Catherine Frot (; born 1 May 1956) is a French actress. A 10-time César Award nominee, she won the awards for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

for '' Marguerite'' (2015) and Best Supporting Actress for ''

Family Resemblances ''Family Resemblances'' (french: Un air de famille) is a 1996 French comedy film. It was directed by Cédric Klapisch, and written by Klapisch, Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri. The film stars Bacri, Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Catherine Fr ...

'' (1996). Her other films include ''

Le Dîner de Cons ''Le Dîner de Cons'' () is a French comedy play by Francis Veber. Story Pierre Brochant, a Parisian publisher, attends a weekly "idiots' dinner", where guests, who are prominent Parisian businessmen, must bring along an "idiot" whom the other ...

'' (1998), ''

La Dilettante LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' (1999), and ''

Haute Cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...

'' (2012).

Early life

Frot was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, the daughter of an engineer and a mathematics teacher. Her younger sister, Dominique, is also an actress. Catherine demonstrated comic talent at an early age, and enrolled in the

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

conservatory when she was 14, and was still in school. In 1974, she began her education at the school, and afterwards took up full-time studies at the conservatory.

Career

In 1975, Frot appeared at the

Festival d'Avignon The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival, is an annual arts festival held in the French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by Jean Vila ...

with the Compagnie du Chapeau Rouge (Red Hat Company), which she founded with the help of others. From then on, Catherine put all her energy into theatre performances in roles such as the ''Présidente de Tourvel'' in the play ''

Les Liaisons dangereuses ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (; English: ''Dangerous Liaisons'') is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782. It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and ...

'' in 1987. She performed in a number of classical plays such as ''La Cerisaie'', directed by

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Sha ...

in 1982, and ''

La Mouette La Mouette ( en, Seagull) is a French aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Fontaine-lès-Dijon. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of hang gliders, paragliders and ultralight trikes. At one time they also produced paramotor ...

'' directed by Pierre Pradinas in 1985. In films, Frot won the César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 1996, for playing Yolande, the sweet silly wife of a provincial bully, in

Cédric Klapisch Cédric Klapisch ( ; born 4 September 1961) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. Life and career Klapisch was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is from a Jewish family; his maternal grandparents were deported to Ausc ...

's '' Un air de famille'', and was funny and moving as a wealthy, rebellious nuisance in ''

'' (1999). In ''7 ans de mariage'', she played a prudish banker, wife, and mother, who is drawn by her bored, sexually frustrated husband into the world of Parisian ''clubs échangistes'' ("wife-swapping clubs"). She is an officer of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

Filmography

References

External links

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Portrait of Catherine Frot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frot, Catherine 1956 births Living people French film actresses French stage actresses French television actresses Best Supporting Actress César Award winners 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French National Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Actresses from Paris Best Actress Lumières Award winners Best Actress César Award winners