Brigitte Fossey

Biography: life and films

In a screen career that already spans seven decades, Brigitte Fossey has made over a hundred appearances on film and television. Blessed with more than her fair share of charm and talent, it is easy to see why she is one of France's best loved screen actresses. Born in Tourcoing, France on 15th June 1946, she met with national and international fame at the age of five when she took on her first leading role as the adorable war orphan Paulette in René Clément's Jeux interdits (1952). Despite the attention this film brought her, Fossey's acting career didn't really take off until the late '60s, early '70s, when she became highly sought after by some of the leading filmmakers of the day.

After Clément's film, Brigitte Fossey's next notable appearance was as Yvonne de Galais in Jean-Gabriel Albicocco's widely acclaimed Le Grand Meaulnes (1967). Then came some impressive supporting roles in Michel Deville's Raphaël ou le débauché (1970), Bertrand Blier's Les Valseuses (1973), Claude Lelouch's Le Bon et les méchants (1976) and François Truffaut's L'Homme qui aimait les femmes (1977). She was nominated for the Best Actress César in 1978 for her work on Benoît Jacquot's Les Enfants du placard (1977). Claude Pinoteau then gave the actress one of her most memorable roles, as Sophie Marceau's mother in his hit rom-com La Boum (1980) and its sequel La Boum 2 (1982). She played alongside Patrick Dewaere in Claude Sautet's Un mauvais fils (1980) and Richard Berry in Bernard Stora's Le Jeune marié (1983).

In parallel with her work for film and television, Brigitte Fossey has also had a successful career in the theatre. Since the 1990s, she has devoted most of her time and energies to her stage work and has appeared in productions of Pierre Laville's Tempête sur le pays d'Égypte (1993-4) and Harold Pinter's plays The Collection and The Lover (2000). Since the early 1990s, Fossey has been virtually absent from the big screen, appearing more frequently on television, notably in the mini-series Le Château des oliviers (1993) and several made-for-TV movies. After an interval of twenty-five years, she returned to cinema with a small part in Solange Cicurel's Faut pas lui dire (2017).

Filmography

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