French actress born in 1917 and died in 2017, Danielle Darrieux is one of the greatest stars of French cinema. Her exceptional eight-decade career saw her work under the direction of the finest filmmakers.
Danielle Darrieux(1917 — 2017)
Danielle Darrieux
France
8 min read
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born on May 1, 1917 in Bordeaux, she made her film debut at age 14 in 1931
- She rose to fame with Mayerling (1936) alongside Charles Boyer
- She appeared in more than 100 films over the course of her career
- She continued acting into very old age, most notably in 8 Women (2002) by François Ozon
- She died on October 17, 2017 at the age of 100
Works & Achievements
Danielle Darrieux's first film, directed by Wilhelm Thiele, in which she plays a young pianist at the age of 14. This film marks the beginning of one of the longest careers in the history of world cinema.
Anatole Litvak's film in which Darrieux plays Baroness Marie Vetsera, the tragic lover of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, opposite Charles Boyer. The film catapults her to international stardom and earns her offers from Hollywood.
Max Ophüls's film adapted from Arthur Schnitzler, in which Danielle Darrieux is one of the central figures in a Viennese romantic roundelay. Regarded as a masterpiece of postwar French cinema.
Max Ophüls's film in which she plays a worldly countess whose tragic fate unfolds through a pair of earrings that pass from hand to hand. Presented at Cannes, it was unanimously hailed as an absolute masterpiece of European cinema.
Jacques Demy's musical in which Danielle Darrieux, at 50, sings and dances alongside Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac. A dazzling testament to her versatility and undiminished energy.
François Ozon's musical murder mystery bringing together eight major French actresses. At 85, Danielle Darrieux plays the mischievous grandmother, and the ensemble cast wins a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
Anecdotes
Danielle Darrieux made her film debut at just 14 years old, in 1931, in *Le Bal* directed by Wilhelm Thiele. Discovered at an audition, she was cast as a young pianist, and the film was an immediate success. This first attempt was a masterstroke: the young actress became a star almost overnight.
In 1936, Anatole Litvak's *Mayerling*, in which she played Baroness Marie Vetsera opposite Charles Boyer, launched her onto the international stage. Hollywood offered her contracts, but Danielle Darrieux refused to settle permanently in America, choosing to remain loyal to French cinema — a rare decision for a star of her caliber at the time.
In 1942, Danielle Darrieux took part in a trip to Germany organized by Continental Films, a Nazi production company operating in occupied France. She claimed she agreed to go in an attempt to secure the release of her fiancé Porfirio Rubirosa, who had been interned by the Germans. This episode remains one of the most controversial of her career and illustrates the moral dilemmas faced by artists under the Occupation.
In 1967, Jacques Demy gave her a second wind in *The Young Girls of Rochefort*, alongside Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac. At 50, Danielle Darrieux sang and danced with a lightness that dazzled critics, proving that her talent carried across the decades without fading.
In 2002, François Ozon brought together eight of France's greatest actresses — including Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, and Emmanuelle Béart — in *8 Women*, a musical murder mystery. Danielle Darrieux, at 85, played the eldest with disarming wit, and the entire cast received a collective Silver Bear at the Berlinale.
Primary Sources
I was fourteen years old, I didn't know what I was doing. They said: act, and I acted. I wasn't afraid of anything because I didn't know there was anything to be afraid of.
I never had any other goal than to obtain the release of the man I loved. I signed nothing, approved nothing, celebrated nothing for the occupier.
I had the extraordinary luck of never being bored in this profession. Each film was a new life, a new face, a new way of existing.
Danielle Darrieux is the very soul of French cinema. For more than fifty years, she has embodied with incomparable grace all that is most profound and most human in our cinema.
Key Places
Birthplace of Danielle Darrieux, born on May 1, 1917, in this major city in southwestern France. It was in this bourgeois setting that she grew up before moving to Paris to try her luck in show business.
The heart of French artistic life where Danielle Darrieux built her career, from her first auditions to major world premieres. In the 20th century, Paris was the world capital of European cinema.
France's principal film production complex, where Danielle Darrieux shot a large portion of her career. These studios hosted the greatest productions of classic French cinema from the 1930s through the 1970s.
Danielle Darrieux travelled to Berlin in 1942 as part of a trip organized by Continental Films, the German production company operating in occupied France. This controversial episode, which she justified by her fiancé's imprisonment, would leave a lasting mark on her biography.
A commune in the Île-de-France region where Danielle Darrieux spent her final years and passed away on October 17, 2017, at the age of 100, after the longest career in the history of French cinema.