Josette Day (Paris, July 31, 1914 – Paris, June 27, 1978) was a French film actress. Born Josette Noële Andrée Claire Dagory, she began her career as a

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

in 1919 at the age of five. When she was 18, Day was the mistress of

Paul Morand Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was mu ...

and later was in a relationship with famous French writer and director

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie française. Although his work is less fashionabl ...

, whom she met in January 1939 and lasted part of World War II. She did not marry him. In 1946, she played her best-known role, alongside

Jean Marais Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais (11 December 1913 – 8 November 1998), known professionally as Jean Marais (), was a French actor, film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer and photographer. He performed in over 100 f ...

, as Belle in

Jean 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 s ...

's 1946 film ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

''. Her films include ''Allo Berlin? Ici Paris!'' (1932), ''The Merry Monarch'' (based on ''Les Aventures du roi Pausole'') (1933), ''Lucrèce Borgia'' (1935), ''L'homme du jour'' (1937), ''Accord final'' (1938), '' La Belle et la Bête'' (1946) and '' Les Parents terribles'' (1948). Despite numerous parts in famous French films, Day ended her career as an actress in 1950 when only 36 years old. She retired to marry wealthy chemical businessman Maurice Solvay (descendant of

Ernest Solvay Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (; 16 April 1838 – 26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist. Born in Rebecq, he was prevented by his acute pleurisy from going to university. He worked in his uncle's chemical fac ...

, founder of the notable Solvay company). In February 1959, while on cruise in the Pacific, she and Solvay met a Tahitian girl at a

Papeete Papeete ( Tahitian: ''Papeete'', pronounced ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Papeete is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subd ...

market named Hinano Tiatia, whom the couple took under legal guardianship and who was the center of Solvay's inheritance dispute having not been adopted at the time of his sudden death in 1960. (in German)

Selected filmography

* ''

Here's Berlin ''Here's Berlin'' or ''Hello Berlin, Paris Calling'' (french: Allo Berlin? Ici Paris!, german: Hallo hallo! Hier spricht Berlin!) is a 1932 French-German romantic comedy film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Josette Day, Germaine Aussey a ...

'' (1932) * '' The Regiment's Champion'' (1932) * '' Miss Helyett'' (1933) * ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was ba ...

'' (1933) * '' The Concierge's Daughters'' (1934) * ''

Antonia Antonia may refer to: People * Antonia (name), including a list of people with the name * Antonia gens, a Roman family, any woman of the gens was named ''Antonia'' * Antônia (footballer) * Antônia Melo Entertainment * ''Antonia's Line'', ori ...

'' (1935) * ''

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Gover ...

'' (1935) * ''

Women's Club The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a part ...

'' (1936) * '' The Flame'' (1936) * ''

Ménilmontant Ménilmontant () is a neighbourhood of Paris, situated in the city's 20th arrondissement. It is roughly defined as the area north of the Père Lachaise Cemetery, south of Parc de Belleville, and between ''Avenue Jean-Aicard'' on the west and ...

'' (1936) * '' The Man of the Hour'' (1937) * '' The Patriot'' (1938) * '' The Five Cents of Lavarede'' (1939) * '' Monsieur Brotonneau'' (1939) * '' The Well-Digger's Daughter'' (1940) * '' Arlette and Love'' (1943) *''

'' (1946) * '' Les Parents terribles'' (1948) * ''

Swiss Tour ''Swiss Tour'' (or ''Four Days Leave'') is a 1949 American-Swiss drama film directed by Leopold Lindtberg and starring Cornel Wilde, Josette Day and Simone Signoret. It marked the film debut of Liselotte Pulver who went on to be a major star of Ge ...

'' (1950)

References

External links

*
Photographs and literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Josette 1914 births 1978 deaths Actresses from Paris French child actresses French silent film actresses French film actresses 20th-century French actresses