Emmanuelle Riva (; 24 February 1927 – 27 January 2017) was a French actress, best known for her roles in the films Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and Amour (2012).

Riva was nominated for a BAFTA Award for her role in Hiroshima mon amour, and won Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Thérèse Desqueyroux (1962). For her lead role in Michael Haneke's Amour, she won a BAFTA Award and the César Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Early life Riva was born Paulette Germaine Riva on 24 February 1927 in Cheniménil, France, the daughter of Jeanne Fernande (née Nourdin), a seamstress, and René Alfred Riva, a sign painter.

Growing up in Remiremont, Riva showed an early passion for acting, performing in plays at her local theatre, but worked for several years as a seamstress. After seeing an advertisement on a local newspaper, Riva applied to an acting school in Paris.

At 26, she moved to Paris to pursue acting despite her family's objections. In 1954, she performed her first role on stage in a Paris production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. In 1957, Riva made her onscreen acting debut in the TV series Énigmes de l'histoire.

Career

Film Riva was cast as one of the leads in Hiroshima mon amour (1959), a film directed by Alain Resnais and written by Marguerite Duras, in which she played a French actress having an affair with a Japanese architect (Eiji Okada) in Hiroshima. Her performance was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress in 1960. She next appeared in Gillo Pontecorvo's Kapò (1960), Jean-Pierre Melville's Léon Morin, Priest (1961) and Georges Franju's Thérèse Desqueyroux (1962), for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 23rd Venice International Film Festival. Riva also appeared in Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors: Blue (1993), Tonie Marshall's Venus Beauty Institute (1999), Julie Delpy's Skylab (2011) and Fiona Gordon & Dominique Abel 's Lost in Paris (2016).

Riva starred in Michael Haneke's film Amour (2012) with Jean-Louis Trintignant, playing an elderly music teacher being cared for by her husband after a series of debilitating strokes. She won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2013 for her performance, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Riva traveled to the 85th Academy Awards ceremony, which was held on her 86th birthday, but Jennifer Lawrence won for Silver Linings Playbook instead. At 85, when she was nominated, Riva was the oldest ever Best Actress nominee and the second-oldest acting nominee after Gloria Stuart, who was 87 when she was nominated for Titanic (1997).

Other works Riva had an extensive theatre career in Paris. In 2001, she performed in Medea at the Festival d'Avignon. She appeared occasionally on French television. Riva returned to the Paris stage in February 2014, co-starring with Anne Consigny in the Marguerite Duras play Savannah Bay at the Théâtre de l'Atelier.

While filming Hiroshima mon amour, Riva photographed Hiroshima; a half-century later these photographs were exhibited at the Nikon Salon and issued in book form in France and Japan."Emmanuelle Riva 'Hiroshima 1958'", Tokyo Art Beat. , Nikon. Both accessed 2010-07-24. Riva was a published poet.Kim Willsher "Emmanuelle Riva, 85, star of Amour, tells of her extraordinary life", The Observer, 10 February 2013.

Personal life Riva led a private life, never married and did not have children. She had a partner, who died in 1999. Riva owned a fourth-floor walk-up apartment in the Latin Quarter of Paris, and lived there for more than half a century.

Death Riva died from cancer on 27 January 2017 in Paris, four weeks before her 90th birthday. A memorial service was held on 4 February 2017 at Saint-Germain de Charonne church in the 20th arrondissement of Paris; she was then buried in Charonne cemetery.

Selected filmography Year Title Director Notes 1959 Hiroshima mon amour Alain Resnais Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress 1959 Kapò Gillo Pontecorvo 1960 The Eighth Day Marcel Hanoun Adua and Friends Antonio Pietrangeli Recourse in Grace Laslo Benedek 1961 Léon Morin, Priest Jean-Pierre Melville 1962 Thérèse Desqueyroux Georges Franju Volpi Cup for Best Actress Climats Stellio Lorenzi 1963 The Hours of Love Luciano Salce Le gros coup Jean Valère 1965 Thomas the Impostor Georges Franju 1967 Les risques du métier André Cayatte 1972 The Gates of Fire Claude Bernard-Aubert 1973 I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse Fernando Arrabal 1982 The Eyes, the Mouth Marco Bellocchio 1983 Liberté, la nuit Philippe Garrel 1993 Three Colors: Blue Krzysztof Kieślowski 1999 Venus Beauty Institute Tonie Marshall 2001 Médée Don Kent 2009 A Man and His Dog Francis Huster 2011 Le Skylab Julie Delpy 2012 Amour Michael Haneke BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleBoston Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActressCésar Award for Best ActressDublin Film Critics' Circle Award for Best ActressEuropean Film Award for Best ActressInternational Cinephile Society Award for Best ActressLondon Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the YearLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (tied with Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook)Lumière Award for Best ActressNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActressNew York Film Critics Online Award for Best ActressPremio Cinema Ludus for Best European Actress (tied with Marion Cotillard for Rust and Bone)San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressNominated—Academy Award for Best ActressNominated—AACTA International Award for Best ActressNominated—Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best ActressNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Dorian Award for Best ActressNominated—Houston Film Critics Society for Best ActressNominated—Irish Film & Television Awards – Best International ActressNominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActressNominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressDías de Cine Awards for Best Actress 2016 Marie and the Misfits Sébastien Betbeder 2016 Lost in Paris Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon 2017 La Sainte Famille Marion Sarraut

Bibliography

See also List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References

External links

Emmanuelle Riva at NewWaveFilm.com