Jacqueline Bisset

Jacqueline Bisset Headshot

Actress

Birth Name: Winnifred Jacqueline Fraser-Bisset

Birth Date: September 13, 1944

Age: 80 years old

Birth Place: Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK

Spouses: Michael Sarrazin

Partners: Vincent Perez

British actress Jacqueline Bisset rose to fame in the 1970s as the object of desire for numerous top actors in features like "Bullitt" (1968), "Airport" (1970), "The Deep" (1977), and "The Greek Tycoon" (1978). Few of these roles allowed her to express anything more than slow-simmering sexuality, but gradually films like Francois Truffaut's "Day for Night" (1973), George Cukor's "Rich and Famous" (1981), and John Huston's "Under the Volcano" (1983) revealed her talent for intelligent, complex performances. Unlike many actresses as they approached their fourth and fifth decades, Bisset remained active and in demand, playing a wide range of parts from stalwart mothers to seductive socialites. What remained constant throughout her four-decade career was her cool elegance, which preserved her iconic status as one of the screen's great international beauties.

Born Winifred Jacqueline Bisset in the town of Weybridge in Surrey, England on Sept. 13, 1944, she was the daughter of Scottish doctor Max Bisset and his French wife, Arlette, a former lawyer who taught her daughter to speak her native tongue fluently. Bisset's initial passion was ballet, which she studied as a child, but as she grew into a willowy adolescent, she was considered too tall to pursue dance as a career.

Bisset's teenage years were marked by major upheaval in her family life. After her mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, her father left the family, forcing his daughter to support her mother and younger brother, Max through modeling. The latter job led to an interest in acting, and Bisset made her screen debut as an uncredited extra in Richard Lester's "The Knack and How to Get It" (1965), which also launched the film careers of Charlotte Rampling and Jane Birkin.

She earned her first lines in Roman Polanski's "Cul-de-Sac" (1966), but soon settled into a series of ornamental roles that were largely defined by her next picture, the all-star James Bond spoof, "Casino Royale" (1966), which cast her as Miss Goodthighs. Bit roles soon blossomed into supporting parts in "The Detective" (1968), where she replaced Mia Farrow as the wife of a murder victim investigated by Frank Sinatra, and "The Sweet Ride" (1968), a counterculture drama that earned her a Golden Globe nomination as a mystery woman who came between beach bums Tony Franciosa, Michael Sarrazin, and Bob Denver.

In 1969, she was an innocent teen whose trip to America ends in romantic failure and prostitution in Jerry Paris' relentlessly downbeat "The Grasshopper."

Bisset's star-making role finally came in 1968 with "Bullitt," where her cool beauty was matched perfectly by Steve McQueen's frosty dramatics as a tough San Francisco detective with a penchant for hard driving. The film's popularity elevated Bisset to major Hollywood features in the 1970s, though not more substantive roles; she was pilot Dean Martin's pregnant mistress - and perhaps the first actress to belt Helen Hayes across the face - in the big-budget disaster film "Airport" (1970), then played elegant love interests for such actors as Alan Alda in "The Mephisto Waltz" (1971), Paul Newman in "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" (1972), Ryan O'Neal in "The Thief Who Came to Dinner" (1973), Charles Bronson in "St. Ives" (1976), and Anthony Quinn, as a thinly disguised Aristotle Onassis, who romanced Bisset's ersatz Jacqueline Kennedy in "The Greek Tycoon" (1978).

Her most memorable turn of the decade came in "The Deep" (1977), Peter Yates' adaptation of the popular thriller by Peter Benchley. The film boosted her status as a pin-up thanks to its opening sequence, in which Bisset appeared in a wet t-shirt that left little to the imagination. She later denounced the scene, stating that producer Peter Guber had assured her that it would not be shot in an exploitative way.

Feeling frustrated by the lack of quality projects from Hollywood, Bisset returned to Europe throughout the 1970s, where she played a British actress on the verge of a nervous breakdown in Francois Truffaut's backstage drama "Day for Night" (1973). The picture, which she later declared as her most fulfilling film role, reversed most critics' perception of her as little more than a pretty face, and led to more work overseas, including Philippe Broca's spy spoof "Le Magnifique" (1973), with French movie idol Jean-Paul Belmondo; Sidney Lumet's Oscar-winning, all-star adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974); and the German thriller "End of the Game" (1975) for director Maximilian Schell. She and Schell also later shared godparent duties for Angelina Jolie, daughter of the film's star, Jon Voight.

