Marie-France Pisier (10 May 194424 April 2011) was a French actress, screenwriter, and director. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave, and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Early life Pisier was born on 10 May 1944 in Dalat (now Vietnam), where her father was serving as a colonial official in French Indochina. Her younger brother, Gilles Pisier, is a mathematician and a member of the French Academy of Sciences. Her sister, political scientist Evelyn, was the first wife of Bernard Kouchner, a French politician and the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières. The family moved to Paris when Marie-France was 12 years old.

Career As a teenager, Pisier began acting with amateur theater groups. Years later, Pisier would make her screen acting debut for director François Truffaut in his 1962 film Antoine and Colette. She had a brief, but incendiary, romance with the older, married Truffaut. Despite its end, she later appeared in Truffaut's Stolen Kisses (Baisers volés, 1968) and Love on the Run (L'Amour en fuite, 1979), the fifth and final film in Truffaut's series about the character Antoine Doinel. Pisier was credited as a co-writer of the screenplay. In a review in The New York Times, film critic Vincent Canby praised her "ravishing performance".

Pisier later collaborated on the screenplay to Jacques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating (Céline et Julie vont en bateau, 1974); she also played a significant supporting role in the film. Later in the same year, she had a role in Luis Buñuel's Phantom of Liberty.

Pisier gained widespread public recognition in 1975 when she appeared in Jean-Charles Tacchella's popular comedy Cousin Cousine. Her role as the volatile Karine earned her a César Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her subsequent feature films included three with director André Téchiné: French Provincial (Souvenirs en France, 1975); The Bronte Sisters (Les sœurs Brontë, 1979), in which she portrayed Charlotte; and Barocco (1976), for which she won a second César for her performance alongside Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu.

Pisier attempted to crack the American film industry with The Other Side of Midnight (1977), adapted from a Sidney Sheldon novel. She appeared on American television in the miniseries The French Atlantic Affair (1979), and Scruples the next year. She made two more Hollywood films, French Postcards (1979) with Debra Winger and Chanel Solitaire (1981) with Timothy Dalton.

Returning to France, Pisier starred in films like The Ace of Aces with Jean-Paul Belmondo, and in the Thomas Mann adaptation Der Zauberberg / The Magic Mountain (1982). She also starred in Parking (1985), with Francis Huster and Laurent Malet. Pisier made her directorial debut with The Governor's Party (Le bal du gouverneur, 1990), which she adapted from her own novel that was published in 1984. She also played Madame Verdurin in Raúl Ruiz's adaptation of Marcel Proust, Time Regained (Le temps retrouvé, 1999). Her final film as director was with Bérénice Bejo (winner of the César Award for Best Actress in The Artist) in Like An Airplane (Comme un avion, 2002), and her final film appearance was in Il Reste du Jambon? in 2010.

Personal life

Pisier completed her secondary education at the Lycée de jenunes filles Albert-Calmette where she was noted as an excellent student. For further education, she attended the University of Nice and the University of Paris where she obtained degrees in Law and Political Science and has spoken of decisions to be an actress instead of becoming a lawyer. She was active in student demonstrations, and was a supporter of women's rights and legal abortion and signed the Manifesto of the 343 in 1971. She overcame breast cancer in the 1990s.

Her first marriage from 1973 to 1979 to lawyer Georges Kiejman ended in divorce due to irreconcilable differences.Actrice, Marie-France Pisier était aussi romancière She was briefly in a relationship with actor Timothy Dalton.

Pisier later on resided in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, Var, and was married to Thierry Funck-Brentano. The couple had two children: a son, Mathieu, and a daughter, Iris.

Death Pisier died on 24 April 2011, aged 66. She was found dead in her swimming pool by Funck-Brentano and is believed to have drowned. She was survived by her sister Évelyne, brother Gilles, and both children. The local mayor announced her death to the news media and President Nicolas Sarkozy made a public statement honouring "her supreme elegance born of the most perfect simplicity". Isabelle Huppert publicly paid tribute to Pisier shortly after her death.

