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.
Le premier rendez-vous
Danielle Darrieux Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Un beau jour de printemps
Fait d'une simple enfant
Presque une femme,
Dans le songe bleu
D'un avenir joyeux
Fermant les yeux
Elle soupire au fond de l'âme
{Refrain:}
Ah! qu'il doit être doux et troublant
L'instant du premier rendez-vous
Où le cur las de battre solitaire
S'envole en frissonnant vers le mystère.
Vous l'inconnu d'un rêve un peu fou,
Faites qu'il apporte pour nous
Le bonheur d'aimer la vie entière
L'instant du premier rendez-vous.
Un amour naissant
C'est un premier roman
Dont on joue tendrement.
Le personnage
On ne sait jamais
S'il sera triste ou gai,
Mais on voudrait
Vite en ouvrir toutes les pages.
{Refrain}
The lyrics to Danielle Darrieux's song "Le premier rendez-vous" speak about the excitement and anticipation of a young girl's first date. The song opens with the mention of Time, personified as Monsieur le Temps, who on a beautiful spring day turns a simple child into almost a woman, filling her dreams with the prospect of a happy future. The girl closes her eyes and sighs, dreaming of the sweet and thrilling moment of her first rendezvous.
The refrain expresses the idea that the first encounter with a potential partner must be a charming and thrilling moment. It is the moment when the lonely heart takes flight and shivers with excitement towards the unknown, hoping it will bring the happiness of loving for an entire lifetime.
The second verse describes the emotional intensity of a new love, comparing it to a first novel, whose pages are eagerly anticipated, but whose ending is uncertain. The song finishes with a repetition of the refrain, emphasizing the importance of that first meeting and its impact on the future.
Overall, the lyrics to this song describe the powerful emotions that come with experiencing a first romantic encounter, highlighting the idea that it is a unique and unforgettable experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Quand monsieur le Temps
When Mister Time
Un beau jour de printemps
A beautiful spring day
Fait d'une simple enfant
Turns a simple child
Presque une femme,
Almost into a woman,
Dans le songe bleu
In a blue dream
D'un avenir joyeux
Of a joyful future
Fermant les yeux
Closing her eyes
Elle soupire au fond de l'âme
She sighs deeply from her soul
{Refrain:}
Chorus:
Ah! qu'il doit être doux et troublant
Oh! It must be sweet and troubling
L'instant du premier rendez-vous
The moment of the first date
Où le cœur las de battre solitaire
Where the lonely heart tires of beating
S'envole en frissonnant vers le mystère.
Flies, shivering, towards the mystery.
Vous l'inconnu d'un rêve un peu fou,
You, the unknown of a little crazy dream,
Faites qu'il apporte pour nous
Make it bring to us
Le bonheur d'aimer la vie entière
The joy of loving for a lifetime
L'instant du premier rendez-vous.
The moment of the first date.
Un amour naissant
A budding love
C'est un premier roman
It's a first novel
Dont on joue tendrement.
That is played tenderly
Le personnage
The character
On ne sait jamais
We never know
S'il sera triste ou gai,
If it will be sad or happy
Mais on voudrait
But one would want
Vite en ouvrir toutes les pages.
To quickly open all the pages.
Writer(s): LOUIS EUGENE BERNARD POTERAT, RENE SYLVIANO
Contributed by Jake B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ingridgilles7705
Louise, une dame de 89 ans m'a demandé de trouver cette chanson sur mon smartphone et nous l'avons écoutée ainsi en regardant la mer ici à Antibes... c'était joli et émouvant
@CYMBALTHEATRE
La plus grande actrice française. La lumière, le sourire ! Madame Darrieux a tout pour elle ! Et surtout la chose qui ne s'apprend pas pas : la présence ! Merci pour tout le bonheur que vous savez faire naître. Madame Darrieux, je vous aime !
@wallersayn7975
Une des plus grandes actrices françaises de l'histoire assurement...et quelle voix magnifique...toujours dans nos ❤ et mémoires, pour l'éternité
@mizougue
j'ai entendu cette chanson quand j'étais enfant elle ne m'a jamais quitté tout au long de ma vie. C'est magique!
@bellini7verdi
el encanto de la musica antigua.y esos estilos...tienen un atractivo muy fuerte...es una musica especial...y llena de ensoñacion...entre medio de estilos clasicos en la que josephine baker era una gran maestra tambien.danielle y muchas mas.estas canciones ya no se versionan mucho.pero en este caso...la de mireille mathieu es verdaderamente preciosa
@giloubreizh
Que de souvenirs émouvants me reviennent en mémoire en écoutant cette chanson !
@francoisyung57
Happy birthday, Madame ! You're 100 today : wonderful ! You played in 103 movies and sang beautiful song with your charming voice ! What a lucky audience we were ! You're forever in our hearts and memory !
@jeanbachbeuyukian993
²La grande dame du cinéma français !!! MERCI POUR VOTRE TALENT !!!
@rolandoberlin8624
Dannielle Darrieux le talent absolu !
@jpauluspetitpauluspetit4121
j'ai du voir ce film 4 fois sans jamais me lasser ...Voix sublime de Danielle Darrieux . Merci madame,