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Born in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, France, to a French father (a chemist) and an American-born mother (a former dancer). She took up ballet at 10 and at 16 was dancing with Roland Petit's Ballets des Champs Elysées when she was seen by Gene Kelly who chose her as his co-star in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951). The film launched her on a starring career in MGM musicals, in which she demonstrated natural charm, a fetching gamine personality, and graceful dancing. In between films she appeared on the stage, on Broadway, in London, and in Paris. Gradually she broadened her range to include serious drama as well as light films and scored a personal triumph as a dramatic actress in the British THE L-SHAPED ROOM (1962). She won her second British Film Academy Award for her performance in that film. The first had been for LILI, in 1953; she received Oscar® nominations for both. Some of her subsequent credits include FATHER GOOSE (1964), PARIS BRÛLE-T-IL? (1966), MADRON (1970), VALENTINO (1977), LA DIAGONALE DU FOU / DANGEROUS MOVES (1984), COURAGE MOUNTAIN (1990), FATALE / DAMAGE (1992), THE GENIUS (1993), FUNNY BONES and LET IT BE ME (both 1995), THE REEF (1999), CHOCALAT (2000) and LE DIVORCE (2003). In 2006, she appeared in an episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit".
Her first husband (1951-54) was meat-packing heir George Hormel. Her second marriage, in 1956, to British producer-director Peter Hall, ended in divorce in 1966, with actor Warren Beatty named as a corespondent. In 1969 she married producer Michael Laughlin; they divorced in 1980. Her current husband is writer-director Paul Magwood.
2 nominations |
Nominated for Actress