Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Marie-José Benhalassa

Gender: Female

Place of birth: Bonifacio, Corse, France

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 28

TV Involvements: 6


Most Famous Work

Biography

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.

Most Famous Work

Midi trente
Average
6

Midi trente

(1972) Self
Cadet Rousselle
Average
0

Cadet Rousselle

(1971) Self
Numéro un
Average
6

Numéro un

(1975) Self
Dim Dam Dom
Average
6

Dim Dam Dom

(1965) Self
The Truth
Average
8

The Truth

(1960) Annie Marceau
Terre indigo
Average
0

Terre indigo

(1996) Mathilde Vallogne
Les Gens de Mogador
Average
0

Les Gens de Mogador

(1972) Julia Angellier
Crime and Punishment
Average
7

Crime and Punishment

(1956) La jeune fille du bal

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2015 Jeanne Gourvennec
2007 Herself
2006 Geneviève Ferrand
2004 Elena
Éva
2003 Alice dite Yaya
1998 Self
Sura
Marie
1996 Mathilde Vallogne
1993 Oumi
1992 Mme Ginette
1982 Nora
Self
1981 N/A
Madre di Luca
1977 Cécile
1975 N/A
Self
Self
1974 Charlotte Le Royer
Self
She, Michel's wife
1973 N/A
1972 Julia Angellier
Self
Laure
1971 Self
1970 Elise Le Tellier
Farroudja
1969 Lucia
1967 Meda
1966 Electre
1965 Claude Sauvage
N/A
Self
1964 Françoise
Françoise Dubreuil
1963 Nicole
1962 Anne Arnoux
N/A
La Jeune Femme (segment "La colère")
1961 Chérubin
Amélie
Josepha
1960 Annie Marceau
Line, la jeune mariée (Le Mariage)
N/A
1959 Odette
N/A
Lise Dupont
Dorothy "Dot" Brown
1958 N/A
1957 Rosine
1956 La jeune fille du bal
Self
Year Character Movie/Tv

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