Françoise Rosay
Françoise Rosay born Françoise Bandy de Nalèche, (19 April 1891 – 28 March 1974) was a French opera singer, diseuse, and actress who enjoyed a film career of over sixty years and who became a legendary figure in French cinema. She went on to appear in over 100 movies in her career. Rosay was born Françoise Bandy de Nalèche in Paris, the illegitimate daughter of Marie-Thérèse Chauvin, an actress known as Sylviac. She originally planned to become an opera singer, and in 1917, won a prize at the Paris Conservatoire and made her debut at the Palais Garnier in the title role of Salammbô by Ernest Reyer. She also sang in Castor et Pollux by Rameau and Thaïs by Massenet. Her first recorded film was Falstaff in 1911, and she began to work in Hollywood from 1929 onwards. In 1917, she married the director Jacques Feyder, with whom she remained until his death in 1948, having three sons. She appeared in several films under her husband's direction, including Le Grand Jeu (1933), Pension Mimosas (1934), La Kermesse héroïque (Carnival in Flanders) (1935) and Les Gens du voyage (1937). Rosay spent the duration of World War II in England and Switzerland, where she taught acting classes at the Conservatoire de Genève. She still appeared in films during this time, notably the British Halfway House (1944) as the refugee French wife of a British sea captain. During her career, she appeared with all the great stars of French cinema, including Jean Gabin, Michèle Morgan, Raimu, Jeanne Moreau, Danielle Darrieux, Micheline Presle, Paul Meurisse, Gérard Philipe, Louis Jouvet, Michel Simon, Simone Signoret, Fernandel and Jean-Louis Barrault. In Hollywood, she co-starred with Charles Boyer, Maurice Chevalier and Buster Keaton and worked with directors such as William Dieterle (September Affair, 1949), Martin Ritt (The Sound and the Fury, 1958), Ronald Neame (The Seventh Sin, 1956) and Peter Glenville (Me and the Colonel, 1957) with Danny Kaye. In England she appeared in The Alien Corn, a segment of the W. Somerset Maugham anthology film Quartet. A highly accomplished pianist herself in real life, she played the role of a famous piano virtuoso who gives aspiring pianist Dirk Bogarde a compassionate but honest and devastating critical appraisal of his likelihood of becoming a great musician – which results in his suicide. She performs in the film Schubert's Impromptu in E flat. In 1950 she appeared on stage at London's Winter Garden Theatre, playing the title role in 'Madame Tic Tac' but it had only a short run. It was not until 1938 that her biological father, Count François Louis Bandy de Nalèche, acknowledged her as his daughter. Her final appearance on film was in the Maximilian Schell-directed Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winner for Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film of 1974, Der Fußgänger (English title: The Pedestrian). She died in Montgeron, Île-de-France, near Paris. Her grave is located in Sorel-Moussel, Île-de-France, where she is buried with her husband, movie director Jacques Feyder. There are streets named after Françoise Rosay in Limoges, Montpellier, Chevry-Cossigny, Launaguet and Martigues. Source: Article "Françoise Rosay" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
The Red Inn
as Marie MartinA group of travelers, including a monk, stay in a lonely inn in the mountains. The host...
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The Counterfeiters of Paris
as Madame Pauline"Le Dabe" retired many years ago and now he lives in the Tropics where he owns stables and...
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Carnival in Flanders
as Madame BurgomasterFlanders, Hispanic Monarchy, 1616. The inhabitants of the small town of Boom are busy organizing...
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Saraband for Dead Lovers
as The Electress SophiaSophie Dorothea is a young woman forced into a loveless marriage with Prince George Louis of...
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The 25th Hour
as Mme Nagy (uncredited)A Romanian peasant fights to get back to his family after he's imprisoned by the Nazis.The...
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Pension Mimosas
as Louise NobletMr. and Mrs. Noblet run a boarding house on the French Riviera. One day, they are led by...
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Bizarre, Bizarre
as Margaret MolyneuxA French farce set in Victorian London where a botanist and his wife get into trouble when they...
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Don't Take God's Children for Wild Geese
as Léontine Palpicart aka 'La Gâteuse'Rita is a girl that lives on taking gangsters as lovers. But when the money stops coming, she...
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The Sound and the Fury
as Caroline CompsonDrama focusing on a family of Southern aristocrats who are trying to deal with the dissolution...
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Cloportes
as Gertrude, une "prêteuse" du milieuThree little criminals get a tip for a great coup with lots of money in it. Unfortunately they...
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Quartet
as Lea MakartSomerset Maugham introduces four of his tales in this anthology film: "The Facts of Life," "The...
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The Halfway House
as Alice MeadowsA group of travellers, each with a personal problem that they want to hide, arrive at a...
