The actress Nathalie Baye has died at the age of 77 from Lewy body disease, her loved ones announced on Saturday. She played everything, without giving in to ease. From strong women to vulnerable characters, from art house cinema to popular comedies. Quiet yet radiant, the French actress established herself as an essential figure, a star without the arrogance.
Bold, she broke free from her classic and demure image to unleash her creativity and build an extensive filmography. From François Truffaut (“Day for Night”) to Xavier Dolan (“It’s Only the End of the World”), Bertrand Blier (“Our Story”), Tonie Marshall (“Venus Beauty Institute”), and Claude Chabrol (“The Flower of Evil”).
She ventured to Hollywood, playing Leonardo DiCaprio’s mother in Steven Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can”, starred with Josiane Balasko in the French remake of “Ab Fab”, excelled in slapstick comedies like the highly successful “Alibi.com” 1 and 2, and honed her (excellent) English in the film “Downton Abbey 2”, the sequel to the British TV series that captured the world.
Four César Awards and a Volpi Cup
Beloved by cinephiles and the general public, she was a multiple César award winner. Snatching the trophy three years in a row, from 1981 to 1983: best supporting actress for “Every Man for Himself” by Godard and “Strange Affair” by Granier-Deferre; best actress for “The Police” by Bob Swaim. She was once again honored in 2006 for “The Young Lieutenant”. Not to mention the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival for “An Affair of Love”.
“Celebrity isn’t necessarily a goal, but success is,” said the actress who always despised the spotlight and glamour, opting for a “gentle renown”.
Proud yet simple, with a soft almost whispering voice, she had that extra something that Bertrand Tavernier, who directed her in “A Week’s Vacation”, described as “beyond mere beauty. She knows how to make herself loved by the light”.
She also shone on stage, from Chekhov to Marivaux or in a solo performance in “Zouc by Zouc”. And on television, playing herself in the series “Call My Agent”.
Dance, theater, and then cinema
Born on July 6, 1948, in Mainneville, in northwestern France, Nathalie Baye, the daughter of bohemian artist painters, grew up in Paris and later in Menton (French Riviera). “I had to build myself within the deconstruction of my eccentric but troubled parents. In perpetual adolescent crisis.”
Disliking school – due to her dyslexia and dyscalculia – she dropped out at 14 and joined a dance class in Monaco. “Dance structured me, made me strong.” Dreaming of being a ballerina, she pursued her dream in New York for a year.
Back in Paris, she entered the Simon course. Convinced, she then attended the Conservatory. “I always struggled with dance. Playing immediately brought me comfort.”
She started in theater, thinking she didn’t belong in cinema. “For me, cinema was for bombshells…” Her encounter with Truffaut changed everything.
“You are a true artist, you must learn to protect yourself,” Romy Schneider once whispered to her. A piece of advice that she, who also suffered from severe claustrophobia, applied rigorously in her private life.
Johnny, father of Laura
She armored herself. Tried to keep the paparazzi at bay who, in the 80s, hounded the couple she formed for a while with the “idol of the teenagers”, singer Johnny Hallyday, father of her only daughter Laura Smet, who also became an actress.
An astonishing duo. “We had good laughs together,” she said, “Johnny was not what people imagined, he was much better than that.” “She intellectualized him, he popularized her,” summarized Dominique Besnehard, her former agent.
She also shared her life with another tormented soul, actor Philippe Léotard, Pierre Lescure, who was notably president of the Cannes Festival, and politician Jean-Louis Borloo. But fiercely independent, she never married. “I have a need for freedom that can be complicated at times to live for others.”
She always cherished her freedom of speech – she authored a support letter in 2023 for Gérard Depardieu – indicted for rape since 2020 – and couldn’t care less about her age: “the best way to move forward is simply to not care!”
“My greatest pride is managing to be in harmony with my small dreams,” claimed the actress, discreet until the end, who passed away Friday night at her home, according to her loved ones, from Lewy body disease (MCL), a neurodegenerative disorder.
French Culture Minister Catherine Pégard expressed her “emotions” at “the loss of an immense actress”. “Nathalie Baye illuminated a long chapter of French cinema history with her talent and luminous personality. I offer my condolences to her family, to the film industry, and to all those who loved her,” she said in a statement to AFP.
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