All The Babes
Michele Girardon
Career
Active 1956 – 1975
Biography
About Michele Girardon
Slim, auburn-haired, and 5'10" tall, Michèle Girardon was born in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France, in August 1938. She studied acting at the local conservatoire and, by age twenty, won a competition as "the most photogenic girl in France." That led to photo shoots, modeling, and magazine covers for Vogue and Marie-Claire. She made her screen debut as a deaf mute in Luis Buñuel's Death in the Garden (1956) and appeared as a secretary in Louis Malle's The Lovers (1958). Her first lead role came in Éric Rohmer's Sign of the Lion (1962), one of the first Nouvelle Vague films, shot on location in Paris. The film wasn't a commercial hit, but her acting drew praise and Hollywood's attention.
Paramount offered her the role of a Tanzanian game farm owner opposite John Wayne in the African adventure Hatari! (1962). She learned English on the set, as a Life magazine profile noted in July 1961. The film didn't lead to a Hollywood contract. Still, she stayed busy in Europe, starring in the Spanish swashbuckler The Adventures of Scaramouche (1963) and the Italian comedy The Magnificent Cuckold (1964), with a supporting role in the Franco-Italian comedy Tender Scoundrel (1966). By the early 1970s, film offers dried up. She became despondent, especially after a relationship with a married Spanish aristocrat, José Luis de Vilallonga, ended. Michèle Girardon took her own life with an overdose of sleeping pills on March 25, 1975, at age 36. Two co-stars from her penultimate film, Good Little Girls (1971), Marie-Georges Pascal and Bella Darvi, also died by suicide at ages 39 and 42, respectively.
Record
Profile details
Frequently asked
What were Michèle Girardon's early career milestones before her film debut?
She studied acting at the local conservatoire in Lyon, won a competition as 'the most photogenic girl in France' by age twenty, and modeled, appearing on covers of Vogue and Marie-Claire.
How did Michèle Girardon prepare for her role in Hatari!?
According to a Life magazine profile from July 1961, she 'taught herself English' on the set.
What tragic coincidence links Michèle Girardon to two other actresses?
Two actresses who appeared in her penultimate film, Good Little Girls (1971), also died by suicide: Marie-Georges Pascal at age 39 and Bella Darvi at age 42.
Did you know
- Won a competition as 'the most photogenic girl in France' by age 20.
- Her first leading role came from director Éric Rohmer in Sign of the Lion (1962), part of the French Nouvelle Vague.
- Paramount offered her a role opposite John Wayne in Hatari! (1962), but she didn't receive a Hollywood contract.
- Her relationship with married Spanish aristocrat José Luis de Vilallonga, a writer and occasional actor, ended before her death.
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