Laura Smets sublime tribute to Nathalie Baye: I have lost half of my heart

Laura Smet Pays Tribute to Her Mother Nathalie Baye

After the death of Nathalie Baye on Friday night at her home, taken by Lewy body disease, tributes are pouring in to honor the memory of the 77-year-old actress.

One of the most anticipated tributes was surely from her only daughter, Laura Smet, born in 1983 from her relationship with Johnny Hallyday.

“Maman, I have lost half of my heart, you were the best mother in the world,” the 42-year-old actress wrote on her Instagram account on Sunday, April 19. “I love you so much, take care of yourself and your loved ones, it is so precious,” she concluded, sharing a photo of herself as a child in her mother’s arms.

This is the first time Laura Smet has publicly spoken on behalf of her mother since Friday.

“From Truffaut to Godard, from Daniel Vigne to Spielberg, Nathalie was the quintessential French actress, the good friend. Beloved by all, she played, she lived,” Gilles Jacob, former president of the Cannes Film Festival, reacted to the news on Saturday.

“Nathalie, you take with you our laughter and the tender memories of our early days,” actor Richard Berry called out to her on Instagram, while Xavier Dolan reminisced about their “Montreal conversations in the editing room” with her, paying tribute with a few verses from Victor Hugo.

Culture Minister Catherine Pégard lamented the loss of an “immense actress” to AFP.

Sandrine Kiberlain remembered her voice from the past, “that tone that marked my adolescence and my life.” Producer Dominique Besnehard, her former agent, reminded on RTL that “women adored her, and men respected her.”