I lost half of my heart: Laura Smet, Nathalie Bayes daughter, speaks after her death

Laura Smet, the daughter of Johnny Hallyday, who accompanied her mother in illness, thanked her supporters.

Despite the grief, she managed to find the words. On Sunday, April 19, Laura Smet spoke for the first time after the death of her mother. Nathalie Baye passed away on Friday, April 17, at the age of 77, suffering from Lewy body disease, a neurodegenerative disorder. On Instagram, the actress’s only daughter, from her relationship with Johnny Hallyday, posted a photo of herself as a child. Embraced by her mother, she shows a big smile while the actress stares at the camera, with a calm look. “Mom,” began David Hallyday’s half-sister adding a heart emoji.

“I lost half of my heart, she was the best mother in the world, I’m sending you these words without really believing it yet, but I wanted to thank you for all your messages and words that touch me immensely. I love her so much. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones, especially it’s so precious.” Laura Smet was present for her mother throughout her illness. This was explained by Dominique Besnehard, who is actually the godfather of the young woman, to Paris Match the day after the passing. “She showed exemplary courage with her mother in recent days. In eight years, Laura became orphaned of both her parents,” stated the friend and agent of Nathalie Baye.

“Elle a arrêté de rire” (“She stopped laughing”)

Since the announcement of the actress’s death, her loved ones have been numerous in speaking out on social media or in the media. In an Instagram story, David Hallyday, the son of Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, shared a photo of Nathalie Baye while offering his support to his half-sister. “It’s not possible… Laura I love you,” he wrote. Nicole Garcia, speaking to France Info, recounted the last months of her friend’s life whom she directed in “Un week-end sur deux” in 1990. “She loved to laugh. She sought to have fun a lot,” remembered the filmmaker. “This neurodegenerative disease cast a shadow on her and it was no longer a question of laughter and jokes.”

Nathalie Baye and Laura Smet, an unbreakable bond between mother and daughter

For Paris Match, she also recalled the moments shared on the set of RÈGLES OF THE GAME with the late actress, until the discovery of her illness. “This is why the shadow that fell on her two, three years ago because of her illness was heartbreaking, because she stopped laughing. While all she loved was laughter… She found amusement in many things, she made jokes, she was very childlike. Her illness, for all the people who loved her, was something very sad because her laughter fell silent,” explained Nicole Garcia. Despite a difficult end of life for the actress, her loved ones are doing everything to testify to the last moments of happiness they shared with her.