Maria Schneider

This sultry brunette actress began appearing in secondary parts in 1969 but came to prominence opposite Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci's study of existential eroticism, "Last Tango in Paris" (1972). In 1992, Schneider appeared in the controversial French film "Les Nuits fauve" ("Savage Nights") and was tapped by Franco Zeffirelli to play Mrs. Rochester in "Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre" (1996).

More recently, she was featured as a woman who has faith in miracles in "Something to Believe In" (1998). The last movie she appeared in, director Guillaume Nicloux's "The Key," was released in 2007. Schneider passed away at age 59 after a long battle with cancer on Feb. 3, 2011.