Josette Noële Andrée Claire Dagory (31 July 1914 – 27 June 1978), better known as Josette Day, was a French film actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1919 at the age of five. When she was 18, Day was the mistress of

Paul Morand Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was m ...

. Later on she got into a relationship with famous French writer and director

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (, also ; ; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the . Pagnol is generally regarded as one of France's ...

, whom she met in January 1939. The relationship lasted up until part of World War II and she did not marry him. In 1946, she played her best-known role, alongside Jean Marais, as Belle in

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

's 1946 film ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

''. Her films include; ''Allo Berlin? Ici Paris!'' (1932), ''The Merry Monarch'' (based on ''Les Aventures du roi Pausole'') (1933), ''Lucrèce Borgia'' (1935), ''L'homme du jour'' (1937), ''Accord final'' (1938), '' La Belle et la Bête'' (1946) and '' Les Parents terribles'' (1948). Despite numerous parts in famous French films, Day ended her career as an actress in 1950 when she was 36 years old. She retired to marry wealthy chemical businessman Maurice Solvay (descendant of Ernest Solvay, founder of the notable Solvay company). In February 1959, while on cruise in the Pacific, she and Solvay met a Tahitian girl at a

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

market. The girl's name was Hinano Tiatia. The couple took her under their legal guardianship. However, she became the center of Solvay's inheritance dispute having not been adopted at the time of his sudden death in 1960. (in German)

Selected filmography

* '' Here's Berlin'' (1932) * ''

The Regiment's Champion ''The Regiment's Champion'' (French:'' Le champion du régiment'') is a 1932 French comedy film directed by Henry Wulschleger and starring Bach (actor), Bach, Charles Montel and Georges Tréville.Hennebelle, Berrah & Stora p.19 Cast Reference ...

'' (1932) * '' Miss Helyett'' (1933) *'' Colomba'' (1933) * ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

'' (1933) * '' The Concierge's Daughters'' (1934) * '' Mam'zelle Spahi'' (1934) * '' Coralie and Company'' (1934) * '' Antonia'' (1935) * '' His Excellency Antonin'' (1935) * ''

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

'' (1935) * ''

Women's Club The club movement is an American women's social movement that started in the mid-19th century and spread throughout the United States. It established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While wome ...

'' (1936) * '' The Flame'' (1936) * '' Ménilmontant'' (1936) * '' Sisters in Arms'' (1937) * '' The Man of the Hour'' (1937) * '' Monsieur Bégonia'' (1937) * '' Final Accord'' (1938) * '' Education of a Prince'' (1938) * '' The Patriot'' (1938) * '' The Five Cents of Lavarede'' (1939) * ''

Monsieur Brotonneau ''Monsieur Brotonneau'' is a 1939 French comedy drama film directed by Alexander Esway and starring Raimu, Josette Day and Marguerite Pierry. The film was released not a month before France declared war to Nazi Germany. Synopsis Monsieur Br ...

'' (1939) * '' The Well-Digger's Daughter'' (1940) * '' The Crossroads'' (1942) * '' Arlette and Love'' (1943) *''

'' (1946) * '' Les Parents terribles'' (1948) * '' Swiss Tour'' (1950) * '' Love, Madame'' (1952)

References

External links

*
Photographs and literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Josette 1914 births 1978 deaths Actresses from Paris French child actresses French silent film actresses French film actresses 20th-century French actresses