Actress. In a theater and motion picture career that lasted over fifty years, she appeared in twenty four films. Born to an Alsatian family that had emigrated to Algeria, she took her stage name from the city of her birth, and from Mazis, a neighboring town. She entered the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Paris, France in 1919, in the class of actor Denis Ines, and made a particular impression as 'Blanche' in work "The Crow". After graduation in 1922, she joined the Theater Workshop, appearing in a number of their productions. Her personal and professional turning point was her 1923 meeting with director Marcel Pagnol. They lived together for a number of years, during which he gave her starring roles in several of his movies, most famously as 'Fanny', the pregnant, abandoned fish seller of "Marius" (1926), "Fanny (1931), and "Caesar" (1936). These form the "Marsailles trilogy", also sometimes called the "Fanny trilogy". She also enjoyed success in "Les Miserables" (1934), and "Augele" (also 1934). Her career as a leading lady ended with the break-up of her relationship with Pagnol. She continued acting in smaller parts, her final films being "Chaine" and "Bastien and Bastienne", both in 1979.
Actress. In a theater and motion picture career that lasted over fifty years, she appeared in twenty four films. Born to an Alsatian family that had emigrated to Algeria, she took her stage name from the city of her birth, and from Mazis, a neighboring town. She entered the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Paris, France in 1919, in the class of actor Denis Ines, and made a particular impression as 'Blanche' in work "The Crow". After graduation in 1922, she joined the Theater Workshop, appearing in a number of their productions. Her personal and professional turning point was her 1923 meeting with director Marcel Pagnol. They lived together for a number of years, during which he gave her starring roles in several of his movies, most famously as 'Fanny', the pregnant, abandoned fish seller of "Marius" (1926), "Fanny (1931), and "Caesar" (1936). These form the "Marsailles trilogy", also sometimes called the "Fanny trilogy". She also enjoyed success in "Les Miserables" (1934), and "Augele" (also 1934). Her career as a leading lady ended with the break-up of her relationship with Pagnol. She continued acting in smaller parts, her final films being "Chaine" and "Bastien and Bastienne", both in 1979.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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