Bisset ended the 1970s with a Golden Globe nomination for her turn as a pastry chef targeted by a killer in the charming comedy-thriller, "Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?"

Bisset began the 1980s on a sour note with huge back-to-back flops in Irwin Allen's disaster film "When Time Ran Out" (1980) and the epic Korean War drama "Inchon" (1981), which earned brickbats for receiving funding by the Unification Church. But she quickly rebounded with a string of successful and mature dramas, starting in 1981 with "Rich and Famous." Directed by the legendary George Cukor, the film followed a pair of friends (Bisset and Candice Bergen) through four turbulent decades of romances, successes, and failures. The film also marked Bisset's sole effort as a producer in an earnest attempt to wrest control over her career.

Though "Class" (1983), an ironically class-free sex comedy about a prep school student (Andrew McCarthy) sleeping with friend Rob Lowe's mother (Bisset) was undoubtedly her most financially successful film of the decade, her subsequent choices were critically acclaimed dramas, including several for American television, which helped to finally establish Bisset as a capable and versatile actress. She earned a Golden Globe nomination as the wife of an alcoholic consul (her "Two for the Road" co-star Albert Finney) in John Huston's "Under the Volcano" (1984), and then received a CableACE nod as German countess Nina von Halder, who hid her Jewish boyfriend (Jurgen Prochnow) from the Nazis in "Forbidden" (1985). Clare Peploe's "High Season" (1987) gave her a leading role as a photographer who becomes embroiled in small town dramas on the Greek island of Rhodes, while Paul Bartel's "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills" (1989) allowed her a rare shot at comedy as a wealthy widow beset by everything from amorous employees to the ghost of her husband (Paul Mazursky).

As the 1990s ushered Bisset into her fifth decade, she worked largely in independent features and TV movies on both sides of the Atlantic, most notably in Claude Chabrol's "La Ceremonie" (1995), which earned her a Cesar nomination as a wealthy woman whose cruel treatment of her dyslexic servant (Sandrine Bonnaire) is repaid with violence. In 1999, she received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations as Isabelle d'Arc, mother of French martyr "Joan of Arc" (CBS), then moved to a more historical matriarch - specifically, Mary of Nazareth and Sarah, wife of Abraham - in the miniseries "Jesus" (CBS, 2000) and "In the Beginning" (NBC, 2000), respectively. Her legendary allure also made her a go-to for mature, glamorous and sexually confident women of power, which she essayed in features like "Dangerous Beauty" (1998), where her 16th-century courtesan instructed her daughter (Catherine McCormack) in the family business, and "Domino" (2005), which cast her as fashion model Paulene Stone, whose daughter, Domino Harvey, became a bounty hunter.

Her versatility allowed her to play both the ruthless head of a black market organ ring in the fourth season of "Nip/Tuck" (FX, 2003-2010), and a kindly 19th-century grandmother in "An Old Fashioned Christmas' (Hallmark Channel, 2008). In 2010, she received the Legion of Honor from French president Nicholas Sarkozy.

Bisset co-starred opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor in the 1930s period piece "Dancing on the Edge" (Starz 2013), a miniseries about a black jazz band's arrival in London society. Her performance as Lady Cremone won Bisset the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television, but her win was overshadowed by her strange, meandering acceptance speech, punctuated by long silences. It became the most talked-about moment of the 2014 Golden Globes, including a parody on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC 1975- ).

