Isabelle Adjani

Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born June 27, 1955) is one of France's best known actresses. She is multilingual, and performs in her native French, English, and German. She has also been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Biography

Early life

Adjani was born in Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine to a Kabyle-Turkish father and a German mother. She was drawn to acting at a young age, playing in amateur theater by the age of twelve. As a fourteen-year-old, she appeared in her first motion picture.

Career

After minor roles in several films, she received positive reviews and much public acclaim for her performance in the 1974 film La Gifle, (The Slap). The following year, she was cast in her first starring role in François Truffaut's film, L'Histoire d'Adèle H., (The Story of Adele H.) which brought her international acclaim; it resulted in nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress and offers for roles in Hollywood films.

In 1981 Adjani received the César Award, France's equivalent of an Oscar, for her role in Possession. In 1983, she won the César again, for her vengeful turn in the French blockbuster L'été meurtrier (One Deadly Summer). In 1989, she co-produced and starred in the filmography of tragic French sculptor Camille Claudel, alongside Gérard Depardieu as Rodin. She received her third César Award and second nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film, which was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Following this publicity, she was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. Her unprecedented fourth César win was for the 1994 film La Reine Margot (Queen Margot), an impressive vehicle for Adjani as well as an ensemble epic smoothly directed by opera wunderkind Patrice Chéreau.

Personal life

Adjani has two sons: Barnabé Nuytten with Bruno Nuytten, and Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis from her tempestuous six-year relationship with Oscar-winning British/Irish actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Gabriel-Kane was born in New York City in 1995, several months after her relationship with Day-Lewis ended.

In 1987, some French media outlets incorrectly reported that she was dying of AIDS, but she appeared on television to deny it.

Adjani was engaged to French composer Jean-Michel Jarre, but this relationship ended in a spectacular and public fashion.

Filmography

Le petit bougnat (1969)
Faustine et le bel été (1971)
La gifle (The Slap, 1974)
Le secret des Flamands (1974) (TV)
L'Histoire d'Adèle H. (The Story of Adele H., 1975)
Violette et François (1976)
Le locataire (The Tenant, 1976)
Barroco (1976)
The Driver (1978)
Les soeurs Brontë (The Bronte Sisters, 1979)
Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu the Vampyre, 1979)
Clara et les Chics Types (Clara and the Swell Guys, 1980)
Tout feu, tout flamme (All Fired Up, 1981)
Quartet (1981)
Possession (1981)
L'année prochaine, si tout va bien (Next Year If All Goes Well, 1981)
Antonieta (1982)
Mortelle randonnee (Deadly Circuit, 1982)
L'été meurtrier (One Deadly Summer, 1983)
Subway (1985)
T'as de beaux escaliers tu sais (1986)
Ishtar (1987)
Camille Claudel (1988)
Toxic Affair (1993)
La Reine Margot (Queen Margot, 1994)
Diabolique (1996)
La repentie (2001)
Adolphe (2002)
Bon voyage (2003)
Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran (2003)

Discography

Pull Marine (1983, Philips) produced & written by Serge Gainsbourg

External links

Isabelle Adjani at The Internet Movie Database
Official site (in French)
A Tribute to Gainsbourg, Isabelle Adjani interprète
Biography at Universal Music France, distributor of her album (in French)
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