French actress and novelist (1947–2017)
Anne Wiazemsky |
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| Born | (1947-05-14)14 May 1947
Berlin, Germany |
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| Died | 5 October 2017(2017-10-05) (aged 70)
Paris, France |
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| Occupation(s) | Actress, novelist |
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| Years active | 1966–1988 |
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| Spouse |
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| Relatives | François Mauriac
(maternal grandfather) |
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Anne Wiazemsky (14 May 1947 – 5 October 2017) was a French actress and novelist. She made her cinema debut at the age of 18, playing Marie, the lead character in Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar (1966). A year later she married the director Jean-Luc Godard and appeared in several of his films, including La Chinoise (1967), Week End (1967), and One Plus One (1968).
Her maternal grandfather was the novelist and dramatist François Mauriac.
Early life
Wiazemsky was born on 14 May 1947 in Berlin, Germany.[1] Her father Yvan Wiazemsky, a French diplomat, was a Russian prince who had emigrated to France following the Russian Revolution.[2] Her mother Claire Mauriac was the daughter of François Mauriac, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.[1]
Wiazemsky spent her early years abroad following her father's postings around the world, including Geneva and Caracas; she returned to Paris in 1962.[1][3] She graduated from the high school Ecole Sainte Marie de Passy in Paris.[1]
Career
Acting
Wiazemsky made her on-screen acting debut at the age of 18, playing Marie, the lead character in Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) after being introduced to the director by actress Florence Delay.[3] The film premièred at the 1966 Venice Film Festival where it won the OCIC (International Catholic Organization for Cinema) Award, the San Giorgio Prize, and the New Cinema Award.[4] It has been listed by critics as one of the great films of all time.[5] Filmmaker and Cahiers du Cinéma critic Jean-Luc Godard wrote a glowing review for the film, writing that "everyone who sees this film will be absolutely astonished...because this film is really the world in an hour and a half."[6]
Wiazemsky developed a relationship with Godard, and they married one year in 1967.[7] She starred in several of his films, including La Chinoise (1967), Week End (1967), and One Plus One (1968).
In the 1980s, she began to write and direct. In 1994, she co-wrote the script to U.S. Go Home, directed by Claire Denis, set in 1960s France. She began to direct television documentaries.[8]
Writing
In addition to acting, Wiazemsky wrote several novels, including Canines (1993), Une Poignée de Gens (1998), and Aux Quatre Coins du Monde (2001). Hymnes à l'Amour was filmed in 2003 as Toutes ces belles promesses (All the Fine Promises), directed by Jean-Paul Civeyrac and starring Valérie Crunchant and Bulle Ogier. Her novel Jeune Fille (2007) was based on her experience of starring in Au Hasard Balthazar.
In 2015, she wrote the novel Un An Après (“One Year After”), which chronicled her time shooting Godard's film La Chinoise to when their relationship soured. It was developed into the feature film Le Redoubtable by Michel Hazanavicius.[9][3][10]
Personal life
During the 1966 filming of Au Hasard Balthazar, director Robert Bresson proposed to her several times, but she refused.[11] In 1967, she married Jean-Luc Godard and starred in several of his films; the couple separated as early as 1970,[12] though the marriage officially ended in divorce in 1979.[11]
In 1971, Wiazemsky signed the Manifesto of the 343, which publicly declared she had an abortion as a way to advocate for reproductive rights; the procedure was illegal in France at the time.[8]
Death
Wiazemsky died of breast cancer on 5 October 2017 at age 70.[11]