Credits

Loren & Rose

Actor
Rose
Movie
2022

Blood Brothers: Civil War

Actor
Mrs. Roland
Movie
2021

Birds of ParadiseStream

Actor
Madame Brunelle / Academy Headmistress
Movie
2021
63%

Madeleine Collins

Actor
Patty
Movie
2021

Messe basse

Actor
Movie
2020

Today With Hoda & Jenna

Guest
Show
2019

Adriana Trigiani's Very Valentine

Actor
Teodora Angelini
Movie
2019

Schweizer Film

Actor
Anna Crawley
Show
2018

Backstabbing for BeginnersStream

Actor
Christina Dupre
Movie
2018
39%

Blue Night

Actor
Jeanne
Movie
2018

Asher

Actor
Dora
Movie
2018

Head Full of Honey

Actor
Vivian
Movie
2018

9/11

Actor
Diane
Movie
2017

L'Amant double

Actor
Mme Schenker
Movie
2017

GravesStream

Actor
Diana Scott
Series
2016
55%

The Last Film Festival

Actor
Movie Star
Movie
2016

Peter and John

Actor
Movie
2015

Miss You Already

Actor
Miranda
Movie
2015

Welcome to New York

Actor
Simone
Movie
2014

The Queen Latifah Show

Guest
Talk
2013

Dancing on the EdgeStream

Actor
Lady Cremone
Series
2013
61%

Home & Family

Guest
Talk
2012

Two Jacks

Actor
Diana - 2010
Movie
2012

Mulberry Child

Narrator
Movie
2011

Rizzoli & IslesStream

Guest Star
Constance Isles
Series
2010

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Actor
Isabella
Movie
2010

The Doctors

Guest
Talk
2008

Death in Love

Actor
The Mother
Movie
2008

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

Actor
Isabella
Movie
2008

Nick Nolte: No Exit

Self
Movie
2008

Nora Roberts' Carolina Moon

Actor
Margaret Lavelle
Movie
2007

Save the Last Dance 2

Actor
Monique
Movie
2006

Rosamunde Pilcher: Summer Solstice

Actor
Show
2005

Summer Solstice

Actor
Show
2005

Summer Solstice

Actor
Alexia White
Movie
2005

The Fine Art of Love: Mine Ha-Ha

Actor
Movie
2005

Rosamunde Pilcher: Zauber der Liebe

Actor
Alexia
Movie
2005

Domino

Actor
Pauline Stone, Domino's mother
Movie
2005

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

Self
Show
2004

Stracult

Actor
Show
2004

Tavis Smiley

Guest
Talk
2004

The Survivor's Club

Actor
Carol Rosen
Movie
2004

Fascination

Actor
Maureen Doherty
Movie
2004

Latter Days

Actor
Lila
Movie
2004

Nip/TuckStream

Guest Star
James LeBeau
Series
2003
74%

Frank Sinatra: They Were Very Good Years

Actor
Show
2003

Swing

Actor
Christine
Movie
2003

America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story

Actor
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Movie
2003

Dancing at the Harvest Moon

Actor
Maggie Webber
Movie
2002

The Sleepy Time Gal

Actor
Frances
Movie
2001

In the Beginning...

Actor
Show
2000

Jesus

Actor
Show
2000

Britannic

Actor
Lady Lewis
Movie
2000

Sex & Mrs. X

Actor
Madame Simone
Movie
2000

New Year's Day

Actor
Geraldine
Movie
2000

Quién Es la Señora X?

Actor
Movie
2000

Brittanic

Actor
Lady Lewis
Movie
2000

Law & Order: Special Victims UnitStream

Guest Star
Juliet Barclay
Series
1999
78%

Joan of Arc

Actor
Show
1999

Let the Devil Wear Black

Actor
Helen Lyne
Movie
1999

People Who Love Each Other

Actor
Angie
Movie
1999

Witch Hunt

Actor
Barbara Thomas
Movie
1999

Joan of Arc

Actor
Isabelle D'Arc
Miniseries
1999

JesusStream

Actor
Mary
Miniseries
1999

Dangerous BeautyStream

Actor
Paola Franco
Movie
1998
70%

Ally McBealStream

Guest Star
Series
1997
61%

The View

Guest
Talk
1997

Hey Arnold!Stream

Guest Voice
Series
1996

Rosamunde Pilcher's September

Actor
Show
1996

Once You Meet a Stranger

Actor
Sheila Gaines
Movie
1996

End of Summer

Actor
Christine Van Buren
Movie
1996

Rosamunde Pilcher - September - Teil 1

Actor
Pandora
Movie
1996

Rosamunde Pilcher - September - Teil 2

Actor
Pandora
Movie
1996

September

Actor
Pandora
Movie
1996

La cérémonie

Actor
Movie
1995

A Judgment in Stone

Actor
Catherine Lelievre
Movie
1995

Leave of Absence

Actor
Nell
Movie
1994

Crimebroker

Actor
Holly McPhee
Movie
1994

Rosamunde Pilcher

Actor
Alexia
Show
1993

Les marmottes

Actor
Movie
1993

Rossini! Rossini!

