Renée Faure
French postcard by Édit. Chantal, Rueil (S.-O.), no. 14. Photo: C.C.F.C. Sent by mail in 1943.
French actress Renée Faure (1918-2005) had an exceptional theatrical career that spanned from 1937 to 1990. She was a member of the Comédie-Française, but also appeared in many films. Faure was married to director Christian-Jaque, but he left her for Martine Carol.
Renée Paule Nanine Faure was born in 1918 in Paris. She was the daughter of René Prosper Faure, director of the Lariboisière Hospital in Paris, and Henriette Anna (née Beauregard). She attended the Maison de la Légion d'Honneur in Saint-Denis. An excellent student, she was the youngest graduate of her class to receive the baccalaureate. With her parents' approval, she entered the Paris Conservatoire to study with René Simon, then André Bruno. At 19, Renée Faure married her classmate, actor Renaud Mary, father of her only daughter, Emmanuelle. Renée Faure joined the Comédie-Française in July 1937, where she played ingénues and was appointed a Sociétaire (a member) in 1942. When, in 1938, she played the role of Emmauelle in 'Asmodée,' directed by Jacques Copeau, Renée Faure demonstrated her dramatic talents, and from then on, she performed plays by the great authors. Her classical repertoire included 'Ruy Blas' by Victor Hugo (1938), 'Cyrano de Bergerac' by Edmond Rostand (1938), 'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare (1940) and 'Phèdre' by Racine (1942). After breaking through on stage, she made her film debut in the crime comedy L’assassinat du Père Noël / The Assassination of Santa Claus (Christian-Jaque, 1941), the first film produced by Continental Films. She played Catherine, who dreams of her Prince Charming, Baron Rolant (Raymond Rouleau). Catherine is the daughter of Cornusse (Harry Baur), who, like every year, disguises himself as Santa Claus. But this year, a murdered Santa Claus is found. Fortunately, it isn't Cornusse; the police arrest a stranger hiding among the villagers. Her debut was followed by the romantic comedy Le prince charmant / Prince Charming (Jean Boyer, 1941). She played Rosine, a young girl who meets a wealthy partygoer (Jimmy Gaillard). He falls madly in love and pretends to be a bad boy to seduce her better. Then Robert Bresson offered her a challenging role in his first film, Les Anges du péché / Angels of Sin (Robert Bresson, 1943). In this moving drama, she played an angelic nun who devotes herself to imprisoned women. She strives to help a prisoner (Jany Holt), but once freed, the latter murders the man who caused her incarceration and takes refuge in a convent. Wikipedia: "Though usually seen as being the most 'conventional' of Bresson's features, the religious subject matter and the directness of the film's style are seen by many as auspicious of the director's later work." In Christian-Jaque's romantic drama Sortilèges / The Bellman (Christian-Jaque, 1944), Faure is coveted by a solitary sorcerer and murderer in the mountains of Auvergne. The film was popular and recorded over 2,5 million admissions in France. In the sentimental and tragic drama, Torrents (Serge de Poligny, 1946), Georges Marchal's character had to choose between his cousin (Renée Faure) and his wife (Helen Vita). A huge hit was the historical drama La chartreuse de Parme / The Charterhouse of Parme (Christian-Jaque, 1947), based on Stendhal's novel. Renée Faure played the daughter of a prison governor, who falls in love with a handsome prisoner, a marquis played by Gérard Philipe. It was the most popular French film at the French box office in 1948. In 1949, Faure starred in the romantic drama On n'aime qu'une fois / You Only Love Once (Jean Stelli, 1949), in which the mother (Françoise Rosay) of her childhood friend (Jacques Berthier) rejects their relationship and sends her son to Paris to become a great surgeon.
