Michèle Girardon

Michèle Girardon (9 August 1938 – 25 March 1975), sometimes credited as Michele Girardon, was a French actress.

Michèle Girardon
Born	(1938-08-09)9 August 1938 Lyon, France
Died	25 March 1975(1975-03-25) (aged 36) Lyon, France
Resting place	Cimetière parisien de Bagneux
Other names	Michele Girardon
Years active	1956–1971
Partner	José Luis de Vilallonga (1957–1972)

Career

Born in Lyon, France, Girardon began acting as early as 1956, and had a small but noticeable role as a deaf-mute beauty in director Luis Buñuel's La mort en ce jardin (Death in the Garden) (1956). She soon became prominent in a host of films, including those of notable directors of the French New Wave. She is probably best known as an actress for her work in director Louis Malle's Les Amants (The Lovers) in 1958, and the 1961 Howard Hawks production of Hatari! starring John Wayne and Hardy Krüger; for the latter, as she spoke no English when cast in the role, she taught herself English while on the set, according to a July 1961 Life magazine profile of the actress.^[1] The same article stated she was signed to a five–year contract with Paramount Studios. 1963 proved to be her most active year, with several avant garde films to her credit including Pierre Kast's Vacances Portugaises (Portuguese Vacations), André Cayatte's experimental 'paired' films Jean-Marc ou La vie conjugale (Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc), and Françoise ou La vie conjugale (Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Françoise), and director Éric Rohmer's La Boulangère de Monceau (The Girl at the Monceau Bakery).

Girardon also worked in television. In 1967, she played Nicole in the first season of Les Chevaliers du ciel. The success of this series brought her a very high level of popularity.

Love and suicide

During the 1960s, Girardon became romantically involved with a married Spanish nobleman and occasional actor, José Luis de Vilallonga, whom she had first met on the set of Les Amants.^[2] The couple lived together throughout much of the 1960s.^[3]

By 1971, Girardon's acting career was over and after finally obtaining his divorce in 1972,^[4] de Vilallonga ended their relationship to marry another woman, Ursula Dietrich.^[5] Girardon never married or had children and became increasingly despondent. She committed suicide via an overdose of sleeping pills at the age of 36 in Lyon on 25 March 1975. She is interred near Lyon in the Cimetière de Sarcey, Rhône..^[6]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Death in the Garden	María Castin	French title: La mort en ce jardin
1958	Vive les vacances	Graziella
1958	The Lovers	The secretary	French title: Les amants
1959	Vous n'avez rien à déclarer?	Paulette
1960	Il principe fusto	Susan Burton
1961	La Proie pour l'ombre	Anita
1961	White Slave Ship	Anna	Italian title: L'ammutinamento
1962	The Seven Deadly Sins	Héloïse – la maîtresse	(segment "L'Orgueuil")
1962	Le Signe du Lion	Dominique Laurent
1962	Hatari!	Brandy de la Court	Credited as Michele Girardon
1962	Virginie	Betty
1963	The Adventures of Scaramouche	Diana – Souchil's ward
1963	Portuguese Vacation	Geneviève
1963	The Bakery Girl of Monceau	Sylvie	Short French title: La Boulangère de Monceau
1964	Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc	Patricia
1964	Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Françoise
1964	Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules	Princess Soraya	Alternative titles: Anthar l'invincibile Anthar the Invincible Soraya Reina Del Desierto
1964	The Magnificent Cuckold	Cristiana	Italian title: Il magnifico cornuto
1965	The Treasure of the Aztecs	Josefa
1965	The Pyramid of the Sun God
1965	The Hour of Truth [fr]	Chérie
1966	Tender Scoundrel	Girl at the Ritz
1968	Drôle de jeu	Chloé
1968	Red Roses for Angelica	Antoinette La Fleche
1968	I'll Sell My Skin Dearly	Georgina Bennett	Italian title: Vendo cara la pelle
1971	Good Little Girls	Madame de Fleurville	French title: Les Petites Filles modèles
1971	Mais qui donc m'a fait ce bébé?		(final film role)