Rosay, Françoise

(1891-1974)

   Actress. Born Françoise Bandy de Nalèche, the daughter of an aristocrat and an actress, Françoise Rosay studied drama at the Paris Conservatoire d'art dramatique and began her career on the stage. She also became one of the great actresses of French cinema. Rosay began her film career during the silent era and went on to appear in well over one hundred films over a period of sixty years. She made her screen debut in 1913, appearing in Henri Desfontaines's film d'art production of Falstaff. She had roles in a number of other silent films, mostly those by director Jacques Feyder, whom she later married. She appeared in Feyder's Abrégeons les formalités (1916), La Trouvaille de Buchu (1916), Têtes de femmes, femmes de tête (1916), Frère de lait (1917), Le Billard cassé (1917), Crainquebille (1922), and Gribiche (1926). She also worked with René Clair in Les Deux timides (1928) and Bethold Viertel in The One Woman Idea (1929).

   Rosay's career flourished during the 1930s. She worked frequently with Feyder, acting in such films as Si l'empereur savait ça (1930), Le Grand jeu (1934), La Kermesse héroïque (1935), Pension Mimosas (1935), and Les Gens du voyage (1938). She also had roles in a significant number of films by other directors. These include Ludwig Berger's Le Petit café (1931), René Guissart's La Chance (1931), Jean-Paul Paulin's L'Abbé Constantin (1932), Alberto Cavalcanti's Coralie et Cie (1933), Marc Didier's Le Billet de mille (1934), André Hugon's Gangster malgré lui (1935), André Berthomieu's Le Secret de Polichinelle (1936), Marcel Carné's Jenny (1936) and Drôle de drame (1937), Julien Duvivier's Un carnet de bal (1937), and Claude Autant-Lara and Maurice Lehmann's Le Ruisseau (1938).

   Rosay's career remained strong throughout the 1940s and 1950s, although she fled France, along with Feyder, during the Nazi Occupation. She spent some time in Great Britain, which introduced her to English-language film. She returned to France after the war and continued her career there, although the types of roles she played evolved as she aged. She appeared in such films as Georges Lacombe's Ils étaient douze femmes (1940), Feyder's Une femme disparaît (1942), Marcel Blistène's Macadam (1946), codirected with Feyder, Marc Allegret's Maria Chapdelaine (1950), Autant-Lara's L'Auberge rouge (1951), Yves Allegret and Autant-Lara's Les Sept péchés capitaux (1952), Jean Dréville's La Reine Margot (1954), Léonide Moguy's Le Long des trottoirs (1956), and Denys de la Patellière's Les Yeux de l'amour (1959). Among the English-language films in which Rosay appeared are Terence Young's That Lady (1955), Douglas Sirk's Interlude (1957), and Martin Ritt's The Sound and the Fury (1959).

   Rosay's film career slowed significantly during the 1960s and 1970s, although she continued to act. She had roles in such films as Gilles Grangier's La Cave se rebiffe (1961), Pierre Granier-Deferre's La Métamorphose de cloportes (1965), Henri Verneuil's La Vingt-cinquième heure (1967), and Roger Pigaut's Trois milliards sans ascenseur (1972). A talented actress who did everything from comedy to romantic comedy to drama to crime films, Rosay also maintained her stage career throughout her life. Some critics have commented that Rosay owed her career to Feyder. It is true that he recognized her talent from the beginning and that their work together is some of her best and some of his best. However, she worked with many more directors than Feyder, and her career extended two decades beyond his death. Film history has perhaps not dealt fairly with Rosay, who was certainly one of the most prominent actresses of her day.

   Historical Dictionary of French Cinema by Dayna Oscherwitz & Mary Ellen Higgins