Marie-France Pisier

French actress, screenwriter and director

Marie-France Pisier

Pisier in 1992

Born| (1944-05-10)10 May 1944

Dalat, French Indochina

Died| 24 April 2011(2011-04-24) (aged 66)

Toulon, Var, France

Occupation(s)| Actress, screenwriter, director[citation needed]
Years active| 1962–2010
Spouse(s)| Georges Kiejman (1973–1979, divorced)
Thierry Funck-Brentano (?-2011, her death)
Children| Son and daughter
Relatives| Gilles Pisier (brother)
Évelyne Pisier (sister)
Awards| César Award
Best Supporting Actress
1976 Cousin Cousine and French Provincial
1977 Barocco

Marie-France Pisier (10 May 1944 - 24 April 2011)[1] was a French actress, screenwriter, and director. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.

## Early life[edit]

Pisier was born in Dalat (now Vietnam), where her father was serving as a colonial official in French Indochina.[1] Her younger brother, Gilles Pisier, is a mathematician and a member of the French Academy of Sciences. Her sister, political scientist Evelyn, was the first wife of Bernard Kouchner, a French politician and the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières. The family moved to Paris when Marie-France was 12 years old.

## Career[edit]

Five years later, Pisier made her screen acting debut for director François Truffaut in his 1962 film Antoine and Colette. She had a brief but incendiary romance with the older, married Truffaut. Despite its end, she later appeared in Truffaut's Stolen Kisses (Baisers volés, 1968) and Love on the Run (L'Amour en fuite, 1979), the fifth and final film in Truffaut's series about the character Antoine Doinel. Pisier was credited as a co-writer of the screenplay.[1] In a review in The New York Times, film critic Vincent Canby praised her "ravishing performance".[2]

Pisier later collaborated on the screenplay to Jacques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating (Céline et Julie vont en bateau, 1974); she also played a significant supporting role in the film. Later in the same year, she had a role in Luis Buñuel's Phantom of Liberty.[1]

Pisier gained widespread public recognition in 1975 when she appeared in Jean-Charles Tacchella's popular comedy Cousin Cousine. Her role as the volatile Karine earned her a César Award for Best Supporting Actress.[3] Her subsequent feature films included three with director André Téchiné: French Provincial (Souvenirs en France, 1975); The Bronte Sisters (Les sœurs Brontë, 1979), in which she portrayed Charlotte; and Barocco (1976), for which she won a second César for her performance alongside Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu.[3]

Pisier attempted to crack the American film industry with The Other Side of Midnight (1977), adapted from a Sidney Sheldon novel. She appeared on American television in the miniseries The French Atlantic Affair (1979), and Scruples the next year. She made two more Hollywood films, French Postcards (1979) with Debra Winger and Chanel Solitaire (1981) with Timothy Dalton.[1]

Returning to France, Pisier made her directorial debut with The Governor's Party (Le bal du gouverneur, 1990), which she adapted from her own novel. She also played Madame Verdurin in Raúl Ruiz's adaptation of Marcel Proust, Time Regained (Le temps retrouvé, 1999). Her final film as director was with Bérénice Bejo (winner of the César Award for Best Actress in The Artist) in Like An Airplane (Comme un avion, 2002).

## Personal life[edit]

Marie-France Pisier, 1973

Pisier's first marriage to Georges Kiejman ended in divorce.[1][4] She resided in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, Var, and was married to Thierry Funck-Brentano. The couple had a son, Mathieu, and a daughter, Iris.[1]

In 1971, Pisier signed the Manifesto of the 343, publicly declaring she had an illegal abortion.[5]

## Death[edit]

Pisier died on 24 April 2011, aged 66. She was found dead in her swimming pool by Funck-Brentano and is believed to have drowned.[1][3] She was survived by her sister Évelyne, brother Gilles, and both children.[1] The local mayor announced her death to the news media and President Nicolas Sarkozy made a public statement honouring "her supreme elegance born of the most perfect simplicity".[6][1]

