Catherine Frot (; born 1 May 1956) is a French actress. A 10-time
César Award Cesar or César may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama
* César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt
Places
* Cesar, Portugal
* Cesar Department, Colombia
* Cesar R ...
nominee, she won the awards for
Best Actress
for ''
Marguerite'' (2015) and
Best Supporting Actress for ''
Family Resemblances'' (1996). Her other films include ''
Le Dîner de Cons'' (1998), ''
La Dilettante'' (1999), and ''
Haute Cuisine
''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is a style of cooking characterised by meticulous preparation, elaborate presentation, and the use of high quality ingredients. Typically prepared by highly skilled gourmet chefs, haute cuisine dish ...
'' (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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, 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 ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
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 with the Compagnie du Chapeau Rouge (Red Hat Company), which she founded with the help of others. From then on, she put all her energy into theatre performances in roles such as the ''Présidente de Tourvel'' in the play ''
Les Liaisons dangereuses'' in 1987. She performed in a number of classical plays such as ''La Cerisaie'', directed by
Peter Brook in 1982, and ''
La Mouette'' 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's ''
Un air de famille'', and was funny and moving as a wealthy, rebellious nuisance in ''
La Dilettante'' (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.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
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
Knights of the Legion of Honour
French National Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
Actresses from Paris
Best Actress Lumières Award winners
Best Actress César Award winners