In 1947, Renée Faure married director Christian-Jaque. The couple worked together three times. Their last film together was the romantic comedy Adorables créatures / Adorable Creatures (Christian-Jaque, 1952) starring Daniel Gélin, Antonella Lualdi, Danielle Darrieux and Martine Carol. When Christian-Jaque started an affair with Carol, Faure's marriage to him ended in a divorce in 1953. Faure played a sinister role as an organiser of the trafficking of women in Cargaison blanche / White Cargo (Georges Lacombe, 1953) with Georges Rivière. During the 1950s, she continued to perform on stage and played in William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' (1952), Racine's 'Britannicus' (1953), and Jean Giraudoux's 'Electra' (1959). On screen, she was three times the partner of Jean Gabin, in Le sang à la tête / Blood to the Head (Gilles Grangier, 1956), the psychological drama Rue des Prairies (Denys de La Patellière, 1959) and Le Président / The President (Henri Verneuil, 1961). The following decade, Renée Faure devoted herself to television and theatre, and her appearances on the big screen became less frequent. On stage, she appeared in Jean Anouilh's 'Antigone' (1961), Friedrich Schiller's 'Mary Stuart' (1963), and Jean Cocteau's 'The Two-Headed Eagle' (1965). In 1964, she left the Comédie-Française, and in 1965, she was appointed a Sociétaire honoraire (honorary member). After a ten-year hiatus, she returned to the cinema in Bertrand Tavernier's Le juge et l’assassin / The Judge and the Assassin (1975). She played the fearsome mother of the social climber Judge Rousseau (Philippe Noiret), who handles the case of Bouvier (Michel Galabru), who has killed his fiancée and committed other crimes. In La petite voleuse /The Little Thief (Claude Miller, 1988), she had a brief but striking role as an abortionist with a witchy look who terrifies a pregnant teenager (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a little thief living on the fringes of society. After twenty-two years' absence, she returned to the Comédie-Française to play the role of the first prioress in 'Dialogue of the Carmelites' (1987) by Georges Bernanos. In the 1990s, her career was almost over. She made brief appearances in such films as À la vitesse d'un cheval au galop (Fabien Onteniente, 1992) and the crime drama L'inconnu dans la maison / Stranger in the House (Georges Lautner, 1992), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. The latter was based on a novel by Georges Simenon, previously filmed by Henri Decoin in 1941, the year of her film debut. Then, she returned to television, which she considered an ideal compromise between film and theatre. Her final film was the Italian drama
Nel profondo paese straniero / Homer: Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man (Fabio Carpi, 1995) with Claude Rich. After her divorce from Christian Jaque, she never remarried. In 2005, Renée Faure died of complications following surgery at the age of 86 in Clamart, near Paris. She is buried in the old cemetery in Boulogne-Billancourt. At Notre Cinéma, Gary Richardson cites her answer to a journalist who asked her once what her passion was in life: "Fishing. Whenever I can, I go to my cottage in the Nièvre to harpoon salmon trout."
Sources: Gary Richardson (Notre Cinéma - French), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Renée Faure
French postcard by Édit. Chantal, Rueil (S.-O.), no. 14. Photo: C.C.F.C. Sent by mail in 1943.
French actress Renée Faure (1918-2005) had an exceptional theatrical career that spanned from 1937 to 1990. She was a member of the Comédie-Française, but also appeared in many films. Faure was married to director Christian-Jaque, but he left her for Martine Carol.
Renée Paule Nanine Faure was born in 1918 in Paris. She was the daughter of René Prosper Faure, director of the Lariboisière Hospital in Paris, and Henriette Anna (née Beauregard). She attended the Maison de la Légion d'Honneur in Saint-Denis. An excellent student, she was the youngest graduate of her class to receive the baccalaureate. With her parents' approval, she entered the Paris Conservatoire to study with René Simon, then André Bruno. At 19, Renée Faure married her classmate, actor Renaud Mary, father of her only daughter, Emmanuelle. Renée Faure joined the Comédie-Française in July 1937, where she played ingénues and was appointed a Sociétaire (a member) in 1942. When, in 1938, she played the role of Emmauelle in 'Asmodée,' directed by Jacques Copeau, Renée Faure demonstrated her dramatic talents, and from then on, she performed plays by the great authors. Her classical repertoire included 'Ruy Blas' by Victor Hugo (1938), 'Cyrano de Bergerac' by Edmond Rostand (1938), 'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare (1940) and 'Phèdre' by Racine (1942). After breaking through on stage, she made her film debut in the crime comedy L’assassinat du Père Noël / The Assassination of Santa Claus (Christian-Jaque, 1941), the first film produced by Continental Films. She played Catherine, who dreams of her Prince Charming, Baron Rolant (Raymond Rouleau). Catherine is the daughter of Cornusse (Harry Baur), who, like every year, disguises himself as Santa Claus. But this year, a murdered Santa Claus is found. Fortunately, it isn't