- Born
- Died
- Birth nameSimone Renée Roussel
- Height5′ 4¼″ (1.63 m)
- A classic beauty, blonde French actress Michèle Morgan was one of her country's most popular leading ladies for over five decades. Born Simone Renee Roussel on Leap Year Day (February 29) in 1920, she ran away from home as a teenager and studied acting under René Simon, beginning her film career at 16 working as a film extra to pay for drama classes.
The young actress soon caught the eye of director Marc Allégret, who cast her in Heart of Paris (1937), which clinched her stardom. Her remote, enigmatic features and gloomy allure had audiences comparing her to a young Greta Garbo. She went on to appear elegantly opposite Charles Boyer in the drama Orage (1938) directed by Allegret; opposite Jean Gabin in Moth and the Flame (1938) directed by Marcel Carné, as well as both Coral Reefs (1939) and Stormy Waters (1941). She had her first top-billed roles in L'entraîneuse (1939) and Law of the North (1939).
Michèle's eventual fled war-torn France for Hollywood and earned roles based purely on her European prestige. She did not stand out among the other female foreign imports of that time, however, such as Ingrid Bergman. Cast in rather routine sultry roles amid WWII surroundings, she received only a modest reception for such US-based films as Joan of Paris (1942) with Paul Henreid; Two Tickets to London (1943) with Alan Curtis; Passage to Marseille (1944) opposite Humphrey Bogart; and the noirish The Chase (1946) starring Robert Cummings.
Michèle succeeded much better at home continuing prolifically in such films as The Proud and the Beautiful (1953), The Moment of Truth (1952), Oasis (1955), The Grand Maneuver (1955), Shadow of the Guillotine (1956) (as Marie Antoinette), Grand Hotel (1959), Bluebeard (1963), Web of Fear (1964), The Diary of an Innocent Boy (1968) and Cat and Mouse (1975). Back in the late 1940's, she received the very first Cannes Film Festival award for "best actress" for her touching performance as the blind heroine in Pastoral Symphony (1946). She also received an honorary Cesar Award in 1992.
Married during the war and early post-war years (1942-1949) to American actor/singer William Marshall, Michèle's second husband was handsome Gallic star Henri Vidal and they appeared together in a couple of films, including both the historical drama Fabiola (1949) and romantic drama La belle que voilà (1950), plus The Seven Deadly Sins (1952) (albeit different "sin" segments) and Napoleon (1955). Following Vidal's sudden death of a heart at age 40 in 1959, the actress married a third time one year later to well-known French actor/writer/director Gérard Oury. They had unbilled cameos in A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later (1986). She was left a widow in 2006.
Semi-retired by the 1970's, Michèle's last feature film was a small bit in the Marcello Mastroianni film Everybody's Fine (1990). She retired in 1999 after a few sporadic 90's TV parts. She died in her home town of Hauts-de-Seine, France on December 20, 2016, at age 96.
- IMDb mini biography by: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpousesHenri Vidal(February 10, 1950 - December 10, 1959) (his death)William Marshall(September 15, 1942 - May 5, 1949) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- RelativesRené de Obaldia(Cousin)Sarah Marshall(Grandchild)
- Frequently cast by Jean Delannoy
- Often played reserved, enigmatic beauties
- Her celebrated feline eyes
- Often played tragic heroines
- Classy, sophisticated screen persona
- During a dinner with the cast and crew of Port of Shadows (1938), her co-star Pierre Brasseur made several off-color and inappropriate remarks to her, something that leading actor and Michèle's suitor Jean Gabin found greatly irritating. The following day Brasseur apologized to Michèle by bringing her flowers, but then he had to shoot a scene where his character, Lucien, gets punched in the face by Gabin's protagonist Jean. Instead of faking the punch, Gabin hit Brasseur really hard. The latter knew what it was for and said nothing. The scene was lauded by critics for its realistic feeling.
- Was considered for the role of Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (1942), but RKO wouldn't release her for the amount of money Warner Bros. was offering and Ingrid Bergman was cast instead.
- Her marriage to Henri Vidal was a difficult one because of his chronic drug addiction and jealousy towards all of her male co-stars, especially Jean Gabin.
- After losing the role of Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (1942) to Ingrid Bergman, she was eventually teamed up with Humphrey Bogart in Michael Curtiz's subsequent feature Passage to Marseille (1944). Unhappy with all her English-language vehicles, Michèle regarded the shooting of the film as the absolute worst experience of her career, calling Curtiz (whom she described as a "Tartarian-faced Hungarian") the most detestable person she ever worked with and stating that she didn't receive the slightest support from Bogart, "who was already too concentrated on his own problems".
- When she first arrived in Hollywood, she was immediately considered for the role of Lina in Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941), but was passed over since her English wasn't deemed good enough. The role went to Joan Fontaine, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Knowing that she had been rejected for this reason, Michèle understood that she had to work hard to perfect her English and, for an entire year, saw a linguistic coach for several hours a day and improved considerably. In an ironic turn of events, she was later offered the role of Belinda in Johnny Belinda (1948), which producers supposed wouldn't give her any difficulty, since it was a mute one. Taking this as a mockery, Michèle turned down the offer. The part was given to Jane Wyman, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Michèle regards this choice as one of her biggest professional mistakes.
- A woman can always deceive a hundred men, but not a single woman.
- [observation, 1942] If I had or if I do have some success, it's not I at all but fate. I am just a poor little balloon transported along by circumstances or people.
- I have never had the opportunity to play sexy women. I must believe that my charm was not in my ass.
- [on Passage to Marseille (1944)] It was a wartime melodrama full of propaganda, although Hollywood at that time couldn't have been more remote from the war. I didn't enjoy doing the film. At the time I was single, bored and unhappy with Hollywood. It seemed very unreal to me then.
- [on her Hollywood period] Why look back? I was so young then, so miserable with my poor attempts at English. I used to say 'crying trees' for weeping willows. You didn't mow the lawn. No, you shaved it. And those pictures. Those stinkers.
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