Here is a French nostalgic song (sung in English by the great jazz singer Rita Reys), chosen to illustrate the beauty of one of France's greatest movie stars, Michèle Morgan.
Born in 1920, she is regarded as Grande Dame of the French film. She left her home at the age of 15 and took acting lessons. Her career took soon shape and she played small roles in three movies in her debut year – Une fille à papa (1935), La vie parisienne (1935) and Mademoiselle Mozart (1935).
It followed soon important productions where she acted besides stars like Raimu, Charles Boyer, Jean Gabin or Pierre Brasseur. To these movies belong Gribouille (1937), Orage (1938) and Quai des brumes (1938), one of her greatest successes.
Already in 1940 – only 20 years old – she was called to Hollywood where she only appeared in few movies because the U.S. film business didn't have the flair to bring her into play optimal. She played at Humphrey Bogart's side in Passage to Marseille (1944) and other movies but she soon decided – although she got the U.S. nationality meanwhile – to return to France. Already for her first movie after her return – La symphonie pastorale (1946) she was awarded in Cannes.
Her excursion to the USA didn't harm her career, on the contrary. She became a demanded actress in all great film nations and took part in movies like Joan of Paris (1942), Higher and higher (1943), Fabiola (1948), Marie-Antoinette reine de France (1956) and Le miroir à deux faces (1958).
With some of the great French stars she worked together in several movies – with Gérard Philipe in Les orgueilleux (1953) and Les grandes manœuvres (1955), with Jean Marais in Aux yeux du souvenir (1948) and Le château de verre (1950) or with her husband Henri Vidal in L‘étrange Madame X (1951), Napoléon (1955) and Pourquoi viens-tu si tard? (1959).
In the 1960s and 1970s followed many movies which didn't justice to her talent, after that she retired slowly from the film business. After an absence of 15 years she made her comeback and appeared in movies again occasionally.
Michèle Morgan war married with the actors William Marshall and Henri Vidal as well as director Gérard Oury. When in Hollywood, she had a house built that Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate later bought.
Michèle Morgan has a rose named after her.
She passed away on December, the 20th of 2016.
Enjoy Michèle Morgan's great beauty and class!
And here is a song delicately performed by Michèle Morgan, an occasional singer:
Les pas perdus (1964)
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