Zouzou (born Danièle Ciarlet on November 29, 1943) is an actress, model, singer and icon of the 1960s and early 1970s. She is known largely for her lead role in
Éric Rohmer
Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher.
Rohmer was the last of the post-World ...
's ''
Love in the Afternoon''.
The screen name "Zouzou" reportedly stems from her ''zézaiement'' (lisp) of the
consonants
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
's','j' and 'z'.
Personal life
Zouzou obtained her
baccalauréat
The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...
at 14, then enrolled at the Artistic Training Centre of the
Académie Charpentier.
The news magazine ''
Paris Match
''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features.
History and profile
A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on '' L'Intransigeant ...
'' baptised her ''"
la twisteuse"''. She represented the liberated young women, who were active during the protests of
May 1968
The following events occurred in May 1968:
May 1, 1968 (Wednesday)
* CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, was formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago.
* RAF Strike ...
, as indeed Zouzou was.
She moved to
swinging London
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mu ...
with
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...
, but left him and returned to Paris.
Career
After appearing in some short films, Zouzou came to international prominence in 1972 in Rohmer's ''Love in the Afternoon''. She was featured in French film and TV throughout the 1970s. In 1978, she left Paris for the
Antilles
The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...
where she remained for seven years as her career waned. She returned to France in 1985.
In 2002, Zouzou co-starred in the short film ''Signe d'hiver'' ("Sign of winter"), directed by Jean-Claude Moireau and also starring Marie Rousseau and Cyrille Thouvenin. In 2003, her autobiography, ''Jusqu' à l' aube'' ("Until dawn"), co-written with
Olivier Nicklaus, was published by
Flammarion Flammarion may refer to:
* Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), French astronomer and author
* Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion (1877–1962), French astronomer, wife of Camille Flammarion
* Flammarion engraving by unknown artist; appeared in a book by C ...
. At the beginning of 2004, a retrospective of Zouzou was organized by
Centre Georges Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...
. In 2005, Zouzou appeared at the ''Sentier des Halles'' club in Paris.
Selected filmography
* ''
Le Lit De La Vierge'' (1970)
* ''
Love in the Afternoon'' (1972)
* ''
S*P*Y*S
''S*P*Y*S'' is a 1974 American spy comedy film directed by Irvin Kershner and starring Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland and Zouzou. The film was screened at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, but it was not entered into the main competition.
Plo ...
'' (1974)
* ''
The Last Woman'' (1976)
* ''
Sky Riders'' (1976)
References
Further reading
* ''Jusqu'à l'aube'', autobiography co-written with by
Olivier Nicklaus, Éditions Flammarion,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
.
External links
Official web site(apparently unmaintained)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zouzou
1943 births
Living people
French female models
French women singers
French film actresses
Pieds-Noirs
People from Blida
French television actresses