Marie Laure Viole Bellon, generally known as Loleh Bellon (1925–1999), was a French stage and film actress, as well as a playwright. In 1949, for her role in

Robert Desnos Robert Desnos (; 4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement. Early life Robert Desnos was born in Paris on 4 July 1900, the son of a licensed dealer in game and poultry at the '' Halles'' ma ...

' ''La Place de l'Étoile'', she was awarded the ''Prix des Jeunes comédiens''. She is remembered for her performances in Giraudoux' ''Judith'', and in Claudel's ''L'Annonce faite à Marie''. Bellon was also a successful playwright, especially with ''Dames du jeudi'' (1976), ''Une absence'' (1988), and ''La Chambre d'amis'' (1995). For her play ''L'Éloignement'' (1987), she was awarded the Molière prize.

Early life and family

Born on 14 May 1925 in

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

, Marie Laure Viole Bellon was the daughter of Jacques Bellon, a magistrate, and Denise Simone Hulmann, a well-known photographer. In 1947, she married the Spanish writer Jorge Semprún Maura (1923–2011), with whom she gave birth to Jaime Semprún (1947–2010), also a writer. Following a divorce in 1960, she married the poet Claude Roy (1915–1997) in 1962. Loleh Bellon was the younger sister of the film director and screenwriter

Yannick Bellon Marie-Annick Bellon, usually known as Yannick Bellon, (6 April 1924 – 2 June 2019), was a French film director, editor and screenwriter. Initially known for her documentary film, documentary work, in 1972 she made her first feature film, ''Quelq ...

Professional life

Bellon studied for the theatre under the Russian-born actress and drama teacher Tania Balachova, the actor and theatre manager Charles Dullin, and the actor Julien Bertheau. After making her stage début in 1945 in J. B. Priestley's '' Dangerous Corner'', in 1947, she played in ''L'An Mil'' by

Jules Romains Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play '' Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cyc ...

. In 1949, for her performance in ''La Place de l'Étoile'', she was awarded the ''Prix des Jeunes comédiens''. She embarked on her cinema career in the late 1940s, working with

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundi ...

and Jean Vilar. Her first major success was the role of Marie in '' Le Point du jour'' (1949), directed by

Louis Daquin Louis Daquin (20 May 1908 – 2 October 1980) was a French film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 14 films between 1938 and 1963. He also appeared in 11 films between 1937 and 1979. Selected filmography * ''The Man from Nowhere ...

. She appeared in two more of Daquin's films – ''

The Perfume of the Lady in Black ''The Perfume of the Lady in Black'' () is a 1974 ''giallo'' film directed by Francesco Barilli. The film has no relation to the The Perfume of the Lady in Black (novel), novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux. Plot Silvia Hacherman is a succ ...

'' (1949), and '' Maître après Dieu'' (1950). Thanks to her sister Yannick Bellon, in the 1970s, she starred in ''Quelque part quelqu'un'' (1972) and ''Jamais plus toujours'' (1976). As a playwright, in 1976, her ''Les Dames du Jeudi'' was awarded the Ibsen prize. Other successes included ''L'èloignement'' (1987), ''Une absence'' (1988), and ''La Chambre d'amis'' (1995). Loleh Bellon died on 22 May 1999 in

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre Le Kremlin-Bicêtre () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is from the center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. Le Kremlin-Bicêtre is most famous as the location of the Bicêtre ...

, in the Paris suburbs.

Public activities

In May 1951, Loleh Bellon was the sponsor of a subscription contest for '' Femmes françaises'', a communist women's magazine. She supported the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

campaign to legalize

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

on demand in France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellon, Loleh 1925 births 1999 deaths French actresses 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights French women writers People from Bayonne Actresses from Nouvelle-Aquitaine 20th-century French women Semprún family Signatories of the 1971 Manifesto of the 343