Odette Joyeux (5 December 1914 – 26 August 2000) was a French actress, playwright and novelist.
Biography
She was born in Paris, where she studied dance at the
Paris Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...
before taking the stage. Joyeux started her film career in 1931. Her first notable film was
Marc Allégret
Marc Allégret (22 December 1900 – 3 November 1973) was a French screenwriter, photographer and film director.
Biography
Born in Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland, he was the elder brother of Yves Allégret. Marc was educated to be a lawyer in ...
's ''
Entrée des artistes
''The Curtain Rises'' () is a 1938 French crime film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Louis Jouvet, Claude Dauphin (actor), Claude Dauphin and Odette Joyeux.Andrew p.144 It was shot at the Epinay Studios in Paris and on location around the ...
'' (1938). During the 1940s she established herself as one of France's most popular cinema actresses; however, she made few film appearances after the 1950s.
Joyeux is the author of some plays and essays on dance as well as a book on the life of inventor ''
Nicéphore Niépce
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (; 7 March 1765 – 5 July 1833) was a French inventor and one of the earliest History of photography, pioneers of photography. Niépce developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world's oldest surviving ...
''. She also wrote two novels aimed to inspire dance: ''L'Âge heureux'' (which was adapted to a television series) and ''Côté jardin''. Additionally, Joyeux wrote ''The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful'' (1956) (adapted to film).
She married actor
Pierre Brasseur
Pierre Brasseur (; 22 December 1905 – 16 August 1972), born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor.
Biography
The son of actors Georges Espinasse and Germaine Brasseur was an actor as well. The family tradition of using the name ''Br ...
from 1935 until their divorce in 1945, by whom she had one child,
Claude Brasseur, who is the father of
Alexandre Brasseur.
In 1958 she married director
Philippe Agostini
Philippe Agostini was a French cinematographer, director and screenwriter born 11 August 1910 in Paris (France), died 20 October 2001. He was married to Odette Joyeux until the end of her life.
Biography
Founder of École Louis-Lumière (sit ...
. They remained married until her death in
Grimaud,
Var,
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...
, France from stroke at age 85.
Partial filmography
* ''Une femme a menti'' (1930)
* ''Le secret du docteur'' (1930) - Suzy, la bonne
* ''Jean de la Lune'' (1931) - Figurante (uncredited)
* ''Le chien jaune'' (1932) - (uncredited)
* ''
Lake of Ladies'' (1934) - Carla Lyssenhop
* ''Le chant de l'amour'' (1935) - Tote
* ''Valse éternelle'' (1936) - Sophie
* ''
Hélène'' (1936) - Françoise
* ''Une femme qui se partage'' (1937) - Léa
* ''Trois artilleurs au pensionnat'' (1937) - Micheline
* ''La Glu'' (1938) - Naïk
* ''Grisou'' (1938) - Madeleine
* ''Youth in Revolt'' (1938) - Zizi
* ''
The Curtain Rises'' (1938) - Coecilia
* ''
Notre-Dame de la Mouise'' (1941) - La môme
* ''
Le Lit à colonnes'' (1942) - Marie-Dorée
* ''
Chiffon's Wedding'' (1942) - Corysande dite Chiffon
* ''
Love Letters'' (1942) - Zélie Fontaine
* ''
The Phantom Baron'' (1943) - Elfy de Saint-Hélié
* ''
Love Story'' (1943) - Douce
* ''
Les Petites du quai aux fleurs'' (1944) - Rosine Grimaud
* ''Échec au roy'' (1945) - Jeannette de Pincret
* ''
Sylvie and the Ghost'' (1946) - Sylvie
* ''
Messieurs Ludovic'' (1946) - Anne-Marie Vermeulen
* ''
Lessons in Conduct'' (1946) - Micheline
* ''Passionnelle'' (1947) - Thérèse de Marsannes
* ''
Scandal
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...
'' (1948) - Cécilia
* ''Dernière heure, édition spéciale'' (1949) - Andrée Coche
* ''
Summer Storm'' (1949) - Marie-Blanche
* ''
La Ronde'' (1950) - Anna, the Grisette
* ''
If Paris Were Told to Us'' (1956) - La Passementière
* ''
Love Is at Stake'' (1957, TV Movie) - Récitante (voice)
* ''
A Golden Widow'' (1969, screenwriter)
Honours
She was made ''Chevalier'' (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 ...
on 29 November 1989,
and promoted to ''Officier'' (Officer) in 1998.
[
]
She was made ''Officier'' (Officer) of the
Ordre national du Mérite
The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...
in 1994.
[
]
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyeux, Odette
1914 births
2000 deaths
Actresses from Paris
French film actresses
French children's writers
French women children's writers
Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite
Prix Goncourt de la Biographie winners
Officers of the Legion of Honour
20th-century French actresses
20th-century French women writers