Marie Laforêt

A sultry presence on screen in French cinema during the early 1960s, Marie LaForêt successfully transitioned to a popular second career as a singer of socially conscious folk and pop songs and later, a successful run in French theater. Born Maïtène Marie Brigittie Doumenach in the French seaside town of Soulac-sur-Mer, her childhood was marked by trauma and tragedy: her father, manufacturer Jean Doumenach, was captured by German forces and held as a prisoner of war until 1945, and during his absence, LaForêt was sexually abused on multiple occasions, beginning at the age of three, by a neighbor. After her father was liberated in 1945, the family relocated several times before settling in Paris; there, LaForêt briefly considered becoming a nun before entering the Lycee La Fontaine. There, she became interested in acting, though her entry into the business came largely by accident: she replaced her ailing sister in a radio talent contest and won the competition, which brought her to the attention of critic-turned-director Louis Malle. LaForêt was slated to make her film debut in one of Malle's films, but the project fell through, and she made her first screen appearance the following year in Rene Clement's "Plein Soleil" ("Purple Noon" 1960), a sun-drenched take on Patricia Highsmith's thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley. She followed its success with the breezy "Saint-Tropez Blues" (1961), for which she also sang the theme song; the performance led to LaForêt's second career as a recording artist, though her material hewed closer to the American folk scene than the kittenish "ye-ye" songs of other '60s French female performers as France Gall or Sylvie Vartan. LaForêt helped to popularize Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" with her 1963 version of the song, and recorded numerous traditional folk and blues numbers sung in French and Spanish, and often with Middle Eastern arrangements. Her film career also continued at a steady clip during this period, with roles in films by Claude Chabral ("Blue Panther," 1965) Valerio Zurlini ("The Camp Followers," 1965) and Jean-Gabriel Albicocco, who became her first husband in 1961, before tapering off in the mid-point of the 1960s. LaForêt's music career soon took precedent, thanks to a string of hits for the Polydor label, including a 1966 cover of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black" and collaborations with songwriter Andre Popp like "Mon amour, mon ami" and "Manchester et Liverpool." Her music success continued into the 1970s, thanks to stately renditions of Simon Butterfly's "Rain, Rain, Rain" and the Beatles-themed ballad "Il a neige sur Yesterday" ("It Has Snowed on Yesterday"), but creative differences with her new label, CBS Records, led her to leave both pop and France behind for an art gallery in Switzerland. LaForêt eventually returned to acting in French and Italian films and television projects, including the French comedy "F---king Fernand" (1987), which earned her a Cesar nomination, and an adaptation of Moliere's "The Miser" for Tonino Cervi in 1990. She also made forays into stage work, earning critical praise for her turn as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's "Master Class" in 2000 and 2008, and returned to music to considerable acclaim on several occasions, including a sold-tour of France in 2000. LaForêt retired from acting in 2010 after making her final screen appearance opposite another French icon, Jeanne Moreau, in "Dispositif 47- The Second Death" that same year. She passed away in her adopted home of Switzerland at the age of 80 on November 2, 2019.