Isabelle von Allmen (born 29 April 1950), better known by the stage name Zouc, is a Swiss actress.

Life and career

Isabelle von Allmen was born in

Saint-Imier Saint-Imier () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Jura bernois (administrative district), Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Be ...

and raised in

Saignelégier Saignelégier () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Jura in Switzerland. It is the seat of the Franches-Montagnes (district), district of Franches-Montagnes. On 1 January 2009, the formerly independent municipaliti ...

. By the age of 14 she was performing every night in front of a crossing for her friends. Following the suggestion of Coghuf (original name: Ernst Stocker, painter from

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

), she took lessons in classical singing and music theory in Neuchatel, Switzerland. She became part of a team of authors with whom she developed the play '' allégria'' and appeared on stage for the first time. In 1969 she moved to

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 ...

where she took courses at the theater of

Tania Balachova Tania Balachova (Russian: Таня Балашова, diminutive of Татьяна Павловна Балашова atiana Pavlovna Balachova (1902-1973) was a French actress and director of Russian origin. After World War II, she became one of ...

for a few months and staged her first solo play at “La Vieille Grille” theatre. The

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Roger Montandon invited her to pose for him, which led to an intense collaboration between the two artists, lasting for many years. Between 1970 and 1980 Zouc performed her play several hundred times, at the Vieux Colombier, the Théatre de la Ville, Le Palace, Bobino and in many other theatres in France and abroad. Meanwhile, thanks to her increasing contacts, Zouc performed in '' Jeux de massacre'' by

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; ; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre#Avant-garde, French avant-garde th ...

, staged by

Jorge Lavelli Jorge Lavelli (11 November 1932 – 9 October 2023) was an Argentine-born French theatre and opera director. He staged first plays and then opera, and in both fields, he was open to contemporary pieces without neglecting the classic repertoire. ...

, as well as in ''The Birds'' by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

with music by Antoine Duhamel at the

Opéra de Lyon The Opéra de Lyon (also known as Opéra Nouvel, formerly Grand Théâtre) in Lyon, France, is the home of the Opéra National de Lyon. The original opera house was re-designed by the distinguished French architect, Jean Nouvel between 1985 and 19 ...

. She starred in many movies, working with Michel Drach, William Klein, Serguei Bordrov and Jacques Dillon. In 1983 she played against

Pierre Dux Pierre Dux (21 October 1908 – 1 December 1990) was a French stage director, stage actor, and film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1932 and 1990. Filmography References External links * 1908 births 1990 deaths Burials at ...

in ''Monsieur Abel''. In 1984 she staged her play ''Zouc à l'école des femmes'' in collaboration with Roger Montandon. In 1987 a new show, developed in collaboration with Tara Depré, was presented at Le Bataclan. During an operation for cancer of the sternum at the Marie Lannelongue hospital in Plessis-Robinson (near Paris) in 1997, Zouc caught a severe hospital-acquired infection (multi-resistant ''

staphylococcus aureus ''Staphylococcus aureus'' is a Gram-positive spherically shaped bacterium, a member of the Bacillota, and is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is often posi ...

''). After nine further operations, her life was saved at the Croix-Saint-Simon hospital in Paris, but she remains seriously handicapped, ending her career on stage far ahead of her time.

Selected filmography

* '' Speak to Me of Love'' (1975)

References

External links

Zouc
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zouc 1950 births Living people People from the Bernese Jura People from Franches-Montagnes District Swiss stage actresses Swiss film actresses 20th-century Swiss actresses