Mila Parély (7 October 1917 – 14 January 2012), born Olga Colette Peszynski, was a French actress of Polish ancestry best known for the roles of Félicie, Belle's eldest sister, in

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

's '' La Belle et la Bête'' (1946), and as Geneviève in '' La Règle du jeu'' (1939). She had a liaison with actor Jean Marais from 1942 to 1944, remaining lifelong friends, and in 1976 she was his business associate in a pottery shop. Marais was the long-term lover of Jean Cocteau and her co-star in the latter's 1946 film version of ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

''. She gave up acting in the late 1950s in order to take care of her racing car driving husband

Taso Mathieson Thomas Alastair Sutherland Ogilvie ('Taso') Mathieson (25 July 1908, Glasgow – 12 October 1991, Vichy), stylised as T.A.S.O. Mathieson and sometimes referred to as Donald Mathieson, was a British racing driver and author of automotive history ...

, who had been injured in an accident. She also worked with such notable directors as

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

and G.W. Pabst. She returned to acting briefly in the late 1980s. Mila Parély died on 14 January 2012, aged 94, in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

, where she had spent the last fifty years of her life.

Selected filmography

* '' Compliments of Mister Flow'' (1936) * '' Royal Waltz'' (1936) * '' The Brighton Twins'' (1936) * '' The Shanghai Drama'' (1938) * '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) * '' The White Slave'' (1939) * ''

The Phantom Carriage ''The Phantom Carriage'' (, literally "The Wagoner") is a 1921 Swedish silent film directed by and starring Victor Sjöström, based on the 1912 novel '' Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'' (''Körkarlen'') by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. In the ...

'' (1939) * ''

Extenuating Circumstances In criminal law, a mitigating factor, also known as an extenuating circumstance, is any information or evidence (law), evidence presented to the court regarding the defendant or the circumstances of the crime that might result in reduced charges o ...

'' (1939) * '' They Were Twelve Women'' (1940) * '' Le Lit à colonnes'' (1942) * '' The White Truck'' (1943) * '' My Last Mistress'' (1943) * '' Father Serge'' (1945) * '' The Black Cavalier'' (1945) * ''

'' (1946) * '' Women's Games'' (1946) * ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes also called fate (), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' ...

'' (1946) * '' Star Without Light'' (1946) * '' Last Refuge'' (1947) * '' Snowbound'' (1948) * '' Mission in Tangier'' (1949) * '' Véronique'' (1950) * '' Le Plaisir'' (1952) * ''

Blood Orange The blood orange is a variety of orange (fruit), orange with crimson, near blood-colored flesh. It is one of the sweet orange varieties (Citrus × sinensis, ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis''). It is also known as the raspberry orange. The dark flesh ...

'' (1953)

References

External links

* 1917 births 2012 deaths Actresses from Paris Polish emigrants to France 20th-century French actresses French film actresses {{France-film-actor-1910s-stub