María Casares (21 November 1922 – 22 November 1996) was a Spanish-born French actress and one of the most distinguished stars of the French stage and cinema. She was credited in France as Maria Casarès.

Early life

Casares was born María Victoria Casares y Pérez in

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

, Galicia, the daughter of

Santiago Casares Quiroga Santiago Casares y Quiroga (8 May 1884, in A Coruña, Galicia – 17 February 1950, in Paris) was Prime Minister of Spain from 13 May to 19 July 1936. Biography Leader and founder of the Autonomous Galician Republican Organization (ORGA), a Gal ...

, a minister in

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...

's government and

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government ( es, link=no, Presidente del Gobierno), is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of Spain, Constitution of 1978 a ...

, and of Gloria Pérez. She was a volunteer in Madrid hospitals already at age fourteen. Her father was a member of the Republican government so at the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

(1936), the family was forced to flee Spain. Her father went to London, but she and her mother sought refuge in Paris. There, María attended the Victor Duruy school, where she learned French and was befriended by a teacher and his Spanish wife, who inspired her to go into the theatre. After graduation, she took voice classes with

René Simon René Simon (1898 in Troyes – 1971) was a French actor and founder in 1925 of the Cours Simon drama school in Paris. Notable alumni of Cours Simon include Benoît Petitjean and Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French acto ...

. She enrolled in the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, where she won First Prize for tragedy and Second Prize for comedy.

Career

In July 1942, she auditioned for

Marcel Herrand Marcel Herrand (8 October 1897 – 11 June 1953) was a French stage and film actor best remembered for his roles in swashbuckling or historical films. He appeared in over 25 films between 1932 and 1952, but Herrand's best remembered role i ...

who engaged her for his Théâtre des Mathurins. There, over the course of the next three years, she appeared in several plays including, ''

Deirdre of the Sorrows ''Deirdre of the Sorrows'' is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge in 1909. The play, based on Irish mythology, in particular the myths concerning Deirdre, Naoise, and Conchobar, was unfinished at the author's death o ...

'' by J. M. Synge, ''

The Master Builder ''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works. Performance The play was published ...

'' by Ibsen, ''

Le Malentendu ''The Misunderstanding'' (French: ''Le Malentendu''), sometimes published as ''Cross Purpose'', is a play written in 1943 in occupied France by Albert Camus. It focuses on Camus’ idea of The Absurd. A man who has been living overseas for man ...

'' (''The Misunderstanding'') by

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

(with whom she would later have a passionate affair), and an especially important premiere, ''Fédérico'', after

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

, with

Gérard Philipe Gérard Philipe (born Gérard Albert Philip, 4 December 1922 – 25 November 1959) was a prominent French actor who appeared in 32 films between 1944 and 1959. Active in both theatre and cinema, he was, until his early death, one of the main ...

Film

She began to appear in films. Her first film role was in Marcel Carné's '' Les Enfants du paradis'' (1945), one of the great classics of French cinema. She also made '' Les dames du Bois de Boulogne'' (1945) for

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 l ...

, ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' (''

The Charterhouse of Parma ''The Charterhouse of Parma'' (french: La Chartreuse de Parme, links=no) is a novel by Stendhal published in 1839. Telling the story of an Italian nobleman in the Napoleonic era and later, it was admired by Balzac, Tolstoy, André Gide, di Lam ...

'') (1948) for Christian-Jaque, co-starring Gérard Philipe. For

Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

, she played Death in his '' Orphée'' (1950) with Jean Marais and

François Périer François Périer (born François Pillu; 10 November 1919 – 29 June 2002), was a French actor renowned for his expressiveness and diversity of roles. He made over 110 film and TV appearances between 1938 and 1996, with notable excursion into ...

and in his '' Testament d'Orphée'' (''Testament of Orpheus'') (1960). In 1989, she was nominated for the

César Award for Best Supporting Actress The César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (French: ''César de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle'') is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the ''Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma'' to recognize the outsta ...

in '' La Lectrice''.

Stage success

From 1952 onward, although she continued to appear in occasional films, she devoted herself mainly to the stage. She joined the

Festival d'Avignon The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival, is an annual arts festival held in the French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by Jean Vila ...

, the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

and the Théâtre National Populaire under the leadership of

Jean Vilar Jean Vilar (25 March 1912– 28 May 1971) was a French actor and theatre director. Vilar trained under actor and theatre director Charles Dullin, then toured with an acting company throughout France. His directorial career began in 1943 in a sma ...

. Before her, no one actor or actress of foreign origin had ever played at Comédie-Française. She toured extensively throughout the world, appearing in the great classics of French theatre, including, in 1958,

Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...

's ''

Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro ...

'',

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's ''Marie Tudor'' and

Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist. He is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, writing num ...