Filmography Actress Year Title Role Director Notes 1961 Qui ose nous accuser? Serge Komor 1962 Antoine and Colette Colette François Truffaut From Love at Twenty The Devil and the Ten Commandments Julien Duvivier 1963 Les Saintes-Nitouches Angelica Pierre Montazel 1964 Les Yeux cernés Klara Robert Hossein La mort d'un tueur Maria / Claudia Robert Hossein Les amoureux du France Sylvia Pierre Grimblat & François Reichenbach 1965 The Vampire of Düsseldorf Anna Robert Hossein 1966 Maigret a Pigalle Mario Landi Trans-Europ-Express Eva Alain Robbe-Grillet 1967 Non sta bene rubare il tesoro Flo Mario di Nardo 1968 Stolen Kisses Colette Tazzi François Truffaut L'écume des jours Alise Charles Belmont 1969 Paulina Is Leaving Isabelle André Téchiné Nous n'irons plus au bois Lise Georges Dumoulin 1972 Le journal d'un suicidé The young anarchist Stanislav Stanojevic La mort d'un champion Jane Herbin Abder Isker TV movie Pot-Bouille Berthe Josserand Yves-André Hubert TV Mini-Series 1972–1973 Les gens de Mogador Ludivine Peyrissac Vernet Robert Mazoyer TV series (13 episodes) 1973 Féminin-féminin Françoise Henri Calef & João Correa Juliette? Philippe Pilard Short Témoignages Paul Siegrist TV series (1 episode) Les aventures du capitaine Luckner Kim François Villiers TV series (1 episode) 1974 The Phantom of Liberty Mrs. Calmette Luis Buñuel Céline and Julie Go Boating Sophie Jacques Rivette Also co-writer 1975 Cousin Cousine Karine Jean-Charles Tacchella César Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress French Provincial Régina Pedret André Téchiné 1976 Barocco Nelly André Téchiné César Award for Best Supporting Actress Surreal Estate Agathe Eduardo de Gregorio Body of My Enemy Gilberte Liégard Henri Verneuil 1977 Les apprentis sorciers Madame Umlaut Edgardo Cozarinsky The Other Side of Midnight Noelle Page Charles Jarrott 1978 Le temps d'une République Louise Fontas Michel Mitrani TV series (1 episode) 1979 Love on the Run Colette Tazzi François Truffaut Also co-writer French Postcards Madame Catherine Tessier Willard Huyck The Brontë Sisters Charlotte Brontë André Téchiné The French Atlantic Affair Lisa Douglas Heyes TV Mini-Series 1980 The Lady Banker Colette Lecoudray Francis Girod Scruples Valentine O'Neill Alan J. Levi TV Mini-Series 1981 The Hot Touch Dr. Simpson Roger Vadim Nominated - Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress Chanel Solitaire Coco Chanel George Kaczender 44 ou les récits de la nuit Moumen Smihi 1982 Ace of Aces Gaby Delcourt Gérard Oury The Magic Mountain Claudia Chauchat Hans W. Geißendörfer Boulevard des assassins Hélène Mariani Boramy Tioulong 1983 L'ami de Vincent Milena Pierre Granier-Deferre Le prix du danger Laurence Ballard Yves Boisset Der Stille Ozean Florence Xaver Schwarzenberger TV movie Le crime de Pierre Lacaze Colette Ribert Jean Delannoy TV movie 1985 Parking Claude Perséphone Jacques Demy Miss Right BeBe Paul Williams Les Nanas Christine Annick Lanoë 1986 L'inconnue de Vienne Florence Bernard Stora TV movie 1986–1987 Le Tiroir secret Nathalie Duthilleul Michel Boisrond, Édouard Molinaro, ... TV Mini-Series 1988 The Abyss Martha André Delvaux 1989 Olympe de nos amours Olympe Serge Moati TV movie 1991 La note bleue George Sand Andrzej Żuławski 1992 Une maman dans la ville Sabine Miguel Courtois TV movie 1994 Seven Sundays Marion Jean-Charles Tacchella Pourquoi maman est dans mon lit? Véronique Patrick Malakian Printemps de feu Caroline Clairval Claude Boissol TV movie La couleur du mensonge Alice Hugues de Laugardière TV movie 1995 La fidèle infidèle Claire Jean-Louis Benoît TV movie 1996 Notre homme Violaine Élisabeth Rappeneau TV movie 1997 Marion Audrey Manuel Poirier La vérité est un vilain défaut Monique Jean-Paul Salomé TV movie 1998 The Ice Rink Producer Jean-Philippe Toussaint Les marmottes Marie-Claire Jean-Denis Robert & Daniel Vigne TV Mini-Series 1999 Why Not Me? Irene Stéphane Giusti Time Regained Madame Verdurin Raúl Ruiz Les boeuf-carottes Judge Roesh Claude-Michel Rome TV series (1 episode) 2000 Love Torn in a Dream Mother Raúl Ruiz Sur un air d'autoroute Dr. Rouget Thierry Boscheron Un jeune Français Léna Michel Sibra TV movie 2001 Inch'Allah Dimanche Madame Manant Yamina Benguigui 2002 Comme un avion Claire Forestier Marie-France Pisier 2004 Ordo Louise's mother Laurence Ferreira Barbosa 2005 Vénus & Apollon Madame Pommerand Pascal Lahmani TV series (3 episodes) 2006 Paid Gislaine Laurence Lamers Dans Paris The mother Christophe Honoré Pardonnez-moi Lola Maïwenn Un ami parfait The widow Francis Girod Les enfants, j'adore! Jacqueline Didier Albert TV movie 2007 Dombais et fils Cléopâtre Laurent Jaoui TV movie 2008 Miroir, mon beau miroir Marie-Line Serge Meynard TV movie Clara Sheller Iris Alain Berliner TV series (1 episode) 2009 Paradis criminel Anne Lermercier Serge Meynard TV movie Revivre Léa Goldenberg Haim Bouzaglo TV Mini-Series 2010 Bacon on the Side Nicole Lacroix Anne Depétrini Le chasseur Natacha Delaunay Nicolas Cuche TV Mini-Series

Filmmaker Year Title Notes 1974 Celine and Julie Go Boating As a writer 1979 Love on the Run As a writer 1990 Le bal du gouverneur As a director & writer 2002 Comme un avion As a director & writer

Theater Year Title Author Director 1993 Ce qui arrive et ce qu'on attend Jean-Marie Besset Patrice Kerbrat 1995 Le Pain dur & Le Père humilié Paul Claudel Marcel Maréchal 2002 Liaison transatlantique Fabrice Rozié Sandrine Dumas 2005 Chère Maître Peter Eyre Sandrine Dumas Liaison transatlantique Fabrice Rozié Sandrine Dumas 2006 N'écoutez pas, mesdames ! Sacha Guitry Patrice Kerbrat 2007–2009 Le Nouveau Testament Sacha Guitry Daniel Benoin 2009 Other People's Money Jerry Sterner Daniel Benoin 2009–2010 In Search of Lost Time Marcel Proust Marie-France Pisier

Author Year Book Publisher 1984 Le Bal du gouverneur Éditions Grasset 1986 Je n'ai aimé que vous 1992 La Belle Imposture 1997 Le Deuil du printemps

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