Mathilda Marie Berthilde Paruta (21 November 1907 – 7 December 1999), better known as Darling Légitimus, was a French actress. In 1983, she received the
Volpi Cup for Best Actress
The Volpi Cup for Best Actress is an award presented by the Venice Film Festival. It is given by the festival jury in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance from the films in the competition slate. It is named in honor o ...
for her performance in the film ''
Sugar Cane Alley
''Sugar Cane Alley'' ( French title: ''La Rue Cases-Nègres'') is a 1983 film directed by Euzhan Palcy. It is set in Martinique in the 1930s, when Africans working sugarcane fields were still treated harshly by their white employers. It is based o ...
''.
Biography
Born on 21 November 1907 at Le Carbet in
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...
, she spent her early years in
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
, Venezuela. Mathilda Paruta arrived in Paris, France, at age of 16, wanting to become a dancer. She met Victor-Etienne Légitimus, son of the government deputy,
Hegesippe Jean Légitimus
''Hegesippe'' is a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae
Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a sep ...
, and went on to become his lifelong companion and bear him five children.
Known for a long time as Miss Darling, she later chose to go by the name of Darling Legitimus. She performed as a dancer in ''
La Revue Nègre
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
, the actor.
During the 1930s, Darling wrote, composed and sang numerous Caribbean songs such as Biguine and Mazurka. She often performed alongside known musicians of the era, including "Pe En Kin Sosso" and his band.
She also performed in plays by Jean Genet (''
Les Nègres
''The Blacks'' (french: Les Nègres) is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. Published in 1958, it was first performed in a production directed by Roger Blin at the Théâtre de Lutèce in Paris, which opened on 28 October 1959.
__TOC__
...
Le Salaire de la Peur
''The Wages of Fear'' (french: Le Salaire de la peur) is a 1953 French thriller film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Yves Montand, and based on the 1950 French novel ''Le Salaire de la peur'' (lit. "The Salary of Fear") by Georges A ...
'' (''
Wages of Fear
''The Wages of Fear'' (french: Le Salaire de la peur) is a 1953 French thriller film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Yves Montand, and based on the 1950 French novel ''Le Salaire de la peur'' (lit. "The Salary of Fear") by Georges Ar ...
'') by
Henri Georges Clouzot
Henri-Georges Clouzot (; 20 November 1907 – 12 January 1977) was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his work in the thriller film genre, having directed ''The Wages of Fear'' and '' Les Diaboliques'', ...
, with
Sacha Guitry
Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follo ...
La Rue Cases-Nègres
''Sugar Cane Alley'' ( French title: ''La Rue Cases-Nègres'') is a 1983 film directed by Euzhan Palcy. It is set in Martinique in the 1930s, when Africans working sugarcane fields were still treated harshly by their white employers. It is based o ...
'' (''
Sugar Cane Alley
''Sugar Cane Alley'' ( French title: ''La Rue Cases-Nègres'') is a 1983 film directed by Euzhan Palcy. It is set in Martinique in the 1930s, when Africans working sugarcane fields were still treated harshly by their white employers. It is based o ...
''), directed by her compatriot Euzhan Palcy.
During her long life, she was acquainted with a great number of famous actors, among them Arletty, Fernandel, Marlon Brando and Pierre Brasseur. She also took part in numerous ORTF (Office de Radio-diffusion de la Television Française) productions, of which a telefilm by
Jean-Christophe Averty
Jean-Christophe Averty (; 6 August 1928 – 4 March 2017) was a French television and radio director, and Satrap of the College of 'Pataphysique.
Many of his television productions from the 1960s were early examples of French video art. His stud ...
She died on 7 December 1999 at Kremlin-Bicetre in the Val de Marne near Paris, in France, without any more acting roles after ''Sugar Cane Alley'' in spite of hopes of her nomination and rewards.
Luc Saint-Eloy
Luc or LUC may refer to:
Places
* Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune
* Luc, Lozère, France, a commune
* Le Luc, France, a commune
* Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement
People and fictional characters
* Luc (given name)
* Luc (surname)
...
,Afrocine – Le cinéma dans toutes ses couleurs /ref> representatives of "Liberté" collective came up on stage at the César ceremony in 2000, to claim one of the largest presence on French television screens and to pay her a public tribute, since the organizers had "forgotten" to name Darling as one of the previous year's great losses.
The Pearls of the Crown
''The Pearls of the Crown'' (french: Les Perles de la couronne) is a 1937 French comedy film of historically based fiction by Sacha Guitry who plays four roles in it (many of the other performers play multiple roles, as well). Guitry's Jean Mart ...
'' (by
Sacha Guitry
Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follo ...
Un ami viendra ce soir
''A Friend Will Come Tonight'' (French: ''Un ami viendra ce soir'') is a 1946 French drama film directed by Raymond Bernard and starring Michel Simon, Madeleine Sologne and Paul Bernard.Rège p.620 The film's sets were designed by the art direc ...
'' (by Raymond Bernard) - (uncredited)
*1946: ''Le Bateau à soupe'' (by Maurice Gleize) - (uncredited)
*1947: ''Les Trois cousines'' (by
Max Glass
Max Glass (12 June 1881 – 18 July 1965) was an Austrian screenwriter, film director, and producer.
Glass was born in Jaroslau, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, into a Jewish family, but later converted to Catholicism. H ...
)
*1953: ''
Le Salaire de la peur
''The Wages of Fear'' (french: Le Salaire de la peur) is a 1953 French thriller film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Yves Montand, and based on the 1950 French novel ''Le Salaire de la peur'' (lit. "The Salary of Fear") by Georges A ...
