Catherine Hessling (born Andrée Madeleine Heuschling; 22 June 1900 – 28 September 1979) was a French

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and the first wife of film director Jean Renoir. Hessling appeared in 15, mostly silent, films before retiring from the acting profession and withdrawing from public life in the mid-1930s.

Biography

Hessling, born in

Champagne-Ardennes Champagne-Ardenne () is a former administrative region of France, located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium. Mostly corresponding to the historic province of Champagne, the region is known for its sparkling white wine of th ...

, had sought refuge in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Her paternal ancestors came from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

but moved to Champagne-Ardennes when Alsace transferred to Germany. In 1917, her beauty came to the attention of

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

, who sent her to fellow artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir as he thought she looked like a suitable Renoir subject. Hessling modelled, clothed and nude, for Renoir until his death in December 1919. Renoir's second son,

Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

, fell in love with Hessling, and the couple married on 24 January 1920. Hessling gave birth to a son, Alain Renoir, on 31 October 1921. Jean Renoir had been planning a career in

ceramic art Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. ...

but decided instead to try his hand in the medium of film in the attempt, he would later claim, to make Hessling a star. While both were aficionados of American films, and Hessling copied fashions and behaviour she saw on the screen, she had in fact never had any thought or ambition to become an actress herself.Pérez, G: ''The Material Ghost: Films and Their Medium'', p.193. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. Renoir produced his first script, ''Catherine'', in 1924. Albert Dieudonné would direct the film. Renoir devised for Hessling a very stark, exaggerated look, with the mouth and eyes a penetrating black against white facial make-up, which was again used in his first full-length film ''

The Whirlpool of Fate ''The Whirlpool of Fate'' or ''The Girl of the Water'' (French: ''La Fille de l'eau'') is a 1925 French silent drama film directed by Jean Renoir and starring Catherine Hessling as its heroine. All of the French copies of this film have been lo ...

'', and the lavish and costly adaptation of

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

's ''

Nana Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana ( ...

'' (1926), in which Hessling's performance has been described as characteristically stylised and unsubtle, yet appropriate for this role. Hessling appeared in three more Renoir films before the couple separated in 1931. It was rumoured that she had expected to play the role of Lulu in Renoir's sound film ''

La Chienne ''La Chienne'' ( en, italic=yes, The Bitch) is a 1931 French film by director Jean Renoir. It is the second sound film by the director and the twelfth film of his career. The film is based on the eponymous story "La Chienne" by Georges de La Fo ...

'' and felt betrayed when the film's producers insisted on, and Renoir agreed to, another actress (

Janie Marèse Janie Marèse (born Jeanne Marie Thérèse Bugnot, 23 May 1908 in Chartres, Eure-et-Loir - 14 August 1931 in Sainte-Maxime, Var) was a French actress who appeared in four shorts and three feature-length films, most notably Jean Renoir's second ...

) in the role. Following the couple's separation (the divorce was not finalised until 1943), Hessling appeared in minor roles in three sound films and had a brief career as a dancer before abandoning show business completely. She lived the rest of her life out of the public eye. Hessling died in suburban

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 ...

on 28 September 1979, aged 79. Jean Renoir had died in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

earlier the same year. Hessling was played by

Christa Théret Christa Théret (born 25 June 1991) is a French actress, best known for her role of Andrée Heuschling in ''Renoir''. Early life As a child, Théret aspired to be a teacher and then to become an actress. Career Théret's acting career began a ...

in the 2012 film ''

Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...

''. Set in 1915, the film depicts Hessling's association with Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the beginning of her romantic relationship with Jean Renoir.

Filmography

*1924: ''Catherine ou Une vie sans Joie'' (dir. Albert Dieudonné) *1925: ''

'' (dir. Jean Renoir) as Virginia Rosaert *1926: ''

'' (dir. Jean Renoir) as Nana *1927: '' Sur un air de Charleston'' (dir. Jean Renoir) as Catherine Férand *1927: ''La P'tite Lili'' (dir.

Alberto Cavalcanti Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti (February 6, 1897 – August 23, 1982) was a Brazilian-born film director and producer. He was often credited under the single name "Cavalcanti". Early life Cavalcanti was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of a ...

) *1927: ''En rade'' (dir. Alberto Cavalcanti) *1928: '' La Petite Marchande d'allumettes'' (Short, dir. Jean Renoir) as Karen *1928: ''Tire-au-flanc'' (dir. Jean Renoir) as L'institutrice (uncredited) *1928: '' Yvette'' (dir. Alberto Cavalcanti) *1929: ''Vous verrez la semaine prochaine'' (Short, dir. Alberto Cavalcanti) *1930: ''Le Petit Chaperon rouge'' (dir. Alberto Cavalcanti) as Le petit Chaperon rouge *1930: '' Die Jagd nach dem Glück'' (dir. Rochus Gliese, Carl Koch and

Lotte Reiniger Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (2 June 1899 – 19 June 1981) was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'', from 1926, the first feature-length animated fil ...

) as Catherine *1933: '' Du haut en bas'' (dir.

Georg Wilhelm Pabst Georg Wilhelm Pabst (25 August 1885 – 29 May 1967) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He started as an actor and theater director, before becoming one of the most influential German-language filmmakers during the Weimar Republic. ...

) as Mademoiselle Paula *1933: ''Coralie et Cie'' (dir. Alberto Cavalcanti) *1935: '' Crime et châtiment'' (dir.

Pierre Chenal Pierre Chenal (; 5 December 1904 – 23 December 1990) was a French director and screenwriter who flourished in the 1930s. He was married to Czech-born French film actress Florence Marly from 1937 to 1955. Work Chenal was best known for film no ...

) as Elisabeth (final film role)

References

External links

Catherine Hessling at IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessling, Catherine 1900 births 1979 deaths French film actresses French silent film actresses People from Marne (department) French people of German descent French artists' models 20th-century French actresses Renoir family