Jacqueline Jeanne Paule Maillan (11 January 1923 – 12 May 1992) was a French actress with a career spanning almost five decades, known primarily for her forty theatre productions, she also appeared in more than fifty films (1947 to 1992) and is remembered as one of the greatest comedic thespians of her generation and even nicknamed "The Louis de Funès in skirt". After working on the classics of French theatre, she excelled in playing exuberant, strong and powerful women in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

on stage or in such films as

Jean-Marie Poiré Jean-Marie Poiré (; born 10 July 1945), also credited as Jean-Marie Gaubert, is a French film director, and screenwriter. He is the son of the producer Alain Poiré. Filmography As director * ''Les petits câlins'' (''The Little Wheedlers'') (19 ...

's cult '' Gramps Is in the Resistance'' ( French: ''Papy fait de la résistance'',1983) before pioneering

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

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 ...

. Her husband Michel Emer, who was

Edith Piaf Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning '' strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian lang ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, helped her hide her

bisexuality Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, ...

(if not her sole

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

) from the public as they lived as a 'free couple' when it was then deeply stigmatized during the 1950s and 1960s. She was made a Chevalier ( French: ''Knight'') of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and Officer of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

Selected filmography

References

External links

* 1923 births 1992 deaths French stage actresses French film actresses French television actresses Knights of the Legion of Honour Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Burials at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux 20th-century French women {{france-film-actor-1920s-stub