Actor
Isabella Colbran
Movie
1991

El Sirviente y La Doncella

Actor
Movie
1990

The Maid

Actor
Nicole Chantrelle
Movie
1990

La Bonne

Actor
Movie
1990

Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills

Actor
Clare Lipkin
Movie
1989
78%

Wild Orchid

Actor
Claudia Dennis
Movie
1989
9%

La fleur du mal

Actor
Movie
1989

La Maison de jade

Actor
Movie
1988

High Season

Actor
Katherine Shaw
Movie
1987

Napoléon et Joséphine

Actor
Movie
1987

Choices

Actor
Marisa Granger
Movie
1986

Le Choix d'une vie

Actor
Movie
1986

Forbidden

Actor
Nina von Halder
Movie
1985

Anna Karenina

Actor
Anna Karenina
Movie
1985

Under the VolcanoStream

Actor
Yvonne Firmin
Movie
1984
74%

Défense d'aimer

Actor
Movie
1984

Clases

Actor
Movie
1983

ClassStream

Actor
Ellen
Movie
1983
29%

Rich and Famous

Actor
Liz Hamilton
Movie
1981

Inchon!

Actor
Barbara Hallsworth
Movie
1981
0%

Riches et célèbres

Actor
Movie
1981

Earth's Final Fury

Actor
Kay Kirby
Movie
1980

Together?

Actor
Louise
Movie
1979

I Love You, I Love You Not

Actor
Louise
Movie
1979

The Greek Tycoon

Actor
Liz Cassidy
Movie
1978

Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?

Actor
Natasha
Movie
1978

Receta Para un Crimen

Actor
Movie
1978

The DeepStream

Actor
Gail Berke
Movie
1977
42%

End of the Game

Actor
Anna Crawley
Movie
1976
43%

St. IvesStream

Actor
Janet Whistler
Movie
1976
33%

La donna della domenica

Actor
Anna Carla Dosio
Movie
1975

The Spiral Staircase

Actor
Helen Mallory
Movie
1975

Murder on the Orient ExpressStream

Actor
Countess Andrenyi
Movie
1974
90%

Secret Agent

Actor
Tatiana/Christine
Movie
1974

Le Magnifique

Actor
Tatiana/Christine
Movie
1974

Day for Night

Actor
Julie
Movie
1973
98%

The Thief Who Came to Dinner

Actor
Laura Keaton
Movie
1973

The Life and Times of Judge Roy BeanStream

Actor
Rose Bean
Movie
1972
80%

Stand Up and Be Counted

Actor
Sheila Hammond
Movie
1972

Satan mon amour

Actor
Movie
1971

The Mephisto WaltzStream

Actor
Paula Clarkson
Movie
1971
63%

Believe in Me

Actor
Pamela
Movie
1971

Secrets

Actor
Jennifer Wood
Movie
1971

The Grasshopper

Actor
Christine Adams
Movie
1970

AirportStream

Actor
Gwen Meighen
Movie
1970
75%

The First Time

Actor
Anna
Movie
1969

Secret World

Actor
Wendy Sinclair
Movie
1969

L'Amoureuse

Actor
Movie
1969

The Dick Cavett ShowStream

Guest
Talk
1968

Dulce Viaje

Actor
Movie
1968

The Sweet Ride

Actor
Vickie Cartwright
Movie
1968

The DetectiveStream

Actor
Norma MacIver
Movie
1968
100%

BullittStream

Actor
Cathy
Movie
1968
98%

Two for the Road

Actor
Jackie
Movie
1967

The Cape Town Affair

Actor
Candy
Movie
1967

Casino RoyaleStream

Actor
Miss Goodthighs
Movie
1967
26%

Cul-de-Sac

Actor
Jacqueline
Movie
1966

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950

News aboutJacqueline Bisset