' ''Le Triomphe de l'Amour'' (''The Triumph of Love'') on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Personal life and death

Casares took French nationality in 1975 and three years later married André Schlesser, an actor known professionally as ''Dade'', who had been her longtime companion and theatrical co-star. She published her autobiography, ''Résidente privilégiée'' (''Privileged Resident'') in 1980, in which she described her 16-year affair with

. The couple never married, but their extensive correspondence, first published in France in late 2017, lasted from 1944, with a five year break to 1949, when they again had a chance meeting when their passion was rekindled until the end of Camus' life. She starred in a number of Albert Camus's plays and often threatened to end their stormy affair over his refusal to leave Francine Faure. The actress died of colon cancer at her country house, Château de La Vergne, in the village of Alloue in

Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; oc, Peitau-Charantas; Poitevin-Saintongese: ) is a former administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It is part of the new region Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprises four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, D ...

, on the day after her 74th birthday. She bequeathed the property to the village. Today, the Domaine de la Vergne is a residence for artists and a setting for performances.

Filmography

Films

*'' Les Enfants du paradis'' (1945) Nathalie *'' Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne'' (1945) Hélène *'' Roger la Honte'' (1946) Julia de Noirville *''

The Revenge of Roger ''The Revenge of Roger'' (French: ''La revanche de Roger la Honte'') is a 1946 French historical crime film directed by André Cayatte and starring Lucien Coëdel, María Casares and Paul Bernard. The film is based on a novel by Jules Mary.G ...

'' (1946) Julia de Terrenoire * '' Love Around the House'' (1947) Thérèse * ''

The Seventh Door ''The Seventh Door'' or ''The Seventh Gate'' (French: ''La septième porte'') is a 1947 French drama film directed by André Zwoboda and starring Georges Marchal, María Casares and Aimé Clariond.Spaas p.148 The film's sets were designed by t ...

'' (1947) *''Bagarres'' (1948) Carmelle *''

'' (1948) La duchesse Gina de San Severina * '' The Man Who Returns from Afar'' (1950) *''

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

'' (1950) (voice) *'' Orphée'' (1950) The Princess *''

Shadow and Light ''Shadow and Light'' (French: ''Ombre et lumière'') is a 1951 French psychological drama film directed by Henri Calef and starring Simone Signoret, María Casares and Jean Marchat.Hayward p.244 The film's sets were designed by Daniel Guéret and ...

'' (1951) Caroline Bessier *''Le Jardins du Seigneur'' (1954) (voice) *''

Testament of Orpheus ''Testament of Orpheus'' (french: Le testament d'Orphée) is a 1960 black-and-white film with a few seconds of color film spliced in. Directed by and starring Jean Cocteau, who plays himself as an 18th-century poet, the film includes cameo appearan ...

'' (1960) The Princess *''Hieronymus Bosch'' (1963) (voice) *''Flavia, la monaca musulmana'' (1974) Sister Agatha *''Blanche et Marie'' (1985) Louise *'' Blood and Sand'' (1987) Dolores *'' The Reader'' (1988) General's Widow *''Monte bajo'' (1989) *''Les Chevaliers de la table ronde'' (1990) Viviane *''Someone Else's America'' (1995) Alonso's Mother

TV

*''Énigmes de l'histoire'' (1956) *''Macbeth'' (1959) Lady Macbeth *''Yerma'' (1963) Yerma *''La Reine verte'' (1964) *''L'Île des chèvres'' (1975) Agata *''Britannicus'' (1977) Agrippine *''Irène et sa folie'' (1980) Le docteur Burns *''Peer Gynt'' (1981) Ase *''Les Bonnes'' (1985) Madame *''Les Nuits révolutionnaires'' (1989) La Murène

References

Sources

* ''Résidente privilégiée'', Fayard, 1980, * ''El periodismo es un cuento'' by Manuel Rivas (chapter: "La mujer rebelde"), Alfaguara, 1997, * ''Maria Casarès: L'étrangère'' by Javier Figuero & Marie-Hélène Carbonel, Fayard, 2005, * ''La extranjera'' by Javier Figuero, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, February 2017, * ''Tu me vertiges. L'amour interdit de Maria Casarès et Albert Camus'' by Florence M.-Forsythe, Le Passeur Éditeur, March 2017, * ''Albert Camus, Maria Casarès. Correspondance inédite (1944–1959)''. Avant-propos de Catherine Camus. Gallimard, November 2017,

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Casares, Maria 1922 births 1996 deaths Conservatoire de Paris alumni Deaths from cancer in France Deaths from colorectal cancer Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France French film actresses French National Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni French people of Galician descent French stage actresses Naturalized citizens of France People from A Coruña Troupe of the Comédie-Française 20th-century French actresses