Jeanne Moreau, the French actress perhaps best known for her role in “Jules And Jim” and for playing a huge part in the French New Wave, died Monday in Paris. She was 89.
According to the New York Times, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the news. On Twitter, he referred to her as a “legend of cinema and theater.”
Moreau got her start in 1947 on the stage, eventually making her way to the Comédie-Française, a famous theater in Paris. She became one of the theater troupe’s leading actresses.
She made her way to the silver screen starting in 1949, showing up in small roles. However, she began to make a name for herself to international audiences by showing up in films such as Louis Malle’s 1958 drama “The Lovers.” The film was considered controversial at the time it was released in the United States due to a scene in which Moreau’s character is depicted in the throws of orgasmic passion. The movie was later used in an obscenity case, where an Ohio theater manager was convicted of showing a film with obscene material.
However, Moreau is probably best known for her role in the 1962 French New Wave romantic drama “Jules and Jim,” where she plays the girlfriend in a love triangle set around World War I.
She continued to work, mostly in Europe, with a number of directors including Elia Kazan and Orson Welles.
Moreau spent some time in Hollywood with a handful of starring and cameo roles. She starred opposite Burt Lancaster in the war drama “The Train” and played a descendant of Drew Barrymore’s Cinderella in “Ever After” in 1998.
While she was never nominated for an Academy Award here in the States, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award in 1998.
Moreau worked on and off throughout the 21st century. Her last credited role is in the 2015 French comedy “Le talent de mes amis.”