Martine Carol (born Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer; 16 May 1920 – 6 February 1967) was a French film actress.

Career

Born Maryse Mourer (or Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer) in

Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé () is a high-end commune of the Val-de-Marne department in Île-de-France in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is one of the smallest communes of the Île-de-France by land area, but i ...

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a p ...

, (France), she studied acting under

René Simon René Simon (1898 in Troyes – 1971) was a French actor and founder in 1925 of the Cours Simon drama school in Paris. Notable alumni of Cours Simon include Benoît Petitjean and Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French acto ...

(1898–1966), making her stage début in 1940 and her first motion picture in 1943. She frequently was cast as an elegant blonde seductress. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, she was the leading sex symbol and a top box-office draw of

French cinema French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influ ...

, and she was considered a French version of America's

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. One of her more famous roles was as the title character in ''

Lola Montès ''Lola Montès'' is a 1955 historical romance film and the last completed film of German-born director Max Ophüls. Based on the novel ''La vie extraordinaire de Lola Montès'' by Cécil Saint-Laurent, the film depicts the life of Irish dancer an ...

'' (1955), directed by

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made near ...

, in a role that required dark hair. However, by the late 1950s, roles for Carol had become fewer, partly because of the introduction of

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

Personal life

Despite her fame and fortune, Martine Carol's personal life was filled with turmoil that included a suicide attempt, drug abuse, and four marriages. She also was kidnapped by gangster Pierre Loutrel (also known as Pierrot le Fou or Crazy Pete), albeit briefly and received roses the next day as an apology. Carol was married four times, including: *

Joseph Stephen Crane Joseph Stephenson "Steve" Crane (February 7, 1916 – February 6, 1985) was an American actor and restaurateur. A Columbia Pictures actor in the early 1940s, Crane opened the Luau, a popular celebrity restaurant, in 1953 and established a s ...

, American actor and restaurant manager, previously

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...

's husband, married in 1948, divorced in 1953. * Christian-Jaque, film director, married July 15, 1954, divorced in 1959. * Dr. André Rouveix, a young doctor she met in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

, Fort-de-France, married August 3, 1959, divorced in 1962. * Mike Eland, English businessman, married in 1966 until her death. Carol died unexpectedly of a heart attack in a hotel room in Monte Carlo at the age of 46 while shooting the film ''Hell Is Empty'' (1967). She was first buried in Paris's

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

, but after her grave was violated—some media reported that she had been interred with her jewels—was reburied in the

Grand Jas Cemetery Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

of Cannes (square n°3).

Filmography

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carol, Martine 1920 births 1967 deaths People from Saint-Mandé French film actresses French expatriates in Monaco Burials at the Cimetière du Grand Jas 20th-century French actresses