Isabelle Adjani : Biography

Adjani was born in Gennevillier (near Paris) on June 27, 1955. She grew up loving poetry and theater, and began acting in amateur stage productions at the age of 12 after winning a school recitation prize. Two years later, she made her film debut in 1970's Le Petit Bougnat while on summer vacation. Her second film, Faustine et le Bel Été (1972), was also made while she was still in school. Bearing a distinctive dark-haired, porcelain-skin beauty that lent itself to the tragic heroines she frequently played, Isabelle Adjani became one of France's biggest and most acclaimed stars in the '80s, winning four Césars between 1981 and 1994. Of Algerian and German parentage.

Isabelle Adjani: Career

At the age of 17, Adjani was permitted to join the prestigious Comédie Française, where she drew excellent audience and critical response performing the classics. She signed a 20-year contract with the troupe, which she broke a short time later to pursue her film career, and the resulting controversy was be the first of many. She joined the Comédie Francaise, and went on to star in Truffaut's Histoire d'Adèle (1975). A gifted interpreter of varied roles, she appeared in Mortelle Randonnée (1983), and starred in Camille Claudel (1988, César) and in Chéreau's La Reine Margot (1994, César). Later films include Diabolique (1996) and Bon Voyage (2003). She was president of the 1998 Cannes jury.

Isabelle Adjani: Movies

Bon Voyage (2004), Adolphe (2003), Mortelle Randonnee (2003), Monsieur Ibrahim (2003), Diabolique (1996), Queen Margot (1994), Camille Claudel (1989), Ishtar (1987), Subway (1985), Next Year If All Goes Well (1984), One Deadly Summer (1983), Antonieta (1982), Possession (1981), Quartet (1981), Nosferatu - The Vampyre (1979), The Driver (1978), Barocco (1976), The Slap (1976), The Tenant (1976), The Story of Adele H. (1975)