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The Seven Deadly Sins
as Elisabeth de Pallières, the mother (segment "Pride")A compilation of segments covers the seven deadly sins of greed, wrath, envy, pride, lust,...
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Me and the Colonel
as Madame BouffierNazis are about to overrun France, and a Jewish man named Jacobowsky is stranded in Paris. He...
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He Who Is Without Sin...
as La contessa LamieriStefano and Maria have a marriage by proxy while he is working abroad in Canada. When she is...
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Life Dances On
as Marguerite AudiéAfter the death of her husband, Christine realizes she has possibly wasted her life by marrying...
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The Seventh Sin
as Mother SuperiorIn post-WWII Hong Kong, unhappily married Carol has an affair with Paul. Her physician husband...
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The Naked Heart
as Laura ChapdelaineAt the beginning of the 20th century, in the North of the Province of Quebec. After five years...
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The 13th Letter
as Mrs. GauthierA new doctor in a quiet Quebec town sparks rumors and accusations when anonymous letters allege...
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Queen Margot
as Catherine de Médicis / Catharine of MediciMarguerite de Valois, daughter of Catherine de Médicis, celebrates her wedding with Henri de...
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September Affair
as Maria SalvatiniAn industrialist and a pianist meet on a trip and fall in love. Through a quirk of fate, they...
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That Lady
as BernardineIn 1570, widowed Princess Ana de Mendoza becomes the love object of a deadly rivalry between her...
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They Were Twelve Women
as La duchesse de VimeuseEarly in the war, a group of women decide to help the soldiers in the war front. They enlist...
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The Great Game
as BlanchePierre , a young lawyer, has enormous debts due to his mistress Florence and her whims of...
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Nobody's Children
as La contessa CanaliThe tragic love story between Guido, the owner of a marble quarry and Luisa, the humble daughter...
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Up from the Beach
as Lili's GrandmotherAfter the D-Day landings in June 1944, a US squadron liberates a small village in Normandy from...
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The Pedestrian
as Frau DechampsWhen a German businessman causes a car accident with deadly consequences, the papers start...
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Jenny
as Jenny GauthierWhen her fiancé breaks off their engagement, Danielle leaves London and returns to her mother,...
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The Little Cafe
as Mademoiselle EdwigeYvonne, daughter of Philibert, a Paris café owner, is in love with dreamy, blundering Albert, a...
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The Full Treatment
as Madame PradeRace car driver Alan Colby and his new wife Denise are involved in a car crash where he sustains...
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Gangster malgré lui
as uncreditedThe crazy adventures of a character forced by circumstances to take on such dangerous...
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Riff Raff Girls
as BertheVicky de Berlin, a female gangster, haunted by wartime memories , runs a floating night-club in...
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Back Streets of Paris
as Mme Rose, la tenancière de l'hôtelMadame Rose runs a seedy hotel in a suburb of Paris. Strong-minded but without the least moral...
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Not Dumb, the Bird
as Mrs. Morelli-JohnsonAn old lady is far from suspecting everything that is going on behind her back, in particular...
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Lovers Woods
as Madame Parisot1943, Christmas Eve in occupied Brittany. Charles, a member of the Resistance, is parachuted...
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Die Insel
as SilviaA case of espionage in high society: To save the reputation of his county, a diplomat...
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3000 Million Without an Elevator
as Madame DubreuilSeven small rogues dream of stealing the beautiful jewels which are in Paris for an exhibition.
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He
as Madame HussonIn her village, Ms. Husson seeks to put a price under a rosiere but finding no worthy young...
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Interlude
as Comtesse ReinhartA young woman touring Germany is caught between a married symphony conductor and a doctor from...
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Non sono più guaglione
as Vincenzino's motherA mechanic falls in love with a girl who aspires to become a diva.
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Women Without Names
as The CountessThis is the sad story of several desperate ladies incarcerated somewhere in Italy in a camp for...
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Full Hearts and Empty Pockets
as BorgiaA young German comes to Rome on vacation and is not slow to win female hearts. When the game...
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Smuggler's Ball
as Gabrielle DemeuseSmuggler's Ball is the English-language title for this French-Belgian seriocomedy. The action...
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L'Âge heureux
as Mme AubryThe young heroines are the "Petits Rats de l'Opéra" =pupil of the opera of Paris ballet class...
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Eyes of Love
as Mrs. Montcatel motherDuring the German occupation, Jeanne Moncatel, pretty but complexed, has to put up with her...
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The Stream
as Régina BerryWhen Paul, an officer, discovers Denise, a young orphan escaped from her orphanage, he takes...
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Armchair 47
as Gilberte BoulangerA young man marries the daughter of a famous actress, but is visibly more attracted to his...
