- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMicheline Nicole Julia Chassagne
- Nicknames
- Micheline Prelle
- Micheline Michel
- Height5′ 6¼″ (1.68 m)
- Elegant, dark-haired Parisian Micheline Presle (billed in the U.S. as Micheline Prelle) was the daughter of a businessman whose surname was Chassagne. Taking acting classes as a teen, she was discovered by Georg Wilhelm Pabst and cast in Jeunes filles en détresse (1939) (portraying Jacqueline Presle, whose last name she chose as her own marquee name). Very early into her film career, she was awarded the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti as the "most promising young actress" in French cinema.
While Micheline proceeded to make movies during the Occupation with such offerings as Four Flights to Love (1939) (dual role), La comédie du bonheur (1940), Foolish Husbands (1941), Fantastic Night (1942), Twilight (1944), and Paris Frills (1945), she was regarded as an important young French star in the post-war years when she appeared in the classic films Angel and Sinner (1945) and, in particular, Devil in the Flesh (1947), both gaining her world-wide notice.
After a brief post-war marriage to Michel Lefort, Micheline's second marriage to US actor-turned-producer William Marshall in 1949 led her to attempt Hollywood pictures. Receiving a 20th Century-Fox contract, none of the those pictures, which included Under My Skin (1950), American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950) and Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951), the last one produced and directed by husband Marshall, captured the hearts of American audiences despite co-starring opposite Hollywood's top male superstars stars at the time -- John Garfield, Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn.
Divorced in 1954, Micheline never truly adjusted to the Hollywood way of life and returned quite willingly to Paris with her daughter, the future actress/director Tonie Marshall. She would, however, return briefly to the US in the early 1960s to appear in the Dee/Darin comedy fluff If a Man Answers (1962) and the spy drama The Prize (1963).
The supremely talented Micheline continued to reign supreme back in Europe and appeared frequently on the stage as well. Some of her post-Hollywood films (mid-1950's on) included House of Ricordi (1954), Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954) (as Madame de Pompadour), The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful (1956), Demoniac (1957), Mistress of the World (1960), Imperial Venus (1962) (as Napoleon's Josephine), Dark Purpose (1964), The Nun (1966), King of Hearts (1966), Donkey Skin (1970), The Legend of Frenchie King (1971), A Slightly Pregnant Man (1973), A Young Emmanuelle (1976), Démons de midi (1979), Thieves After Dark (1983), Good Weather, But Stormy Late This Afternoon (1986), High Finance Woman (1990), Fanfan (1993), Les Misérables (1995) and Diary of a Seducer (1996).
Into the millennium, Micheline graced a large number of French films such as Le coeur à l'ouvrage (2000), Charmant garçon (2001), Le diable dans la boîte (1977), Transfixed (2001), France Boutique (2003) (directed by daughter Tonie), Grabuge! (2005), Going South (2009), Just Like Brothers (2012) and her last, an unbilled part in Sex, Love & Therapy (2014).
Nominated for a supporting actress Cesar Award for her role as in the Venice Film Festival winner I Want to Go Home (1989), Micheline received an honorary César Award in 2004.
- IMDb mini biography by: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpousesWilliam Marshall(September 3, 1949 - December 5, 1955) (divorced, 1 child)Michel Lefort(April 25, 1945 - January 8, 1949) (divorced)
- Children
- Her chic elegance
- Her equal proficiency at drama and comedy
- Mermaid figure
- Her singing skills, often put to use in film
- Frequently cast by Marcel L'Herbier, Christian-Jaque, Jean Delannoy, Jacques Demy and daughter Tonie Marshall
- Was among the most successful French screen actress of the '40s along with her friends Danielle Darrieux and Michèle Morgan.
- Teresa Wright was bridesmaid at her wedding to William Marshall in Santa Barbara.
- Went to Hollywood in the late '40s at the advice of her American husband William Marshall, who promised her that he would do everything possible to help her career. She later stated that she didn't like any of her American roles.
- Her relationship with second husband William Marshall secretly began when he was still married to Michèle Morgan. At around the same time, Michèle was having an affair with her Fabiola (1949) co-star Henri Vidal (whom she later married) and William took advantage of this to gain custody of the son he had had with her, Mike Marshall. Mike consequently spent part of his childhood with William and his then-wife Micheline, who helped raise him alongside her daughter Tonie Marshall. Michèle never bore any hard feelings towards Micheline and always credited her with taking very good care of Mike as a second mother figure.
- Jean Renoir and François Truffaut are the French filmmakers she most regrets never having worked with.
- [about her stay at the Grand Hôtel during WW2] It was extraordinary. We'd met producers on the terraces, we'd go out on boats for picnics on the island. We were far from the war. And then people began to leave, the producers, most of the producers were Jewish.
- [on working in film during WW2] I was making Paris Frills (1945) with Jacques Becker and we'd take the métro home in the morning. There were often members of the milice on the métro, and one in particular struck me. After the war, I found myself standing in line for something and he was in front of me. I said to him, 'I remember you very well'. He didn't reply.
- [on Nazi-occupied France] I detested the Germans and did my best not to see them. It wasn't an act of heroism, it wasn't active resistance, it was an attitude. I'd play cards at a friend's house or I'd meet a group of young people like myself at cafés. We'd talk, but we were careful. A very good friend of mine, Joël Le Tac, was in the resistance, but I didn't know. He'd go away for a while -only later did I learn he often traveled to London- and then he'd come back. No questions. Only when he was arrested did I understand. I managed to get some food to him at La Santé prison, then he was deported to Dechau. But he survived.
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