## Filmography[edit]

### Actress[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Director  | Notes

|
|
|
|

1961  | Qui ose nous accuser? |  | Serge Komor  |
1962  | Antoine and Colette | Colette  | François Truffaut | From Love at Twenty
The Devil and the Ten Commandments |  | Julien Duvivier |
1963  | Les Saintes-Nitouches | Angelica  | Pierre Montazel |
1964  | Les Yeux cernés | Klara  | Robert Hossein |
La mort d'un tueur | Maria / Claudia  | Robert Hossein |
Les amoureux du France | Sylvia  | Pierre Grimblat & François Reichenbach |
1965  | The Vampire of Düsseldorf | Anna  | Robert Hossein |
1966  | Maigret a Pigalle |  | Mario Landi |
Trans-Europ-Express | Eva  | Alain Robbe-Grillet |
1967  | Non sta bene rubare il tesoro | Flo  | Mario di Nardo  |
1968  | Stolen Kisses | Colette Tazzi  | François Truffaut |
L'écume des jours | Alise  | Charles Belmont  |
1969  | Paulina Is Leaving | Isabelle  | André Téchiné |
Nous n'irons plus au bois | Lise  | Georges Dumoulin  |
1972  | Le journal d'un suicidé | The young anarchist  | Stanislav Stanojevic |
La mort d'un champion | Jane Herbin  | Abder Isker  | TV movie
Pot-Bouille | Berthe Josserand  | Yves-André Hubert | TV Mini-Series
1972-1973  | Les gens de Mogador | Ludivine Peyrissac Vernet  | Robert Mazoyer  | TV series (13 episodes)
1973  | Féminin-féminin | Françoise  | Henri Calef & João Correa  |
Juliette? |  | Philippe Pilard  | Short
Témoignages |  | Paul Siegrist  | TV series (1 episode)
Les aventures du capitaine Luckner | Kim  | François Villiers | TV series (1 episode)
1974  | The Phantom of Liberty | Mrs. Calmette  | Luis Buñuel |
Celine and Julie Go Boating | Sophie  | Jacques Rivette |
1975  | Cousin Cousine | Karine  | Jean-Charles Tacchella | César Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
French Provincial | Régina Pedret  | André Téchiné |
1976  | Barocco | Nelly  | André Téchiné | César Award for Best Supporting Actress
Surreal Estate | Agathe  | Eduardo de Gregorio  |
Body of My Enemy | Gilberte Liégard  | Henri Verneuil |
1977  | Les apprentis sorciers | Madame Umlaut  | Edgardo Cozarinsky |
The Other Side of Midnight | Noelle Page  | Charles Jarrott |
1978  | Le temps d'une République | Louise Fontas  | Michel Mitrani | TV series (1 episode)
1979  | Love on the Run | Colette Tazzi  | François Truffaut |
French Postcards | Madame Catherine Tessier  | Willard Huyck |
The Brontë Sisters | Charlotte Brontë | André Téchiné |
The French Atlantic Affair | Lisa  | Douglas Heyes | TV Mini-Series
1980  | The Lady Banker | Colette Lecoudray  | Francis Girod |
Scruples | Valentine O'Neill  | Alan J. Levi | TV Mini-Series
1981  | The Hot Touch | Dr. Simpson  | Roger Vadim | Nominated - Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress
Chanel Solitaire | Coco Chanel | George Kaczender |
44 ou les récits de la nuit |  | Moumen Smihi |
1982  | Ace of Aces | Gaby Delcourt  | Gérard Oury |
The Magic Mountain | Claudia Chauchat  | Hans W. Geißendörfer |
Boulevard des assassins | Hélène Mariani  | Boramy Tioulong  |
1983  | L'ami de Vincent | Milena  | Pierre Granier-Deferre |
Le prix du danger | Laurence Ballard  | Yves Boisset |
Der Stille Ozean | Florence  | Xaver Schwarzenberger | TV movie
Le crime de Pierre Lacaze | Colette Ribert  | Jean Delannoy | TV movie
1985  | Parking | Claude Perséphone  | Jacques Demy |
Miss Right | BeBe  | Paul Williams |
Les Nanas | Christine  | Annick Lanoë |
1986  | L'inconnue de Vienne | Florence  | Bernard Stora | TV movie
1986-1987  | Le Tiroir secret | Nathalie Duthilleul  | Michel Boisrond, Édouard Molinaro, ...  | TV Mini-Series
1988  | The Abyss | Martha  | André Delvaux |
1989  | Olympe de nos amours | Olympe  | Serge Moati | TV movie
1991  | La note bleue | George Sand | Andrzej Żuławski |
1992  | Une maman dans la ville | Sabine  | Miguel Courtois | TV movie
1994  | Seven Sundays | Marion  | Jean-Charles Tacchella |
Pourquoi maman est dans mon lit? | Véronique  | Patrick Malakian  |
Printemps de feu | Caroline Clairval  | Claude Boissol  | TV movie
La couleur du mensonge | Alice  | Hugues de Laugardière  | TV movie
1995  | La fidèle infidèle | Claire  | Jean-Louis Benoît | TV movie
1996  | Notre homme | Violaine  | Élisabeth Rappeneau | TV movie
1997  | Marion | Audrey  | Manuel Poirier |
La vérité est un vilain défaut | Monique  | Jean-Paul Salomé | TV movie
1998  | The Ice Rink | Producer  | Jean-Philippe Toussaint |
Les marmottes | Marie-Claire  | Jean-Denis Robert & Daniel Vigne  | TV Mini-Series
1999  | Why Not Me? | Irene  | Stéphane Giusti  |
Time Regained | Madame Verdurin  | Raúl Ruiz |
Les boeuf-carottes | Judge Roesh  | Claude-Michel Rome  | TV series (1 episode)
2000  | Love Torn in a Dream | Mother  | Raúl Ruiz |
Sur un air d'autoroute | Dr. Rouget  | Thierry Boscheron  |
Un jeune Français | Léna  | Michel Sibra  | TV movie
2001  | Inch'Allah Dimanche | Madame Manant  | Yamina Benguigui |
2002  | Comme un avion | Claire Forestier  | Marie-France Pisier  |
2004  | Ordo | Louise's mother  | Laurence Ferreira Barbosa |
2005  | Vénus & Apollon | Madame Pommerand  | Pascal Lahmani  | TV series (3 episodes)
2006  | Paid | Gislaine  | Laurence Lamers  |
Dans Paris | The mother  | Christophe Honoré |
Pardonnez-moi | Lola  | Maïwenn |
Un ami parfait | The widow  | Francis Girod |
Les enfants, j'adore! | Jacqueline  | Didier Albert  | TV movie
2007  | Dombais et fils | Cléopâtre  | Laurent Jaoui  | TV movie
2008  | Miroir, mon beau miroir | Marie-Line  | Serge Meynard  | TV movie
Clara Sheller | Iris  | Alain Berliner | TV series (1 episode)
2009  | Paradis criminel | Anne Lermercier  | Serge Meynard  | TV movie
Revivre | Léa Goldenberg  | Haim Bouzaglo  | TV Mini-Series
2010  | Bacon on the Side | Nicole Lacroix  | Anne Depétrini  |
Le chasseur | Natacha Delaunay  | Nicolas Cuche  | TV Mini-Series