'' (by
Henri-Georges Clouzot
Henri-Georges Clouzot (; 20 November 1907 – 12 January 1977) was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his work in the thriller film genre, having directed '' The Wages of Fear'' and '' Les Diaboliques' ...
)
*1953: ''Tourbillon'' (by
Alfred Rode
Alfred Rode (born Alfred Spedaliere; 4 June 1905 – 22 July 1979) was an Italian-born French composer, musician, actor and film director. He was born in Torre del Greco. In 1936 Rode appeared in the British film ''Gypsy Melody'' alongside ...
Robert Siodmak
Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as '' The Killers'' (19 ...
Sacha Guitry
Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follo ...
and Eugène Lourié) - La nourrice (uncredited)
*1955: ''
Le Port du désir
''House on the Waterfront'' (French: ''Port du désir'') is a 1955 French drama film directed by Edmond T. Gréville and starring Jean Gabin, Andrée Debar and Henri Vidal.Block p.49
It was made at the Billancourt Studios with some location ...
Les Sorcières de Salem
''The Crucible'' (french: Les Sorcières de Salem, german: Die Hexen von Salem or ''Hexenjagd'') is a 1957 joint Franco-East German film production directed by Raymond Rouleau with a screenplay adapted by Jean-Paul Sartre from the 1953 play ''Th ...
Bernard Borderie Bernard Borderie (10 June 1924 in Paris – 28 May 1978 in Paris) was a French film director and screenwriter. His father, Raymond Borderie, was one of the producers of ''Children of Paradise, Les Enfants du Paradis'' (''Children of Paradise'', 1945 ...
) - Palmyre
*1962: ''
La Poupée
''La poupée'' (''The Doll'') is an opéra comique in a prelude and three acts composed by Edmond Audran with a libretto by Maurice Ordonneau. The libretto was based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's ''Der Sandmann'', about a friar who falsely promises to ma ...
La dernière bourrée à Paris
''La dernière bourrée à Paris'' is a 1973 French comedy film, directed by Raoul André.
Plot
Berthe who live a too peaceful life is fascinated by the film Brando loves in Last Tango in Paris. From there, she saw only through the eyes of the ...
'' (by Raoul André)
*1976: ''Les vécés étaient fermés de l'intérieur'' (by Patrice Leconte) - Rose
*1979: ''O Madiana'' (by
Constant Gros-Dubois
Constant or The Constant may refer to:
Mathematics
* Constant (mathematics), a non-varying value
* Mathematical constant, a special number that arises naturally in mathematics, such as or
Other concepts
* Control variable or scientific con ...
) - Mme Jonas
*1980: ''La Bande du Rex'' −108-13 (by Jean-Henri Meunier) - Nounou
*1980: ''5% de risques'' (by
Jean Pourtalé
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
* J ...
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the ha ...
(1963) .... Dinah
* ''Les Verts Pâturages'' ( The Green Pastures), written by Marc Connelly Christmas 1964*
* ''La Redevance du fantôme'' (1966), adapted from a Henry James novel by Jean Gruault and realised by Robert Enrico.... Belinda
* ''Noëlle aux quatre vents'', (1965 to 1969) realised by Henri Colpi. TV
* ''Face aux Lancaster'' (1971) realised by Adonis Kyrou TV
* ''François Gaillard : La Vie des autres'' – France, by
Jacques Ertaud
Jacques Ertaud (18 November 1924 – 18 November 1995) was a French film director and screenwriter. Along with Marcel Ichac, he co-directed the film '' Stars at Noon'', which entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival.
Selecte ...
(1971) TV .... Datifa (segment Pierre)
Theater
* ''
Les Sorcières de Salem
''The Crucible'' (french: Les Sorcières de Salem, german: Die Hexen von Salem or ''Hexenjagd'') is a 1957 joint Franco-East German film production directed by Raymond Rouleau with a screenplay adapted by Jean-Paul Sartre from the 1953 play ''Th ...
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialist, existentialism (and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter ...
from
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' (19 ...
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...
, and in France the next year, at the Odéon theater in Paris, by the Dramatic Art Company: Europa Studio. It was a success in
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
, Brussels, and the
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in ...
, where the was built for the occasion; for Expo 67, the Montreal World's Fair; in
Équateur Funambule Équateur, French for equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and ...
'', juillet 1975, in the municipal theater of
Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean.
Hi ...
in Martinique.
* ''
À la rencontre du petit matin
À, à ( a-grave) is a letter of the Catalan, Emilian-Romagnol, French, Galician, Italian, Maltese, Occitan, Portuguese, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Vietnamese, and Welsh languages consisting of the letter A of the ISO basic Latin alphabet ...
'', March 1976, filmed in
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
and in Martinique. November 1976, the "
Nouveau Carré
A ''nouveau'' ( ), or ''vin (de) primeur'', is a wine which may be sold in the same year in which it was harvested.
The most widely exported ''nouveau'' wine is French wine Beaujolais ''nouveau'' which is released on the third Thursday of N ...
"
Sylvia Montfort
Sylvia may refer to:
People
*Sylvia (given name)
*Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter
*Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive
*Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer credi ...
. May 1976, "Ciné royal" in Boulogne-Billancourt. February 1977,in Vesinet (near Paris). December 1990, Biennale of Dakar (Senegal) 1st part of "Aventure ambiguë" filmed in
Gouverneur de la rosée
Gouverneur may refer to:
People
* Gouverneur Kemble (1786–1875), U.S. congressman, diplomat, and industrialist
* Gouverneur K. Warren (1830–1882), engineer and Union Army general during American Civil War
* Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816), Am ...