Early life and education

Moreau was born in Paris the daughter of Katherine (née Buckley), a dancer who performed at the Folies Bergère (d.1990), and Anatole-Désiré Moreau, a restaurateur (d.1975). Moreau's father was French; her mother was English, a native of Lancashire in England, and of part-Irish descent. Moreau's father was Catholic and her mother, originally a Protestant, converted to Catholicism upon marriage. When a young girl, "the family moved south to Vichy, spending vacations at the ancestral village of Mazirat, a town of 30 houses in a valley in the Allier. 'It was wonderful there,' Moreau said. 'Every tombstone in the cemetery was for a Moreau.'" During the war, the family was split and Moreau lived with her mother in Paris. Moreau ultimately lost interest in school at age 16 and, after attending Jean Anouilh's Antigone, found her calling as an actor. She later studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Her parents separated permanently while Moreau was at the conservatory and her mother, "after 24 difficult years in France, returned to England with Jeanne's younger sister, Michelle."

Career

In 1947, Moreau made her theatrical debut at the Avignon Festival. She debuted at the Comédie-Française in Ivan Turgenev's A Month in the Country and, by her twenties, was already one of leading actresses in the theatre's troupe. After 1949, she began appearing in films with small parts but continued primarily active in the theatre for several years—a year at the Théâtre National Populaire opposite among others Gérard Philipe and Robert Hirsch, then a breakout two years in dual roles in The Dazzling Hour by Anna Bonacci, then Jean Cocteau's La Machine Infernale and others before another two-year run, this time in Shaw's Pygmalion. From the late 1950s, after appearing in several successful films, she began to work with the emerging generation of French film-makers. Elevator to the Gallows (1958) with first-time director Louis Malle was followed by Malle's The Lovers (Les Amants, 1959). The latter film, controversial in its day, led the media to tag her 'The New Bardot'.

Largely thanks to those films, Moreau went on to work with many of the best known New Wave and avant-garde directors. François Truffaut's New Wave film Jules et Jim (1962), her biggest success internationally, is centred on her magnetic starring role. She has also worked with a number of other notable directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni (La notte and Beyond the Clouds), Orson Welles (The Trial, Chimes at Midnight and The Immortal Story), Luis Buñuel (Diary of a Chambermaid), Elia Kazan (The Last Tycoon), Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Querelle), Wim Wenders (Until the End of the World), Carl Foreman (Champion and The Victors), and Manoel de Oliveira (Gebo et l'Ombre).

In 1983 she was head of the jury at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2005, she was awarded with the Stanislavsky Award at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.

Moreau has had success as a vocalist. She has released several albums and once performed with Frank Sinatra at Carnegie Hall. In addition to acting, Moreau has also worked behind the camera, as a writer, director and producer. Her blended accomplishments were the subject of a 1988 film profile, Calling The Shots, by Janis Cole and Holly Dale.

Personal life

Throughout her life, Moreau has maintained friendships with prominent writers such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Genet, Henry Miller and Marguerite Duras (an interview with Moreau is included in Duras's book Outside: Selected Writings). She has been married to Jean-Louis Richard (1949-1964) and then to American film director William Friedkin (1977-1979). Director Tony Richardson left his wife, Vanessa Redgrave, for her in 1967 but they never married. She has also had affairs with directors Louis Malle and François Truffaut, fashion designer Pierre Cardin, jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and Theodoros Roubanis, the Greek actor/playboy.

Moreau is a close friend of Sharon Stone, who presented a 1998 American Academy of Motion Pictures life tribute to Moreau. Orson Welles called her "the greatest actress in the world", and she remains one of France's most accomplished actresses.

