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Name: Jeanne Moreau
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Date of Birth:
January 23, 1928
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Place of Birth:
Paris, France
Mini-bio:
When people gave Louis Malle credit for making a star of Jeanne Moreau inAscenseur pour l'échafaud (1958) immediately followed by Amants, Les (1958),he would point out that Moreau by that time had alr...( read more)eady been "recognized asthe prime stage actress of her generation." She had made it to the ComédieFrançaise in her 20s. She had appeared in B-movie thrillers with Jean Gabinand Ascenseur was in that genre. The technicians at the film lab went to theproducer after seeing the first week of dailies for Ascenseur and said: "Youmust not let Malle destroy Jeanne Moreau". Malle explained: "She was litonly by the windows of the Champs Elysées. That had never been done.Cameramen would have forced her to wear a lot of make-up and they would puta lot of light on her, because, supposedly, her face was not photogenic".This lack of artifice revealed Moreau's "essential qualities: she could bealmost ugly and then ten seconds later she would turn her face and would beincredibly attractive. But she would be herself".Moreau has told interviewers that the characters she played were not her.But even the most famous film critic of his generation, Roger Ebert, thinksthat she is a lot like her most enduring role, Catherine in FrançoisTruffaut's Jules et Jim (1962). Behind those eyes and that enigmatic smileis a woman with a mind. In a review of Clothes in the Wardrobe (1993) (TV)Ebert wrote: "Jeanne Moreau has been a treasure of the movies for 35years... Here, playing a flamboyant woman who nevertheless keeps her realthoughts closely guarded, she brings about a final scene of poetic justiceas perfect as it is unexpected".Moreau made her debut as a director in Lumière (1976) -- also writing thescript and playing Sarah, an actress the same age as Moreau whose romancesare often with directors for the duration of making a film. She made severalfilms with Malle.Still active in international cinema, Moreau presided over the jury of the1995 Cannes Film Festival.