray Jacques Deray (born Jacques Desrayaud; 19 February 1929 – 9 August 2003) was a French film director and screenwriter. Deray is prominently known for directing many crime and thriller films. Biography Born Jacques Desrayaud in Lyon, France, in 1 ...

Patrice Leconte Patrice Leconte (; born 12 November 1947) is a French film director, actor, comic strip writer, and screenwriter. Life and career Leconte grew up in Tours, and began making little amateur films at 15. He went to Paris in 1967 and studied at Insti ...

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blackliste ...

and

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both Cinema of France, French cinema and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a fi ...

Early life

Miou-Miou was born Sylvette Herry 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 ...

. Her stage name, Miou-Miou (a reference to the sound of a cat), was given to her by

Coluche Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci (, ; 28 October 1944 – 19 June 1986), better known under his stage name Coluche (), was a French stage comedian and cinema actor. He adopted ''Coluche'' as a stage name at age 26, when he began his entertainment ca ...

. She was raised in Paris by her mother, a greengrocer.

Career

After studying acting Miou-Miou worked in improvisational theater with

and

Patrick Dewaere Patrick Dewaere (26 January 1947 – 16 July 1982) was a French film actor. Born in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, he was the son of French actress Mado Maurin. Actor from a young age, his career lasted more than 21 years, until his suicide in ...

, joining with them to help found the new comedy theatre

Café de la Gare The Café de la Gare is a dinner theater located at 41, rue du Temple in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It lies in a square hidden between Notre Dame de Paris and the historic Marais district.Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob ''The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob'' (french: Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob, ) is a 1973 French-Italian comedy film directed by Gérard Oury, starring Louis de Funès and Claude Giraud. It follows a bigoted businessman and a kidnapped revolutioni ...

''. Her big break came with Blier's '' Going Places'', released in 1974. During the 1970s, she had roles in such films as ''

F comme Fairbanks ''F comme Fairbanks'' is a 1976 French drama film directed by Maurice Dugowson. It was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Patrick Dewaere – André * Miou-Miou – Marie * John Berry – Fragman * Michel Piccoli � ...

'' (1976),

Alain Tanner Alain Tanner (6 December 1929 – 11 September 2022) was a Swiss film director. Early years and education Tanner was born in Geneva, and studied economics at the University of Geneva. In 1951, he joined the film club which Claude Goretta had re ...

's ''

Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 ''Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000'' (french: Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000) is a 1976 Swiss drama film directed by Alain Tanner and written by Tanner and John Berger. The location of the shooting was Geneva. The film follows the lives ...

'' (1976), and Losey's ''Roads to the South'' (1978). In ''

'' (1979), directed by

Daniel Duval Daniel Duval (28 November 1944 – 10 October 2013) was a French film actor, director and writer. Best known as an actor, Duval has credits in over 70 television and film productions. As a filmmaker, Duval was awarded the Silver Prize at the 1 ...

, she portrayed a young prostitute and received a

for the role. Many of these 1970s films were released internationally to

art-house An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

venues. In 1976 she appeared in one of the last

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mere ...

's '' A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot''. Through the 1980s she was in such films as ''La gueule du loup'' (1981), ''Guy de Maupassant'' (1982),

Diane Kurys Diane Kurys (; born 3 December 1948) is a French director, producer, filmmaker and actress. Several of her films as director are semi-autobiographical. Personal life Kurys was born in Lyon, Rhône, France, the younger of two daughters. She is a ...

's '' Entre nous'' (1983) with

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...

, ''Blanche et Marie'' (1984), '' Evening Dress'' (1986), and Deville's ''

The Reader ''The Reader'' (german: Der Vorleser) is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the United States in 1997. The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations ...

'' (1988). She played opposite

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alth ...

(in one of his last roles) in Boisset's '' Dog Day'' in 1984. The 1990s saw her in

's ''

'' (1990), Deray's thriller ''Netchaïev is back'', the comedy ''

Un indien dans la ville ''Un indien dans la ville'' (''An Indian in the city'') is a 1994 French film by Hervé Palud. The film had a limited English language release under the title ''Little Indian, Big City''. Part of the movie was shot in Miami, Florida, United State ...

'' (1994), and '' The Eighth Day'' (1996) and ''

'' in 1997. She appeared opposite

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 alm ...

in a new production of Émile Zola's '' Germinal'' (1993). 2001 saw her in ''Agathe et le grand magasin'' and in 2004 she appeared in ''L'après-midi de monsieur Andesmas'', among other films. By the mid-2000s, her film roles abated and she began to appear in theatre.Miou-Miou in the NY Times

Personal life

Miou-Miou has two daughters, Angèle Herry-Leclerc (born 1974), whose father is actor

, and

Jeanne Herry Jeanne Herry (born 19 April 1978) is a French filmmaker and actress. Personal life She is the daughter of actress Miou-Miou and singer-songwriter Julien Clerc Paul Alain Leclerc (born 4 October 1947), known by his stage name Julien Clerc (), ...

(born 1978), whose father is singer

Julien Clerc Paul Alain Leclerc (born 4 October 1947), known by his stage name Julien Clerc (), is a French singer-songwriter. Life Born in Paris, Clerc grew up listening to classical music in his father Paul Leclerc's home, while his mother Évelyne Merlot ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1950 births Living people Actresses from Paris French people of Breton descent French film actresses Spaghetti Western actresses Best Actress César Award winners Best Actress Lumières Award winners 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses French stage actresses Café de la Gare