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Wanda the Sinner
as Anna SteinerWrongly accused of his wife's death, a marine officer is forced to resign and sees his life fall...
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The Gambler
as Aunt AntoniaIn 1866, a young Muscovite named Alexei Ivanovitch arrives in Baden Baden, then the gambling...
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Two Timid Souls
as The auntGaradoux has beaten his wife. His lawyer Fremissin is young and very shy, and therefore, not...
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Sul ponte dei sospiri
as Lady of Sant'AgataComing of age, a girl is told the truth about her dead father: he is alive, but imprisoned for...
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Un merveilleux parfum d'oseille
as Louise de KerfuntelBaron Yves de Kerfunte learns of his uncle's death. Overjoyed, he is astonished to discover that...
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Abbot Constantine
as La comtesse de LaverdensA rich American lady has bought the Castle of Longueval. Her sister is being courted by two...
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People Who Travel
as FloraDue to an accident at the Barlay Circus, animal trainer Flora finds Fernand, a former prison...
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One Only Loves Once
as Mme MonnierAlthough they have loved each other since childhood without admitting it, a surgeon and a young...
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Ramuntcho
as Dolorès DetcharryRamuntcho is a young man who has fallen in with a gang of smugglers, led by Itchoua, who carry...
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The Barton Mystery
as ÉlisabethFollowing the assassination of a financier, several people who had an interest in seeing him...
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Girls of Today
as padrona della pensionePeppino Bardellotti, a widower, lives in Milan with his four daughters and ex sister-in-law...
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The Robber Symphony
as The fortune tellerA bag of loot is stashed in a piano that belongs to a family of traveling entertainers. A gang...
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Crainquebille
as Shoe Store CustomerJérôme Crainquebille, is an ageing vegetable seller who has sold groceries from his cart in in...
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The One Woman Idea
as Zuleide, Alizar's MotherHe was a great Persian Prince. His Harem was filled with seductive beauties. Yet he loved one...
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La Pouponnière
as Mrs. DelannoyChristianne Delannoy is the daughter of Mr. Brown, who subsidizes a nursery in memory of his...
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Johnny Frenchman
as Lanec FlorrieThe fisherman from a Cornish village have a friendly rivalry with the fishermen (and one...
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Gribiche
as Edith MaranetGribiche, a young boy whose mother is a war widow, gets adopted by a rich woman. She wants to...
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The Secret of Polichinelle
as Mrs. JouvenelSecret de Polichinelle roughly translates as Open Secret. The "secret" in question is an...
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Whirlpool
as Madame GardaneThe happiness of a newly-married couple, Henry and Jeannie Saint Clair, is shattered when the...
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Fahrendes Volk
as Madame FloraFernand has escaped from prison and finds shelter in the traveling circus Barlay, where his...
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Carnival in Flanders
as CorneliaFlanders, Hispanic Monarchy, 1616. The inhabitants of the small town of Boom are busy organizing...
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Portrait of a Woman
as Fanny HelderA woman disappears after visiting her daughter and realizing her presence was unwelcome by her...
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Vers l'abîme
as SylviaThe dramatic story of a military attaché, in a European embassy who will sign a fake check, in...
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Marchand d'amour
as ClaraA genius director whose daring and sensual films have earned him the nickname "The Merchant of...
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Casanova wider Willen
as Blanche BrissacJeffrey wants to marry Virginia, who refuses to marry unless her older sister, the...
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Without Trumpet or Drum
as La grand-mère de MargueriteSummer 1870. Following the French defeat at Sedan. Léon, a soldier in a detachment isolated in...
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The Magnificent Lie
as Rosa DuchêneA nightclub singer, taking pity on a blind soldier, pretends that she is the woman he once loved...
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Peace on the Rhine
as Francoise SchefferDuring the lead up to a second World War, one of several French films hoping for...
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All for Nothing
as Mrs. BossuAn honest but naive young man is manipulated by a gang of crooks who use him as as a cover for...
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La Dame de Haut-le-Bois
as Countess BrévannesThe son of the Comtesse de Brévannes dies. She, who has never wanted to meet her daughter-in-law...
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The Woman Dressed As a Man
as Princess MarieTold that he is to take charge of his grandson, a misogynistic old nobleman is taken aback when...
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Marie des angoisses
as Mme de QuersacA neglected young woman comes up against the equivocal feelings of a steward.
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Les vagabonds du rêve
as Mireille DombrevalThe Dombreval troupe is the last vestige of an outdated form of entertainment: the traveling...
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Si l'empereur savait ça
as Princess Plata d'EttingenA princess in the old Austro-Hungarian empire rejects her arranged marriage and falls, instead,...
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Serge Panine
as Madame DevarenneA mother kills a very vile character, Prince Panin, with whom her adopted daughter has fallen in...
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