Aimée, born Nicole Françoise Dreyfus in Paris in 1932, encouraged by her parents, also actors, began her career at the age of 14 with The maison sous la mer, by Henri Calef. From the beginning, he showed a unique ability to embody complex and poetic characters, which allowed him to work with some of the directors most notable of the time. His first big role came with the iconic film The Sweet Life by Federico Fellini, where she played Magdalena alongside Marcello Mastroianni. This performance, followed by her participation in Eight and a halffrom the same director, opened the doors of the international recognition.
The actress adopted the stage name Anouk Aimée following the advice of the poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert, who suggested to him that Anouk alone would not be suitable when he was 40 years old. “I was flattered when he found Aimee», recalled the actress in an interview in 2002, when she received the honorary César award for her contribution to cinema.
Born to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, Aimée was sent to southwestern France during her childhood to escape Nazi raids. She later took refuge in Morzine, near the Swiss border, where she shared a boarding house with the future filmmaker. Roger Vadim. These years of childhood and adolescence, marked by conflict and survival, shaped her vision of life and his artistic career.
Aimée also left her mark on Hollywood cinema. In 1966, her role in A Man and a Woman by Claude Lelouch earned him the Palme d’Or in it Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe for best actress and an Oscar nomination. The chemistry she shared with Jean-Louis Trintignant on screen became one of the most remembered in romantic cinema. Years later, Aimée would return to play Anne Gauthier in The most beautiful years of a lifein 2019, thus closing a cycle with Lelouch.
Throughout her extensive career, Aimée worked with renowned directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Marco Bellocchio, Robert Altman and Agnès Varda. However, not all of her collaborations were successful. Model Shop by Jacques Demy, in which Aimée shared the screen with a young man Harrison Forddid not achieve the expected impact, partly due to the lack of support from producers.
Aimée was married four times. Her last marriage was to British actor Albert Finney, with whom she moved to London and briefly retired from acting. Among her Hollywood loves were figures such as Omar Sharif and Warren Beatty. Despite her success and glamour, Aimée always maintained a humble perspective on her career, stating that she was very lucky and that she never took herself too seriously, a lesson she learned from Fellini. .
Anouk Aimée lived her last years away from the spotlight, regretting that young directors were not daring enough to offer her challenging roles. However, her legacy remains in the films she starred in and in the memories of those who admired her.
Anouk Aimée’s career spanned more than seven decades, leaving an indelible mark in the history of cinema. Her ability to play iconic characters and her naturalness in the face of her fame made her a true icon of the world. seventh Art.
