Marie-José Nat
Actor/Actriz
46
Movies
10
TV Shows
Marie-José Benhalassa (22 April 1940 – 10 October 2019), known professionally as Marie-José Nat, was a French actress. Among her notable works in cinema were the sequel films Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc and Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Françoise (1963), directed by André Cayatte. In 1974, she received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film Violins at the Ball.
Benhalassa was born in Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, to a Kabyle Berber father, Abdelkader Benhalassa, and a Corsican mother, Vincentine (Biancarelli).
In 1960, she married the actor Roger Dumas and divorced him in 1962. She then married French director Michel Drach with whom she had three sons, David, Julien and Aurélien. They divorced in 1981. She had a relationship of several years with the actor Victor Lanoux. On 30 September 2005 she married the painter, writer and songwriter Serge Rezvani in her third marriage.
She died in Paris of cancer at age 79.
After secondary studies at the Ajaccio high school, Benhalassa entered the cours Simon in Paris.
Benhalassa began her career as a cover-girl and haute-couture model. In 1955, she won a competition from the magazine Femmes d'aujourd'hui which allowed her to become Jean-Claude Pascal's partner in a photo comics entitled L'amour est un songe.
Denys de La Patellière offered her her first major role in 1959 in Rue des prairies alongside Jean Gabin, in which she played his daughter. The following year, she performed in a comedy sketch by René Clair alongside Claude Rich and Yves Robert, and obtained a major role in La Vérité by Henri-Georges Clouzot, playing Brigitte Bardot's rival opposite Sami Frey.
In 1965, she married filmmaker Michel Drach; they had three children and divorced in 1981. She starred in several of her husband's films: Amelie or The Time to Love (1961), Elise, or Real Life (1970) and Les violons du bal (1974), inspired by his childhood experiences during World War II. She was also known for Train of Life (1998), Litan (1982) and The Dacians (1966) with Jean Sorel, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Victor Lanoux and Bernadette Lafont as acting partners.
In 2001, Nat was a member of the jury at the 36th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2001, and at the 24th Cabourg Film Festival in 2010.
She was the very first person to appear on the front cover of Télé 7 Jours in its current name on March 26, 1960.
Nat was awarded Best Actress at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Violins at the Ball, and the film was nominated for the Golden Palm award.
She was made a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur on 31 December 2004, chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite on 18 November 2002 and promoted to the rank of officer on 14 November 2011, commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres as a member of the conseil de l'ordre of which she was a member from 1 March 2001 until April 2012.
Source: Article "Marie-José Nat" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
As Actor/Actress
Champs-Elysées
Self
Vivement dimanche
Self
Spécial cinéma
Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
Numéro un
Self
Cinépanorama
Self
Dim Dam Dom
Self
Cadet Rousselle
Self
Les Gens de Mogador
Julia Angellier
Train de vie
Sura
La disubbidienza
Madre di Luca
Les Sept Péchés capitaux
La Jeune Femme (segment "La colère")
La Vérité
Annie Marceau
Terre indigo
Mathilde Vallogne
Dacii
Meda
Éducation sentimentale
Anne Arnoux
La Française et l'Amour
Line, la jeune mariée (segment "Le Mariage")
Rue des Prairies
Odette
Litan
Nora
Embassy
Laure
Crime et châtiment
La jeune fille du bal
Le Passé simple
Cécile
Le Mystère Bardot
Río Negro
Mrs. Ginette
La Menace
Josepha
Les Rosenberg ne doivent pas mourir
Ethel Rosenberg
Amélie ou le temps d'aimer
Amélie
Les Blessures de l'île
Jeanne Gourvennec
Le Paria
Lucia
La Bonne Occase
Béatrice