Nathalie Baye (pronounced "nat-ahh-lee-bye") is a wonderful and gorgeous French actress. There is unbelievably little about her on the internet. And almost everything on her is in French. I think she's more attractive now than she's ever been. From looking at pictures of her in the 70s and 80s, I would also venture a guess that she may have had plastic surgery done on her nose. But I'm not sure. But, while physical appearance is or isn't important (I'm not commenting), Nathalie Baye is one of France's most distinguished and admired actresses. Praised for her intelligence and range. A three-time Cesar winner. She has starred in almost fifty films. The first, thirty years ago, Faustine (1971).

She was born on July 6, 1948 (although some sources say 1951), in Mainneville, France. So, she's over 50. She looks like she's 40 and she looks great. I never really noticed her until this year when I saw her in two great films: An Affair of Love and Venus Beauty Institute.

In An Affair of Love, two people discover that it's not as simple as they thought to have a purely sexual relationship. A man and woman in their early 40s (Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez), are introduced to each other through a personal ad and agree to meet once a week for a sexual liaison. The meetings are meant to be exciting but impersonal; they agree that they won't exchange names or ask questions about their lives outside this relationship. They also don't engage in convention, though we're never told (or shown) just what the couple is sharing instead. However, as the weeks go by, a bond grows between them, and after several weeks he proposes that they have dinner together before retiring to their hotel room; a few months down the road, she suggests that they should try making love in the traditional manner for the first time. These events bring them closer together, but they also change the tenor of their relationship; this change is symbolized most clearly when a man collapses in the hallway outside their motel room and together they take him to a hospital. An Affair of Love (Une Liaison Pornographique) was screened at the 1999 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. -- Mark Deming

In Venus Beauty Institute, Nathalie plays a hair dresser at a salon. She likes quick, meaningless sex, and when some guy falls in love with her, she's very reluctant to get emotional. Comedy and romance and drama. We see Nathalie (in a part written especially for her) with co-workers, relatives, friends, etc. A delightful film.

I had also seen her in And the Band Played On. And she was very memorable in that. She was a French doctor (with subtitles) who worked on the identification of the HIV virus. She did Day for Night (1973), The Man Who Loved Women (1977) and The Green Room (1978) with Truffaut; and Slow Motion (1979) and Detective (1985) for Godard. She has also worked with Bertrand Tavernier, Bertrand Blier, and Diane Kurys. Her most famous film is probably The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) with Depardeiu, which -- thank God -- was remade by Americans! in America! with Jodie Foster and Dick Gere! as Sommersby (1993)!

Other recent films are I Married a Dead Man (J¹ai épousé une ombre) (1982), a film version of Cornell Woolrich's novel; La Balance (1982); Every Other Weekend (1990); and more recently: Paparazzi (1998), Selon Matthieu (2000) and Ça ira mieux demain/Tomorrow's Another Day (2000). Hopefully these will make it to the U.S.

In Selon Matthieu, "one man's attempt to avenge his father has unexpected consequences in this drama from France. Matthieu (Benoit Magimel) and Eric (Antione Chappey) are two brothers who work in a factory alongside their father (Fred Ulysse). When father is fired under dubious circumstances, Matthieu is outraged and tries to organize his co-workers to stand up to the bosses and have him reinstated. However, Eric, with a new wife to support, doesn't want to rock the boat, and the other men on the line express similar sentiments. After father is struck and killed by a motorist while crossing the street (en route to apply for unemployment), a despondent Matthieu is convinced it was an act of suicide. Determined to get revenge against the men who stripped his father of his job and his dignity, Matthieu falls into an affair with Claire (Nathalie Baye), the wife of one of the factory owners, who has a gambling problem. Claire eventually discovers Matthieu's hidden agenda and breaks off their relationship; his attempt to expose her to her husband brings disastrous results. The screenplay for Selon Matthieu was co-authored by Catherine Breillat, writer/director of the controversial international success Romance." -- Mark Deming.

Ca Ira Mieux Demain is a "screwball comedy that covers one week in the lives of a group of Parisians, Ca Ira Mieux Demain relies on chance encounters between its characters to propel its plot. Included amongst the characters are two girls, Annie (Sophie Guillemin) and Marie (Isabelle Carre); Marie's mother Elisabeth (Jeanne Balibar); the bourgeois and anal-retentive Sophie (Nathalie Baye) and her husband Xavier (Jean-Pierre Darroussin); and the put-upon Franck (Didier Bezace), who is constantly being harangued by his wife, Celine (Nathalie Besancon), about his unhealthy eating habits." -- Rebecca Flint.

As a young girl Nathalie Baye began by studying dance and theatre at the Paris Conservatoire National de Musique et d'Art in Paris, France. She graduated in 1972 with second prize honors. Attractive, sensual, lithe and expressive, Baye took to screen acting immediately and quickly became a favorite.

Baye began her career in the arts as a dancer and came to New York at age 17 to study classical ballet and modern dance. She toured the United States with a dance company before returning to France, where she turned her attention to acting. In 1979, she starred in Godard's "Sauve qui peut (La Vie)" ("Every Man for Himself,") for which she won her first Cesar Award for Best Actress; she also acted in Godard's 1984 film "Detective."

Baye was nominated for a Cesar for her work in the role of Angele in "Venus Beauty Institute." It was written for Baye by Tonie Marshall, after the two worked together on Marshall's third film as director, "Enfants de salaud." When Baye learned that the role was written just for her, she was thrilled but a little nervous. "At times like that," she has said in interviews, "you think to yourself "Oh my God! She wrote it for me! What if I don't like it?'" She continues, "When a director knows you, there's an element of trust but it doesn't necessarily make the work any easier. It was actually a very difficult shoot for Tonie, having so many actors to direct and for me, having so many partners to act with. Deep down, it's always nice to feel wanted by a director."

Nathalie was married to (or "with") pop singer Johnny Halliday from 1982-86. They had a daughter, Laura Halliday, born November 15, 1983.

She won Cesars for Best Supporting Actress in 1981 and 1982 for Sauve qui peut...la vie and Une etrange affaire, respectively. In 1983 she won the Cesar for Best Actress for La Balance. Most recently, Baye received her seventh César nomination for her starring role in Tonie Marshall's Vénus Beauté.

In 1999, she won the Venice Film Festival Coppa Volpi for Best Actress in A Affair of Love.

Pictures!

Biographical sketch by Rebecca Flint.

Interview with Nick Walker.

Interview with Matthew Sweet.