France lost two icons of the 1960s in less than two weeks: first, Françoise Hardy, aged 80, and now actress Anouk Aimée, aged 92.
Anouk became an international star in 1966 with the classic A Man and a Woman, a huge success at the Cannes Film Festival and a sequel 20 years later. For this role, deservedly, the Frenchwoman was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress.
Before his consecration in Claude Lelouch‘s film, Anouk had already starred in La Dolce Vita and 8 ½, both by Federico Fellini. In all the films her sexy and mysterious image was irreversibly established, but it was the role of the emotionally reluctant young widow who falls in love with a widowed racing driver, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, that became her best known, even more so for the unforgettable soundtrack by Francis Lai.
Even with the prestige that would open the doors of Hollywood, Anouk chose to stay in Europe, making only small appearances (if at all) in American productions, except the 1969 film Justine, directed by George Cukor, which was openly negative for both.
Born Nicole Françoise Sorya Dreyfus in Paris, Anouk was the daughter of French actors Henri Dreyfus (who artistically signed as “Henry Murray”) and Geneviève Sorya. She adopted her stage name (Anouk) from her first acting role, at age 13, adding Aimée (loved in French) as her surname, at the suggestion of Jacques Prévert.
Anouk Aimée’s career was long: she worked until she was 80 years old. On the personal side, we know that she was married four times, she had a daughter with her second husband, screenwriter and film director Nikos Papadakis, and was married for eight years to British actor Albert Finney. At the time of A Man and A Woman, she was married to musician Pierre Barouh, who wrote the French version of Samba da Benção and who was on the film’s soundtrack.
Her daughter, Manuela, announced her death without revealing the cause. It’s a shame, but little by little cinema is losing its stars.
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