Elegant, husky-voiced French star of the 1930s and 40s, remembered for her roles in four classics of poetic realism: "Hotel du Nord" (1938), "Daybreak" (1939), "The Devil's Envoys" (1942) and "Children of Paradise" (1945). With her striking features and aloof, mysterious air, Arletty was a kind of French Marlene Dietrich. In the 50s she divided her career between the stage and film until an accident in 1957 left her temporarily blind. Arletty returned to film in the war epic "The Longest Day" (1962) but recurring blindness sent her into retirement again soon after. Briefly jailed as a collaborator after WWII because of an affair with a German officer, she never married and had no children.
- Also Credited As:
Arlette-Leonie Bathiat
- Born:
May 15, 1898 in Courbevoie, France
- Died:
July 24, 1992.
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Job Titles:
Actor, Chorine, Model, Factory worker, Secretary
Milestones
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1931 First film, Un Chien Qui Rapporte
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1945 Played her most famous role, that of Garance in Marcel Carne s Les Enfants du Paradis / Children of Paradise
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1949 Returned to major films with Portrait of an Assassin
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1957 Accident left her temporarily blind
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1964 Began losing her vision again; condition worsened until she was almost completely blind
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Refused to work for a German film company in operation during the Occupation of France in the early 1940s
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Spent two months in jail after the Liberation after it was revealed that she had an affair with a German officer; career harmed for several years
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Starred on stage in operetta, Yes at the Theatre des Capucines
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Worked in munitions factory at age 16 and then as a secretary, mannequin and artist s model before appearing in music hall revues