Mireille Césarine Balin (born Blanche Mireille Césarine Balin; 20 July 1909, in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
– 9 November 1968 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 ...
)
["Balin, Mireille (1911–1968)." ''Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages'', edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 1, Yorkin Publications, 2007, p. 123. ''Gale eBooks''. Accessed 11 Aug. 2021.] was a French-Italian actress.
Balin was born near Monte Carlo. Her father, Charles Balin, was a French newspaper publisher. Her mother was Italian. Her education came at finishing schools.
She was a policewoman in Paris until friends urged her to take a screen test.
Balin posed for some advertisements in Paris before she began acting in films.
Considered one of the finest actresses of French cinema in the 1930s, she was discredited by her fraternization with the Nazis. During Nazi occupation of France, she became romantically involved with an officer of the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
and at the end of war she was imprisoned in Fresnes until January 1945. She retired from film in 1947.
Balin arrived in Hollywood in 1937 with a staff of servants and with 28 trunks containing "most of her worldly possessions.
During the final 10 years of her life she lived in a "charitable home".
[ Balin died in 1968, aged 59.]
Filmography
* ''Vive la classe'' (1932)Pépé le Moko
''Pépé le Moko'' () is a 1937 French film directed by Julien Duvivier starring Jean Gabin, based on a novel of the same name by Henri La Barthe and with sets by Jacques Krauss. An example of the 1930s French movement known as poetic realism ...
'' (1936)Golden Venus
''Golden Venus'' (French: ''La Vénus de l'or'') is a 1938 French adventure film directed by Jean Delannoy and Charles Méré and starring Jacques Copeau, Daniel Lecourtois and Mireille Balin.Goble p.402
The film's sets were designed by the art d ...
'' (1938)
* '' Captain Benoît'' (1938)
* '' Terre de feu'' (1938)
* ''Coups de feu'' (1939)
* ''Terra di fuoco'' (1939)
* ''Cas de conscience'' (1939)
* '' Immediate Call'' (1939)
* '' The Siege of the Alcazar'' (1940)
* ''Threats
A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation fo ...
'' (1940)The Woman I Loved Most
''The Woman I Loved Most'' (French: ''La femme que j'ai le plus aimée'') is a 1942 French drama film directed by Robert Vernay and starring Arletty, Mireille Balin and Lucien Baroux. https://www.unifrance.org/film/2824/la-femme-que-j-ai-le-pl ...
'' (1942)
* ''Haut le vent'' (1942)
* '' The Trump Card'' (1942)
* ''L'assassin a peur la nuit'' (1942)
* ''Malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
'' (1943)
References
External links
*
1909 births
1968 deaths
People from Monte Carlo
French film actresses
French expatriates in Monaco
20th-century French actresses
{{France-film-actor-1900s-stub