Geneviève Page
Geneviève Page | |
|---|---|
 Page in Youngblood Hawke (1964) | |
| Born | Geneviève Bonjean 13 December 1927 |
| Died | 14 February 2025 (aged 97) Paris, France |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1951–2003 (film) 1943–1998 (theatre) |
| Known for | El Cid (1961), Belle de Jour (1967),The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) |
| Spouse |
Jean Claude-Bujard
(m. 1959; died 2011) |
| Children | 2 |
| Signature | |
 | |
Geneviève Page (French pronunciation: [ʒənvjɛv paʒ]; born Geneviève Bonjean; 13 December 1927 – 14 February 2025)[1][2][3] was a French actress with a film career spanning fifty years and also numerous English-speaking film productions. She was the daughter of French art collector Jacques Paul Bonjean (1899–1990).
Early life
[edit]Page was born to a family of aesthetes, like her father Jacques Bonjean, who collected art from 17th century France, her mother Germaine (born Lipman) Bonjean,[3] and her godfather Christian Dior. At the age of six, her godfather was poor and played the piano with Page"s mother, and he even talked to Page about talking to adults. She recalls, "He had no money at the time, and drew hats for big houses. He had lunch every other day at home and played the piano, with my mother in my room, with four hands. I took refuge in the bathroom to learn my lessons." At the age of twelve, Page read some works by Voltaire, and to her mother"s surprise, her father replied "If she can"t read Voltaire, she can"t read anyone." Despite this, she was a very talented young girl, playing Musset at Théâtre National Populaire and entering the Conservatory.[4]
Career
[edit]Her film début was in Pas de pitié pour les femmes (1951), followed by Fanfan la Tulipe (1952), in which she played Madame de Pompadour alongside Gérard Philipe and Gina Lollobrigida. Later, she appeared in Italian, French, British, and American films. She co-starred with Robert Mitchum and Ingrid Thulin in Foreign Intrigue (1956), Dirk Bogarde and Capucine in Song Without End (1960), Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren in El Cid (1961), and was seen in Grand Prix (1966) with James Garner, and Belle de Jour (1967), with Catherine Deneuve and directed by Luis Buñuel. She appeared with Deneuve again when she played Countess Larisch in Mayerling (1968), also co-starring with Ava Gardner and James Mason.
Billy Wilder cast her as the mysterious villain in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), her best known role because the character she played used her sex appeal to manipulate Holmes.[5] She appeared in Robert Altman"s Beyond Therapy (1987) and continued to act until 2003.
Theatre
[edit]She acted in 1943 in Le Soulier de Satin and in Oh! Les Beaux Jours, both of which were directed by Jean-Louis Barrault Madeleine Renaud Co.[6][7] Her theatre career continued in the 1980s and 1990s, with Les larmes amères de Petra von Kant (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant) (1980), La nuit des rois (Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare), La femme sur le lit (The Woman on the Bed, Franco Brusati) 1994, and Delicate Balance (1998).[3]
Personal life and death
[edit]Page was educated at École du Louvre and Conservatoire national des arts et métiers. Page was married to Jean-Claude Bujard from 1959 until his death on 29 August 2011; the couple had two children.[3] In an interview from 2013, she said she was having stewardship problems in her house and that she was "not used to talking anymore".[4]
Page died in Paris on 14 February 2025, at the age of 97.[8][9]
Selected filmography
[edit]Accolades
[edit]| Year | Title | Award[3] |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Les larmes amères de Petra von Kant | Critics Prize for Best Actress |
| 1994 | La femme sur le lit | Colombe Prix Plaisir du Théâtre Best Actress |
References
[edit]- ^ Person record "Page, Geneviève" (1927-) - BnF General Catalog. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
- ^ "88068904". Virtual International Authority File. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
- ^ a b c d e The International Who"s Who of Women 2002. Taylor and Francis Group. 2001. p. 429. ISBN 9781857431223.
- ^ a b Mirande, Par (July 6, 2013). "VIDÉO. Geneviève Page, à la ville comme à la scène (in French)". Le Point. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Gemünden, Gerd (2008). A Foreign Affair: Billy Wilder"s American Films. Berghahn Books. pp. 147–149. ISBN 978-0-85745-066-1. JSTOR j.ctt9qcq5c.12.147-149&rft.pub=Berghahn+Books&rft.date=2008&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qcq5c.12#id-name=JSTOR&rft.isbn=978-0-85745-066-1&rft.aulast=Gemünden&rft.aufirst=Gerd&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Geneviève+Page" class="Z3988">
- ^ "Theatre in France". French News. Ohio State University. 1963. p. 10.
- ^ "Jean-Louis Barrault Madeleine Renaud Co.". French News. Ohio State University. 1963. pp. 9–10.9-10&rft.pub=Ohio+State+University&rft.date=1963&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AjwGdZDlYUC&dq=Genevi%C3%A8ve+Page&pg=RA3-PA10&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Geneviève+Page" class="Z3988">
- ^ "Décès de Geneviève Page, gloire du théâtre, à l"âge de 97 ans". Le Figaro. Feb 14, 2025. Retrieved Feb 15, 2025.
- ^ Bartlett, Rhett (Feb 14, 2025). "Geneviève Page, Actress in "Belle de Jour," "El Cid" and "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes," Dies at 97". Retrieved Feb 15, 2025.
External links
[edit]- Geneviève Page at IMDb
- allmovie.com
- Geneviève Page at AlloCiné (in French)
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