Early life

Baye was born in Mainneville, Eure, Normandy to Claude Baye and Denise Coustet, two painters. At 14 she joined a school of dance in Monaco. Three years later she went to the United States. On returning to France she continued with dance but also registered for the Simon Course and was admitted to the Conservatoire, from where she graduated in 1972 with a second prize in comedy, dramatic comedy and foreign theatre.

Career

Her second cinema appearance was in Two People (1973) directed by Robert Wise. She became more widely known as the script girl in La Nuit américaine (Day for Night) by François Truffaut. Throughout the 1970s she played the good girlfriend or nice provincial girl in film and television.

In 1981 she won her first César, for best supporting artist in Sauve qui peut (la vie) by Jean-Luc Godard. There then followed Le Retour de Martin Guerre and La Balance.

She won two more Césars (Best Supporting Female for Une étrange affaire (A Strange Affair), and Best Actress in 1982 for La Balance). Her four-year relationship with Johnny Hallyday made them a celebrity couple and their daughter Laura is now actress Laura Smet.

After changing image by playing a streetwalker in La Balance, she widened her scope with more obscure characters in J'ai épousé une ombre and En toute innocence. In 1986 she returned to the theatre with an interpretation of Adriana Monti.

In 1999 she was voted Best Supporting Actress at Venice Film Festival for Une liaison pornographique and in 2000 starred in the award-winning film Vénus Beauté (Institut) by Tonie Marshall

She has worked with Claude Chabrol and Steven Spielberg.

Selected filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director
1972	Two People	uncredited	Robert Wise
	Faustine et le Bel Été	Giselle	Nina Companeez
1973	Day for Night	Joelle	François Truffaut
1974	The Mouth Agape	Nathalie (the daughter)	Maurice Pialat
1976	La Dernière femme	uncredited	Marco Ferreri
1977	The Man Who Loved Women	Martine Desdoits	François Truffaut
	Monsieur Papa	Janine	Philippe Monnier
	Solemn Communion	Jeanne Vanderberghe	René Féret
1978	Mon premier amour	Fabienne	Élie Chouraqui
	The Green Room	Cécilia Mandel	François Truffaut
1979	Every Man for Himself	Denise Rimbaud	Jean-Luc Godard
1980	A Week's Vacation	Laurence Cuers	Bertrand Tavernier
	La Provinciale	Christine	Claude Goretta
1981	Strange Affair	Nina Coline	Pierre Granier-Deferre
	Beau-père	Charlotte	Bertrand Blier
	The Return of Martin Guerre	Bertrande de Rols	Daniel Vigne
1982	La Balance	Nicole Danet	Bob Swaim
1983	J'ai épousé une ombre	Hélène	Robin Davis
1984	Notre histoire	Donatienne Pouget / Marie-Thérèse Chatelard / Geneviève Avranches	Bertrand Blier
	Détective	Françoise Chenal	Jean-Luc Godard
	Rive droite, rive gauche	Sacha	Philippe Labro
1985	Lune de miel	Cécile Carline	Patrick Jamain
1989	The Man Inside	Christine	Bobby Roth
	Massacre Play	Bella	Damiano Damiani
1992	The Timekeeper	Madame de Pompadour	Jeff Blyth
1993	And the Band Played On	Françoise Barré-Sinoussi	Roger Spottiswoode
1997	Paparazzi	Nicole	Alain Berberian
1999	Venus Beauty Institute	Angèle	Tonie Marshall
	Une liaison pornographique	she	Frédéric Fonteyne
2000	Absolument fabuleux	Patsy	Gabriel Aghion
	To Matthieu	Claire	Xavier Beauvois
2002	Catch Me If You Can	Paula Abagnale	Steven Spielberg
	The Flower of Evil	Anne Charpin-Vasseur	Claude Chabrol
2005	The Young Lieutenant	Caroline Vaudieu	Xavier Beauvois
2006	French California	Maguy	Jacques Fieschi
	Tell No One	Elisabeth Feldman	Guillaume Canet
2007	Mon fils à moi	the mother	Martial Fougeron
2008	Cliente	Judith	Josiane Balasko
2008	Passe-passe	Irène Montier-Duval	Tonie Marshall
2009	Face	Nathalie	Tsai Ming-liang
2010	De vrais mensonges	Maddy, Èmilie's mother	Pierre Salvadori
2012	Laurence Anyways	Julienne Alia	Xavier Dolan
2013	Queens of the Ring	Colette	Jean-Marc Rudnicki
2014	Lou! Journal infime		Julien Neel
2014	L'Affaire SK1	Frédérique Pons	Frédéric Tellier
2015	The Assistant	Marie-France	Christophe Ali and Nicolas Bonilauri
2015	Prejudice	Mother	Antoine Cuypers
2015	Dix pour cent	Herself	Cédric Klapisch
2016	It's Only the End of the World	Martine	Xavier Dolan

Television

• Au théâtre ce soir: Les croulants se portent bien (1970)
• L'inconnu (1973)
• Esquisse d'une jeune femme sans dessus-dessous (1975)
• Les cinq dernières minutes: Une si jolie petite cure (1977)
• Sacré farceur (1978)
• Madame Sourdis (1979)
• And the Band Played On (1993)
• L'Enfant des lumières (2002)
• Marie-Octobre (2008)
• Le grand restaurant (2010)

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations

Year	Title of work	Award	Category	Result
1981	Every Man for Himself	César Award	Best Supporting Actress	Won
1981	A Week's Vacation	César Award	Best Actress	Nominated
1982	Strange Affair	César Award	Best Supporting Actress	Won
1983	La Balance	César Award	Best Actress	Won
1984	J'ai épousé une ombre	César Award	Best Actress	Nominated
1991	Un week-end sur deux	César Award	Best Actress	Nominated
1999	Une liaison pornographique	Venice International Film Festival	Volpi Cup	Won
2000	Venus Beauty Institute	César Award	Best Actress	Nominated
2000	Venus Beauty Institute	Seattle International Film Festival	Best Actress	Won
2004	Les Sentiments	César Award	Best Actress	Nominated
2006	The Young Lieutenant	César Award	Best Actress	Won
2006	Mon fils à moi	San Sebastián International Film Festival	Best Actress	Won
2009	—	Legion of Honour	Chevalier of the legion of Honour	Honored
2012	—	Magritte Award	Honorary Margritte Award	Honored

[ Source: Wikipedia ]