Sylvette Herry (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Miou-Miou (), is a French actress. A ten-time

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 ...

nominee, she won the

César Award for Best Actress Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesa ...

for the 1979 film ''

Memoirs of a French Whore ''Memoirs of a French Whore'' (French: ''La Dérobade'') is a French film released in 1979. It was directed by Daniel Duval. It stars Miou-Miou, Maria Schneider and Niels Arestrup. Plot Marie is 19 and is bored in her little suburban life ...

''. Her other films include '' This Sweet Sickness'' (1977), '' Entre Nous'' (1983), ''

May Fools ''Milou en mai'', released as ''Milou in May'' in the UK and as ''May Fools'' in North America, is a 1990 film by Louis Malle. The film portrays the impact of the French revolutionary fervor of May 1968 on a French village. ''Milou en mai'' wa ...

'' (1990), '' Germinal'' (1993), ''

Dry Cleaning Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent (usually non-polar, as opposed to water which is a Solvent#Solvent classifications, polar ...

'' (1997) and ''

Arrêtez-moi ''Arrêtez-moi'' (Stop Me) is a 2013 French thriller film directed by Jean-Paul Lilienfeld and starring Sophie Marceau, Miou-Miou, and Marc Barbé. Written by Jean-Paul Lilienfeld and Jean Teulé, the film is about a woman who shows up at a polic ...

'' (2013). In her career she has worked with a number of international directors, including

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker and producer noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one o ...

, Bertrand Blier,

Claude Berri Claude Berri (; 1 July 1934 – 12 January 2009) was a French film director, writer, producer, actor and distributor. Early life Born Claude Beri Langmann in Paris, Berri was the son of Jewish immigrant parents. His mother, Beila (née Bercu), ...

Jacques Deray Jacques Deray (born Jacques Desrayaud, 19 February 1929 – 9 August 2003) was a French film director and screenwriter. Deray is prominently known for directing many crime films, crime and thriller films. Biography Born Jacques Desrayaud in Lyon, ...

Patrice Leconte Patrice Leconte (; born 12 November 1947) is a French film director, screenwriter and comic strip writer. Life and career Leconte grew up in Tours, and began making little amateur films at 15. He went to Paris in 1967 and studied at Institut des ...

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American film and theatre director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Hollywood ...

and

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down", Malle made document ...

Early life

Miou-Miou was born Sylvette Herry 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 ...

. Her stage name, Miou-Miou (a reference to the sound of a cat), was given to her by

Coluche Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci (, ; 28 October 1944 – 19 June 1986), better known under his stage name Coluche (), was a French stage comedian, cinema actor, activist and philanthropist. He adopted ''Coluche'' as a stage name at age 26, when he ...

. She was raised in Paris by her mother, a

greengrocer A greengrocer is a person who owns or operates a shop selling primarily produce, fruit and vegetables. The term may also be used to refer to a shop selling primarily produce. It is used predominantly in the United Kingdom and Australia. In the ...

Career

After studying acting Miou-Miou worked in improvisational theater with

and

Patrick Dewaere Patrick Dewaere (26 January 1947 – 16 July 1982) was a French film actor. Born in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes-d'Armor, he was the son of French actress Mado Maurin. An actor from a young age, his career lasted more than 21 years until his suicide in ...

, joining with them to help found the new comedy theatre

Café de la Gare The Café de la Gare () is a dinner theater located at 41, rue du Temple in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It lies in a square hidden between Notre Dame de Paris and the historic Marais district.Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob ''The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob'' (, ) is a 1973 French-Italian comedy film directed by Gérard Oury, starring Louis de Funès and Claude Giraud. It follows a bigoted businessman and a kidnapped revolutionist who disguise themselves as rabbis ...

''. Her big break came with Blier's '' Going Places'', released in 1974. During the 1970s, she had roles in such films as ''

F comme Fairbanks ''F comme Fairbanks'' is a 1976 French drama film directed by Maurice Dugowson. It was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Patrick Dewaere – André * Miou-Miou – Marie * John Berry (film director), John Berry – ...

'' (1976), Alain Tanner's ''

Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 ''Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000'' () is a 1976 Swiss drama film directed by Alain Tanner and written by Tanner and John Berger. The location of the shooting was Geneva. The film follows the lives of couples in the wake of the social and ...

'' (1976), and Losey's ''Roads to the South'' (1978). In ''

'' (1979), directed by Daniel Duval, she portrayed a young prostitute and received a

for the role. Many of these 1970s films were released internationally to art-house venues. In 1976 she appeared in one of the last

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

s, Damiano Damiani's '' A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot''. Through the 1980s she was in such films as ''La gueule du loup'' (1981), ''Guy de Maupassant'' (1982),

Diane Kurys Diane Kurys (; born 3 December 1948) is a French director, producer, filmmaker and actress. Several of her films as director are semi-autobiographical. Personal life Kurys was born in Lyon, Rhône, France, the younger of two daughters. She is a ...

's '' Entre nous'' (1983) with Isabelle Huppert, ''Blanche et Marie'' (1984), '' Evening Dress'' (1986), and Deville's '' The Reader'' (1988). She played opposite

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and prematurely white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Although initially typecast as th ...

(in one of his last roles) in Boisset's '' Dog Day'' in 1984. The 1990s saw her in

's ''

'' (1990), Deray's thriller ''Netchaïev is back'', the comedy ''

Un indien dans la ville ''Un indien dans la ville'' (''An Indian in the city'') is a 1994 French film directed by Hervé Palud. The film had a limited English language release under the title ''Little Indian, Big City''. The film was a box office success, grossing $70. ...

'' (1994), and '' The Eighth Day'' (1996) and ''

'' in 1997. She appeared opposite

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...

in a new production of Émile Zola's '' Germinal'' (1993). 2001 saw her in ''Agathe et le grand magasin'' and in 2004 she appeared in ''L'après-midi de monsieur Andesmas'', among other films. By the mid-2000s, her film roles abated and she began to appear in theatre.Miou-Miou in the NY Times

Personal life

Miou-Miou has two daughters, Angèle Herry-Leclerc (born 1974), whose father is actor

, and Jeanne Herry (born 1978), whose father is singer Julien Clerc.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1950 births Living people Actresses from Paris French people of Breton descent French film actresses Spaghetti Western actresses Best Actress César Award winners Best Actress Lumières Award winners 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses French stage actresses Café de la Gare