Coline Serreau (born 29 October 1947) is a French actress, film director and writer.

Early life and education

She 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 ...

,Additional information about Chaos, Berlinale 2002 archive
accessed 1 April 2024. the daughter of

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Jean-Marie Serreau and actress Geneviève Serreau. In Paris, Serreau studied literature, music and theatre and is a trained organist and trapeze artist. Her stage work began at the Comédie Française and she has written many plays. Her film debut in 1977 was ''Pourquoi pas!'', a love triangle story which was a success around Europe. Her 1985 comedy '' Trois hommes et un couffin'' (remade in the US as ''

Three Men and a Baby ''Three Men and a Baby'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy. It stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson as three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to de facto fatherhood with the arrival of the ...

'' was the most commercially successful film of the 1980s in French.

Career

In 1970, she made her debut as an actress at the

Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier The Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier is a theatre located at 21, rue du Vieux-Colombier, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1913 by the theatre producer and playwright Jacques Copeau. Today it is one of the three theatres in Paris ...

. Serreau wrote her first screenplay in 1973. Her first film, the

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''Mais qu'est-ce qu'elles veulent?'' (1978), literally: ''But What Is It That They Want?'', was a compilation of interviews with women from various backgrounds. The frankness of the statements shocked parts of the public. Her biggest commercial success was the

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

'' Three Men and a Cradle'' (''Trois hommes et un couffin''; 1985), for which she received three

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 ...

s in 1986. It was also nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. In 1986, her first drama for the stage ''Lapin Lapin'' (''Rabbit Rabbit''), directed by

Benno Besson Benno Besson was a Swiss Theatre Director. Benno Besson (born René-Benjamin Besson; 4 November 1922 in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland – 23 February 2006 in Berlin, Germany) was a theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a ...

, had its world premiere. She collaborated with Besson for several years and he also staged ''Le théâtre de verdure'' (1987) and ''Quisaitout et Grobêta'' (1993).

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serreau, Coline 1947 births Living people 20th-century French actresses 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French actresses 21st-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French women writers Actresses from Paris César Award winners French documentary filmmakers French film actresses French stage actresses French women dramatists and playwrights French women screenwriters French screenwriters Writers from Paris Recipients of the Legion of Honour French women film directors French women documentary filmmakers