Selected filmography

Actress

Year	Title	Role	Director
1950	Meutres?	Martine Annequin	Richard Pottier
1952	L'Homme de ma vie	Suzanne Dubreuil	Guy Lefranc
1953	Dortoir des grandes	Julie	Henri Decoin
	Julietta	Rosie Facibey	Marc Allégret
1954	Touchez pas au grisbi	Josy	Jacques Becker
	Les Intrigantes	Mona Rémi	Henri Decoin
	La Reine Margot	Margaret of Valois	Jean Dréville
1958	Ascenseur pour l'échafaud	Florence Carala	Louis Malle
	The Lovers (Les amants)	Jeanne Tournier
1959	Les liaisons dangereuses	Juliette de Merteuil	Roger Vadim
	The Four Hundred Blows	(cameo appearance)	François Truffaut
1960	Dialogue with the Carmelites	Mère Marie de l'Incarnation	Philippe Agostini
	Moderato Cantabile	Anne Desbarèdes	Peter Brook
1961	A Woman Is a Woman	(uncredited cameo, discussing Jules et Jim)	Jean-Luc Godard
	La Notte	Lidia	Michelangelo Antonioni
1962	The Trial	Miss Burstner	Orson Welles
	Jules et Jim	Catherine	François Truffaut
	Eva	Eva Olivier	Joseph Losey
1963	Banana Peel (fr) (Peau de banane)	Cathy	Marcel Ophüls
	The Victors	the French lady	Carl Foreman
	The Fire Within (Le feu follet)	Eva	Louis Malle
	Bay of Angels	Jacqueline "Jackie" Demaistre	Jacques Demy
1964	Diary of a Chambermaid	Célestine	Luis Buñuel
	The Train	Christine	John Frankenheimer
	The Yellow Rolls-Royce	Eloise, Marchioness of Frinton	Anthony Asquith
	Mata Hari, Agent H21	Mata Hari	Jean-Louis Richard
1965	Viva Maria!	Maria I	Louis Malle
	Chimes at Midnight	Doll Tearsheet	Orson Welles
1966	Mademoiselle	"Mademoiselle"	Tony Richardson
1967	The Oldest Profession (episode "Mademoiselle Mimi")	Mimi Guillotine	Philippe de Broca
	The Sailor from Gibraltar	Anna	Tony Richardson
1968	The Immortal Story	Virginie Ducrot	Orson Welles
	Great Catharine	Catharine	Gordon Flemyng
	The Bride Wore Black	Julie Kohler	François Truffaut
1970	The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir	the singer	Jean Renoir
	Monte Walsh	Martine Bernard	William A. Fraker
1972	Chère Louise	Louise	Philippe de Broca
	Nathalie Granger	"the other woman"	Marguerite Duras
1974	Les Valseuses	Jeanne Pirolle	Bertrand Blier
1975	Joanna Francesa	Joanna	Cacá Diegues
	Hu-man	Sylvana	Jérôme Laperrousaz
1976	The Last Tycoon	Didi	Elia Kazan
	Monsieur Klein	Florence	Joseph Losey
1982	Querelle	Lysiane	Rainer Werner Fassbinder
	La Truite	Lou	Joseph Losey
1986	Le Tiroir secret (TV miniseries)	Vivi	(different directors)
1987	The Miracle	Sabine	Jean-Pierre Mocky
1990	Nikita	Amande	Luc Besson
	Alberto Express	the Baroness	Arthur Joffé
1991	Anna Karamazoff	the Lady	Rustam Khamdamov
	To meteoro vima tou pelargou	the Lady	Theo Angelopoulos
	The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea	Lady M	Laurent Heynemann
	Until the End of the World	Edith Farber	Wim Wenders
1993	A Foreign Field	Angelique	Charles Sturridge
	Catherine the Great	Empress Elizabeth Petrovna	Marvin J. Chomsky
	Map of the Human Heart	Sister Banville	Vincent Ward
	The Summer House	Lili	Waris Hussein
1995	Beyond the Clouds	a Lady	Michelangelo Antonioni and Wim Wenders
1996	The Proprietor	Adrienne Mark	Ismail Merchant
	I Love You, I Love You Not	Nana	Billy Hopkins
1997	Witch Way Love	Eglantine	René Manzor
1998	Ever After	Marie Thérèse of France	Andy Tennant
2001	Cet amour-là (fr)	Marguerite Duras	Josée Dayan
2003	Love Actually	Lady at Marseilles Airport (cameo)	Richard Curtis
	Les parents terribles	Tante Leo	Josée Dayan
2005	Time to Leave	Laura	François Ozon
	Les Rois maudits (fr) (TV miniseries)	Mahaut, Countess of Artois	Josée Dayan
2006	Roméo et Juliette	Laurence	Yves Desgagnés
2007	Désengagement	Françoise	Amos Gitai
2009	Face	Jeanne	Ming-liang Tsai
2012	Gebo et l'Ombre	Candidinha	Manoel de Oliveira
2012	Une estonienne à Paris (fr)	Frida	Ilmar Raag

Director

• Lumière (1976)
• L'Adolescente (1979)
• Lillian Gish (1983, TV documentary)

Awards and nominations

Films

Year	Group	Award	Film	Result
2008	César Awards	Honorary César	Lifetime achievement	Won
2005	Moscow International Film Festival	Stanislavsky Prize	Lifetime achievement	Won
2003	Cannes Film Festival	Honorary Golden Palm	Lifetime achievement	Won
2003	Taormina International Film Festival	Taormina Arte Award	Lifetime achievement	Won
2001	Pusan International Film Festival	Hand Printing (tribute)	Lifetime achievement	Won
2000	Berlin International Film Festival	Honorary Golden Berlin Bear	Lifetime achievement	Won
1999	Hamptons International Film Festival	Distinguished Achievement Award	Lifetime achievement	Won
1999	Créteil International Women's Film Festival	Homage	Lifetime achievement	Won
1998	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences	Tribute	Lifetime achievement	Won
1997	European Film Awards	Life Achievement Award	Lifetime achievement	Won
1997	San Sebastián International Film Festival	Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award	Lifetime achievement	Won
1996	BAFTA Awards	Academy Fellowship	Lifetime achievement	Won
1995	César Awards	Honorary César	Lifetime achievement	Won
1994	Women in Film Crystal Award	International Award	Lifetime achievement	Won
1992	Venice Film Festival	Career Golden Lion	Lifetime achievement	Won
1992	César Awards	Best Actress	The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea	Won
1988	César Awards	Best Actress	Le Miraculé	Nominated
1987	César Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Le Paltoquet	Nominated
1984	Razzie Awards	Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song	Querelle - song: "Young and Joyful Bandit"	Nominated
1979	Berlin International Film Festival	Golden Berlin Bear	L'adolescente	Nominated
1979	Chicago International Film Festival	Gold Hugo	L'adolescente	Nominated
1976	Chicago International Film Festival	Gold Hugo	Lumière	Nominated
1976	Taormina International Film Festival	Golden Charybdis	Lumière	Nominated
1967	BAFTA Awards	Best Foreign Actress	Viva Maria!	Won
1964	Karlovy Vary International Film Festival	Best Actress	Diary of a Chambermaid	Won
1963	BAFTA Awards	Best Foreign Actress	Jules et Jim	Nominated
1962	Jussi Awards	Diploma of Merit - Foreign Actress	La notte	Won
1961	Fotogramas de Plata	Best Foreign Performer	Le dialogue des Carmélites	Won
1960	Cannes Film Festival	Best Actress	Moderato cantabile	Won
1958	Venice Film Festival	Best Actress	Les amants	Won

Theater

Year	Group	Award	Play	Result
1988	Molière Awards	Best Actress	Le Récit de la servante Zerline	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]