Stéphane Audran (born Colette Suzanne Jeannine Dacheville; 8 November 1932 – 27 March 2018) was a French film actress. She was known for her performances in the films of her husband

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

, including '' Les Biches'' (1968) and '' Le Boucher'' (1970),

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

's ''

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie ''The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie'' () is a 1972 surrealist satirical black comedy film directed by Luis Buñuel, who wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Jean-Claude Carrière. The narrative concerns a group of French bourgeoisie an ...

'' (1972), and

Gabriel Axel Axel Gabriel Erik Mørch better known as Gabriel Axel (18 April 1918 – 9 February 2014) Ronald Berganbr>Obituary: Gabriel Axel ''The Guardian'', 10 February 2014 was a Danish film director, actor, writer and producer, best known for ''Bab ...

's ''

Babette's Feast ''Babette's Feast'' () is a 1987 Danish drama film directed by Gabriel Axel. The screenplay, written by Axel, was based on the 1958 story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). It was produced by Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Benni Korzen, with f ...

'' (1987). The role she was mostly associated with was that of the haughty

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

woman.

Biography

Audran was born in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

and raised by her mother after her father, a doctor, died when she was six years old. A graduate of the Lycée Lamartine, she studied drama at the Ecole de théâtre Charles Dullin in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She first appeared on stage, though with little success, and gave her film debut in the 1957 short film ''Le jeu de la nuit''. Her first collaboration with director Chabrol was the 1959 '' Les Cousins'', with whom she would make a total of 25 films. Having previously been married to actor

Jean-Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-World War II, war era. He starred in m ...

, she married Chabrol in 1964. The couple had one son, actor Thomas Chabrol. Audran's major films with Chabrol include ''Les Biches'', which earned her the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress () was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the fil ...

at the 18th Berlin International Film Festival, ''Le Boucher'', '' Just Before Nightfall'' (1971), and '' Violette Nozière'' (1978), for which she won 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 outst ...

. She also starred in

Eric Rohmer The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

's 1959 debut film '' Le Signe du Lion'' (released in 1962), ''

'', for which she received the

BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performan ...

(together with ''Just Before Nightfall''),

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (; 25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, ...

's 1981 '' Coup de Torchon'', and her internationally best known film, ''Babette's Feast''. In addition, Audran had supporting roles in three films of director

Samuel Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and actor. He was known for directing low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, often made outside t ...

. On TV, she appeared in productions like ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of Charles Ryder, esp ...

'' (1981) and ''

The Sun Also Rises ''The Sun Also Rises'' is the first novel by the American writer Ernest Hemingway, following his experimental novel-in-fragments '' In Our Time (short story collection)'' (1925). It portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Par ...

'' (1984). Audran and Chabrol divorced in 1980, although she continued to act in small parts in his films. She died on 27 March 2018, aged 85, following a long illness. Her son Thomas reported that his mother had been in hospital for ten days before she returned home, where she died.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Audran, Stephane 1932 births 2018 deaths Actors from Versailles Actresses from Île-de-France French film actresses French television actresses Silver Bear for Best Actress winners 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses Best Actress BAFTA Award winners Best Supporting Actress César Award winners Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Best Actress Robert Award winners Signatories of the 1971 Manifesto of the 343