### Filmmaker[edit]

Year  | Title  | Notes

|
|

1974  | Celine and Julie Go Boating | As a writer
1979  | Love on the Run | As a writer
1990  | Le bal du gouverneur | As a director & writer
2002  | Comme un avion | As a director & writer

## Theater[edit]

Year  | Title  | Author  | Director

|
|
|

1993  | Ce qui arrive et ce qu'on attend | Jean-Marie Besset | Patrice Kerbrat
1995  | Le Pain dur & Le Père humilié | Paul Claudel | Marcel Maréchal
2002  | Liaison transatlantique | Fabrice Rozié  | Sandrine Dumas
2005  | Chère Maître | Peter Eyre  | Sandrine Dumas
Liaison transatlantique | Fabrice Rozié  | Sandrine Dumas
2006  | N'écoutez pas, mesdames ! | Sacha Guitry | Patrice Kerbrat
2007-2009  | Le Nouveau Testament | Sacha Guitry | Daniel Benoin
2009  | Other People's Money | Jerry Sterner | Daniel Benoin
2009-2010  | In Search of Lost Time | Marcel Proust | Marie-France Pisier

## Author[edit]

Year  | Book  | Publisher

|
|

1984  | Le Bal du gouverneur | Éditions Grasset
1986  | Je n'ai aimé que vous
1992  | La Belle Imposture
1997  | Le Deuil du printemps

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Grimes, William (26 April 2011). "Marie-France Pisier, New Wave Darling, Dies at 66". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
2. ^ Canby, Vincent (6 April 1979). "NYT Critics' Pick: Love on the Run". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
3. ^ a b c "French New Wave muse Marie-France Pisier found dead". Paris. Agence France-Presse. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
4. ^ Actrice, Marie-France Pisier était aussi romancière Archived 30 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ "manifeste des 343". 23 April 2001. Archived from the original on 23 April 2001. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
6. ^ "Mort de l'actrice Marie-France Pisier" (in French). Télévision Française 1. 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011. "L'actrice Marie-France Pisier, âgée de 66 ans, est décédée dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche à Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (Var) où elle résidait, a-t-on appris auprès de la mairie de la commune."

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marie-France Pisier.

* Marie-France Pisier at IMDb
* Marie-France Pisier at AllMovie

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César Award for Best Supporting Actress

* 1976 Marie-France Pisier
* 1977 Marie-France Pisier
* 1978 Marie Dubois
* 1979 Stéphane Audran
* 1980 Nicole Garcia
* 1981 Nathalie Baye
* 1982 Nathalie Baye
* 1983 Fanny Cottençon
* 1984 Suzanne Flon
* 1985 Caroline Cellier
* 1986 Bernadette Lafont
* 1987 Emmanuelle Béart
* 1988 Dominique Lavanant
* 1989 Hélène Vincent
* 1990 Suzanne Flon
* 1991 Dominique Blanc
* 1992 Anne Brochet
* 1993 Dominique Blanc
* 1994 Valérie Lemercier
* 1995 Virna Lisi
* 1996 Annie Girardot
* 1997 Catherine Frot
* 1998 Agnès Jaoui
* 1999 Dominique Blanc
* 2000 Charlotte Gainsbourg
* 2001 Anne Alvaro
* 2002 Annie Girardot
* 2003 Karin Viard
* 2004 Julie Depardieu
* 2005 Marion Cotillard
* 2006 Cécile de France
* 2007 Valérie Lemercier
* 2008 Julie Depardieu
* 2009 Elsa Zylberstein
* 2010 Emmanuelle Devos
* 2011 Anne Alvaro
* 2012 Carmen Maura
* 2013 Valérie Benguigui
* 2014 Adèle Haenel
* 2015 Kristen Stewart
* 2016 Sidse Babett Knudsen
* 2017 Déborah Lukumuena
* 2018 Sara Giraudeau
* 2019 Karin Viard
* 2020 Fanny Ardant
* 2021 Émilie Dequenne
* 2022 Aïssatou Diallo Sagna
* 2023 Noémie Merlant

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