Cornusse; the police arrest a stranger hiding among the villagers. Her debut was followed by the romantic comedy Le prince charmant / Prince Charming (Jean Boyer, 1941). She played Rosine, a young girl who meets a wealthy partygoer (Jimmy Gaillard). He falls madly in love and pretends to be a bad boy to seduce her better. Then Robert Bresson offered her a challenging role in his first film, Les Anges du péché / Angels of Sin (Robert Bresson, 1943). In this moving drama, she played an angelic nun who devotes herself to imprisoned women. She strives to help a prisoner (Jany Holt), but once freed, the latter murders the man who caused her incarceration and takes refuge in a convent. Wikipedia: "Though usually seen as being the most 'conventional' of Bresson's features, the religious subject matter and the directness of the film's style are seen by many as auspicious of the director's later work." In Christian-Jaque's romantic drama Sortilèges / The Bellman (Christian-Jaque, 1944), Faure is coveted by a solitary sorcerer and murderer in the mountains of Auvergne. The film was popular and recorded over 2,5 million admissions in France. In the sentimental and tragic drama, Torrents (Serge de Poligny, 1946), Georges Marchal's character had to choose between his cousin (Renée Faure) and his wife (Helen Vita). A huge hit was the historical drama La chartreuse de Parme / The Charterhouse of Parme (Christian-Jaque, 1947), based on Stendhal's novel. Renée Faure played the daughter of a prison governor, who falls in love with a handsome prisoner, a marquis played by Gérard Philipe. It was the most popular French film at the French box office in 1948. In 1949, Faure starred in the romantic drama On n'aime qu'une fois / You Only Love Once (Jean Stelli, 1949), in which the mother (Françoise Rosay) of her childhood friend (Jacques Berthier) rejects their relationship and sends her son to Paris to become a great surgeon.
In 1947, Renée Faure married director Christian-Jaque. The couple worked together three times. Their last film together was the romantic comedy Adorables créatures / Adorable Creatures (Christian-Jaque, 1952) starring Daniel Gélin, Antonella Lualdi, Danielle Darrieux and Martine Carol. When Christian-Jaque started an affair with Carol, Faure's marriage to him ended in a divorce in 1953. Faure played a sinister role as an organiser of the trafficking of women in Cargaison blanche / White Cargo (Georges Lacombe, 1953) with Georges Rivière. During the 1950s, she continued to perform on stage and played in William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' (1952), Racine's 'Britannicus' (1953), and Jean Giraudoux's 'Electra' (1959). On screen, she was three times the partner of Jean Gabin, in Le sang à la tête / Blood to the Head (Gilles Grangier, 1956), the psychological drama Rue des Prairies (Denys de La Patellière, 1959) and Le Président / The President (Henri Verneuil, 1961). The following decade, Renée Faure devoted herself to television and theatre, and her appearances on the big screen became less frequent. On stage, she appeared in Jean Anouilh's 'Antigone' (1961), Friedrich Schiller's 'Mary Stuart' (1963), and Jean Cocteau's 'The Two-Headed Eagle' (1965). In 1964, she left the Comédie-Française, and in 1965, she was appointed a Sociétaire honoraire (honorary member). After a ten-year hiatus, she returned to the cinema in Bertrand Tavernier's Le juge et l’assassin / The Judge and the Assassin (1975). She played the fearsome mother of the social climber Judge Rousseau (Philippe Noiret), who handles the case of Bouvier (Michel Galabru), who has killed his fiancée and committed other crimes. In La petite voleuse /The Little Thief (Claude Miller, 1988), she had a brief but striking role as an abortionist with a witchy look who terrifies a pregnant teenager (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a little thief living on the fringes of society. After twenty-two years' absence, she returned to the Comédie-Française to play the role of the first prioress in 'Dialogue of the Carmelites' (1987) by Georges Bernanos. In the 1990s, her career was almost over. She made brief appearances in such films as À la vitesse d'un cheval au galop (Fabien Onteniente, 1992) and the crime drama L'inconnu dans la maison / Stranger in the House (Georges Lautner, 1992), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. The latter was based on a novel by Georges Simenon, previously filmed by Henri Decoin in 1941, the year of her film debut. Then, she returned to television, which she considered an ideal compromise between film and theatre. Her final film was the Italian drama
Nel profondo paese straniero / Homer: Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man (Fabio Carpi, 1995) with Claude Rich. After her divorce from Christian Jaque, she never remarried. In 2005, Renée Faure died of complications following surgery at the age of 86 in Clamart, near Paris. She is buried in the old cemetery in Boulogne-Billancourt. At Notre Cinéma, Gary Richardson cites her answer to a journalist who asked her once what her passion was in life: "Fishing. Whenever I can, I go to my cottage in the Nièvre to harpoon salmon trout."
Sources: Gary Richardson (Notre Cinéma - French), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.