Anouk Aimée

Biography: life and films

Anouk Aimée was born Françoise Judith Sorya Dreyfus, in Paris, France on 26th April 1932. The daughter of two actors, Geneviève Sorya and Henry Murray, she made her film debut at the age of 14 in Henri Calef's La Maison sous la mer (1947). It was the character she played in this film that provided the first half of her stage name, Anouk. The second half, Aimée, was suggested by Jacques Prévert when they met on her next film, La Fleur de l'âge (1947), the film Carné was unable to complete through lack of funds. By the time she was to star in her next film, playing Juliet to Serge Reggiani's Romeo in André Cayatte's Les Amants de Vérone (1948), she was a fully fledged actress, having taken courses in drama and dance. For the next decade, Aimée's screen career proceeded at a moderate pace through supporting roles in such films as Julien Duvivier's Pot-Bouille (1957), Jacques Becker's Montparnasse 19 (1958) and La Tête contre les murs (1959).

Anouk Aimée's breakthrough came when Federico Fellini cast her as Maddalena in La Dolce vita (1960). This, together with her lead role in Jacques Demy's Lola (1961), made her name as an actress and set her on the road to international stardom. In the mid-60s, her career received a further boost through her role in Claude Lelouch's Un homme et une femme (1966), the most widely seen French film of the decade. Since, Aimée has enjoyed a high profile career on stage and screen. She has appeared in over seventy films and worked with such prominent filmmakers as André Delvaux (Un soir, un train), George Cukor (Justine) and Robert Altman (Prêt-à-Porter). In 1980, she received the Best Actress award at Cannes for her performance in Marco Bellocchio's Salto nel vuoto (1980) and in 2002 she was awarded an honorary César for her life's work.

Filmography