Catherine Deneuve

The third child of four daughters, Catherine Fabienne Dorleac was born on Oct. 22, 1943 in Paris, France to stage actors Maurice Dorleac and Renee Deneuve. Unlike her extroverted older sister, Francoise, Deneuve's interests were with graphic art rather than acting. However, her features and family history would dictate her fate in front of the camera. She first waded into the acting pool as a teenager when Francoise convinced Deneuve to audition for the part of her sister in the feature film, "Les Portes Claquent" (1960). The experience did little to convince the shy teen that she wanted to make acting a habit. In spite of her indifference, success came quickly.

If that was not enough to persuade her, an encounter with a famous French director would. Roger Vadim - former husband of Brigitte Bardot and American actress Jane Fonda - had a reputation for attracting beautiful younger women, despite his own peculiar visage. Stunning and only 17 years old, Deneuve fit Vadim's requirements. He was 32 years old when he began romancing the teenage starlet, and it was not long before Deneuve left home to live with the director. She dyed her naturally brown hair to blonde to please her man, unwittingly cementing her destiny as one of the most sought after, yet elusive blonde goddesses in French cinema history.

In 1963, Vadim directed Deneuve in "La Vice et la Vertu," a script loosely inspired by the Marquis de Sade and set during the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1944. At the age of 19, she found herself pregnant with Vadim's child. Just a month after giving birth to their son, Christian, in 1963, the relationship with Vadim ended, leaving her to face the daunting task of raising a child as a single mother. In an ironic twist of fate, her real life began to resemble her art, as Deneuve soon began filming "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," portraying a young girl who enters a loveless marriage with a rich man, after she is left pregnant and alone when her boyfriend is sent to war (1964).

The experience of being able to channel her own pain and fears into her performance suddenly ignited within her a newfound passion for acting. In her English speaking film debut, director Roman Polanski cast Deneuve in his thriller masterpiece "Repulsion" (1965). In it, Deneuve portrayed Carol, a sexually repressed, paranoid schizophrenic, whose descent into madness results with her murdering men who lust after her. In 1967, Deneuve starred in the most iconic role of her career in "Belle de Jour," confirming her as not only a movie star, but also a fashion icon. She was not only the fantasy of Europe's greatest directors; she also became the muse of legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who was inspired by Deneuve after designing her timelessly chic wardrobe for "Belle de Jour."

That same year, she co-starred with her sister Francois Dorleac in "The Young Girls of Rochefort," (1967), directed by one of her favorite filmmakers, Jacques Demy. At the age of just 24, Deneuve's beloved older sister, Francois, was killed in a fatal car accident on the French Riviera at the age of 25. The sisters were extremely close and Deneuve was devastated. Although grieving, Deneuve continued working. Deneuve found Spanish director, Luis Bunuel, difficult to work with the first time, she wisely reteamed with her "Belle de Jour" director in "Tristana" (1970). Critics raved about her portrayal of the title character and the film garnered an Academy Award nomination for "Best Foreign Language Film."

In 1965, she married hipster British photographer David Bailey. They separated in 1970, officially divorcing in 1972. By that time, Deneuve had a very public affair with her married "La Cagna" (1971) co-star, Marcello Mastroianni. That same year, Deneuve gave birth for the second time, to their daughter Chiara Mastroianni. The relationship with Mastroianni hit a wall in 1975, but the two remained friends until his death in 1996, when Deneuve and their daughter both sat at his bedside to bid him goodbye. In the 1970s, Deneauve added model to her resume when she signed on as the face of Chanel No 5. The campaign was a success around the world.

Deneuve's beauty would continue to win her lucrative endorsement deals. At the age of 62, she inked a deal with Mac Cosmetics in 2006, and a year later, nabbed a contract modeling for Louis Vuitton. In 1969, she starred with Jack Lemmon in the comedy "The April Fools" (1969) and then she co-starred with Burt Reynolds in the crime drama, "Hustle" (1975). In 1980, Francoise Truffaut directed Deneuve in "The Last Metro." The film won an Academy Award for "Best Foreign Language Film" and Deneuve took home the French Cesar for Best Actress. In the Tony Scott feature, "The Hunger" (1983), Deneuve and David Bowie portrayed a stylish, vampire couple living in Manhattan who set out in search of new blood.

In 1992 when, at the age of 49, Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture for her portrayal of a plantation owner in 1930s Indochina in "Indochine" (1992). Deneuve lost the statue to Emma Thompson for her role in "Howard's End," but "Indochine" took the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and Deneuve won a Cesar for Best Actress. She later co-starred in "Dancer in the Dark" (2000) with the eccentric Icelandic singer, Bjork, in which she portrayed the singer's factory worker sidekick, of all things. Deneuve had seen director Lars Von Trier's "Breaking the Waves" (1996) and was so impressed with the Danish director she wrote him a letter requesting a part in one of his upcoming projects. He obliged.

Deneuve made another brief return to Hollywood in 2006, on the outrageous drama series "Nip/Tuck" (FX 2003-10). Her character was a grief stricken mistress who wants her deceased lover's ashes inserted into her breast implants; that is, until her former lover's angry wife storms the office and ends the romantically creepy gesture. A year later, she voiced in the edgy Academy Award-nominated French animated feature, "Persepolis" (2007). Based on the graphic/memoir novels by Marjane Satrapi, the film was praised for its anti-Disney heroine, a rebellious, teenaged Iranian girl who loves heavy metal. Keeping it all in the family, Deneuve's real-life daughter Chiara Mastroianni voiced the teenage girl in the critically acclaimed hit.