Beginning in 1931, she appeared in more than 110 films. She was one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career was among the longest in film history. She turned 100 in May 2017.
Darrieux was born in Bordeaux, France during World War I to a physician who was serving in the French Army. Her father died when she was seven years old. Raised in Paris, she studied the cello at the Conservatoire de Musique. At 13, she won a part in the musical film Le Bal (1931). Her beauty combined with her singing and dancing ability led to numerous other offers, and the film Mayerling (1936) brought her to fame.
In 1935, Darrieux married director/screenwriter Henri Decoin, who encouraged her to try Hollywood. She signed with Universal Studios to star in The Rage of Paris (1938) opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Afterwards, she elected to return to Paris.
Under the German occupation of France during World War II, she continued to perform, a decision that was severely criticized by her compatriots. However, it is reported that her brother had been threatened with deportation by Alfred Greven, the manager of the German run film production company in occupied France, Continental. She got a divorce and then fell in love with Porfirio Rubirosa, a Dominican Republic diplomat and notorious womanizer. They married in 1942. His anti-Nazi opinions resulted in his forced residence in Germany. In exchange for Rubirosa's freedom, Darrieux agreed to make a promotional trip in Berlin. The couple lived in Switzerland until the end of the war, and divorced in 1947. She married scriptwriter Georges Mitsikidès in 1948, and they lived together until his death in 1991.
She gave a good performance in the 1951 MGM musical Rich, Young and Pretty. Joseph L. Mankiewicz lured her back to Hollywood to star in 5 Fingers (1952) opposite James Mason. Upon returning to France, she appeared in Max Ophüls' The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) opposite Charles Boyer, and The Red and the Black (1954) opposite Gérard Philippe. The next year she starred in Lady Chatterley's Lover, whose theme of uninhibited sexuality led to its being proscribed by Catholic censors in the United States.
During the late 1950s, she played a supporting role in her last American film, United Artists' epic Alexander the Great (1956) starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. In 1961 she went to England at the request of director Lewis Gilbert to star in The Greengage Summer opposite Kenneth More. In 1963, she starred in the romantic comedy La Robe Mauve de Valentine at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. The play was adapted from the novel by Françoise Sagan. Then, in 1966, she played a memorable supporting role in Jacques Demy's musical The Young Girls of Rochefort. She is notable for being the only principal actor in any of Demy's film-musicals to sing her own songs. (All other actors had a separate person voice their singing parts.) During the 1960s she also was a concert singer.
In 1970, Darrieux replaced Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway musical Coco, based on the life of Coco Chanel, but the play, essentially a showcase for Hepburn, soon folded without her. In 1971 and 1972 she also appeared in the short-lived productions of Ambassador. In 1982, she worked again with Demy for his film Une chambre en ville, an opera-like musical melodrama reminiscent of the director's earlier masterpiece The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Once again, Darrieux provided her own vocals for her songs.
For her long service to the motion picture industry, in 1985 she was given an Honorary César Award. She continued to work, her career spanning eight decades, most recently providing the voice of the protagonist's grandmother in the animated feature, Persepolis (2007), which deals with the impact of the Islamic revolution on a girl's life as she grows to adulthood in Iran.
Danielle Darreux died on 17 October 2017 aged 100.
She was paid homage in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009): when Shosanna Dreyfus is preparing to take the Nazis down, her assistant calls her Danielle Darrieux.
La cigale et la fourmi
Danielle Darrieux Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tout l′été, tout l'été
Se trouva fort dépourvue
Quand la bise fut venue:
Pas un seul petit morceau
De mouche ou de vermisseau
Elle alla crier famine
Chez la Fourmi sa voisine
Quelque grain pour subsister
Jusqu′à la saison nouvelle
"Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle
Avant l'août, foi d'animal
Intérêt et principal."
La Fourmi n′est pas prêteuse
C′est là son moindre défaut
"Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud?"
Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse
"Nuit et jour
Badabadoubay ah ah
À tout venant
Badabadoubay ah ah
Je chantais, ne vous déplaise"
"Vous chantiez? j'en suis fort aise
Eh bien, dansez maintenant!"
The lyrics of Danielle Darrieux's "La Cigale et la Fourmi" are based on the famous fable by Jean de La Fontaine. The fable is a moral tale that teaches the value of hard work, thrift, and prudence. In the song, La Cigale, meaning the grasshopper, sings all summer long, enjoying life without any worries. However, when winter arrives, La Cigale finds herself starving as she had not collected any food for herself. She begs her neighbor, La Fourmi, meaning the ant, for some food to survive until the next season. La Fourmi refuses, asking La Cigale what she was doing during the summer when she was singing all day long. La Cigale answers that she was singing day and night without a care in the world. La Fourmi then angrily tells La Cigale that if she was singing all summer long without saving any food for herself, she should now dance to warm herself up in the winter.
The song's lyrics are a reminder of the importance of hard work and saving for the future. It shows that singing and having fun all summer long without any planning and hard work can lead to difficulties in the future. The song's message is timeless and applies to everyone who wants a better future by working hard and saving for it.
Line by Line Meaning
La Cigale ayant chanté
The cricket, having sung all summer
Tout l′été, tout l'été
All summer long
Se trouva fort dépourvue
Found herself quite destitute
Quand la bise fut venue:
When the north wind blew
Pas un seul petit morceau
Not a single little bit
De mouche ou de vermisseau
Of fly or worm
Elle alla crier famine
She went crying famine
Chez la Fourmi sa voisine
To her neighbor the ant
La priant de lui prêter
Begging her to lend her
Quelque grain pour subsister
Some grain to subsist
Jusqu′à la saison nouvelle
Until the new season
"Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle
"I'll pay you", she said
Avant l'août, foi d'animal
Before August, animal's word
Intérêt et principal."
With interest and principal."
La Fourmi n′est pas prêteuse
The ant isn't a lender
C′est là son moindre défaut
That's her smallest fault
"Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud?
"What were you doing in warm weather?
Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse
She said to this borrower
"Nuit et jour
"Night and day
Badabadoubay ah ah
Badabadoubay ah ah
À tout venant
To whoever came
Badabadoubay ah ah
Badabadoubay ah ah
Je chantais, ne vous déplaise"
I sang, if you don't mind"
"Vous chantiez? j'en suis fort aise
"You sang? I'm glad to hear it
Eh bien, dansez maintenant!"
Well, now dance!"
Contributed by Tristan M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.