Biography: life and films
In a screen career that already spans seven decades, Brigitte Fossey has
made over a hundred appearances on film and television. Blessed with more
than her fair share of charm and talent, it is easy to see why she is one
of France's best loved screen actresses. Born in Tourcoing, France
on 15th June 1946, she met with national and international fame at the age
of five when she took on her first leading role as the adorable war orphan
Paulette in René Clément's
Jeux interdits (1952).
Despite the attention this film brought her, Fossey's acting career didn't
really take off until the late '60s, early '70s, when she became highly sought
after by some of the leading filmmakers of the day.
After Clément's film, Brigitte Fossey's next notable appearance was
as Yvonne de Galais in Jean-Gabriel Albicocco's widely acclaimed
Le Grand Meaulnes (1967).
Then came some impressive supporting roles in Michel Deville's
Raphaël ou le débauché
(1970), Bertrand Blier's
Les Valseuses
(1973), Claude Lelouch's
Le
Bon et les méchants (1976) and François Truffaut's
L'Homme qui aimait
les femmes (1977). She was nominated for the Best Actress César
in 1978 for her work on Benoît Jacquot's
Les Enfants du placard
(1977). Claude Pinoteau then gave the actress one of her most memorable
roles, as Sophie Marceau's mother in his hit rom-com
La Boum (1980) and its sequel
La
Boum 2 (1982). She played alongside Patrick Dewaere in Claude Sautet's
Un mauvais fils (1980)
and Richard Berry in Bernard Stora's
Le Jeune marié (1983).
In parallel with her work for film and television, Brigitte Fossey has also
had a successful career in the theatre. Since the 1990s, she has devoted
most of her time and energies to her stage work and has appeared in productions
of Pierre Laville's
Tempête sur le pays d'Égypte (1993-4)
and Harold Pinter's plays
The Collection and
The Lover (2000).
Since the early 1990s, Fossey has been virtually absent from the big screen,
appearing more frequently on television, notably in the mini-series
Le
Château des oliviers (1993) and several made-for-TV movies.
After an interval of twenty-five years, she returned to cinema with a small
part in Solange Cicurel's
Faut pas lui dire (2017).
© James Travers 2017
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Filmography
Key: a = actor