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Jane Marnac

{{Short description|Belgian actress (1892–1976)}}{{Infobox person

| name = Jane Marnac

| image = Jane Marnac, by Reutlinger.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Jane Marnac

| birth_name = Jane Fernande Mayer

| birth_date = 8 February 1892

| birth_place = Brussels

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1976|12|02|1892|02|08}}

| death_place = 16th arrondissement of Paris

| othername = Jeanne Marnac, Jane Trevor

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1912 - 1938

| spouse =

| signature = Signature Jane Marnac.png

}}

Jane Marnac, real name Jane Fernande Mayer, (8 February 1892 – 2 December 1976), also seen as Jeanne Marnac, was a Belgian stage and film actress.

Career

Marnac played hundreds of parts on stage, and sang in operettas including Au temps des valses by Noël Coward in 1930 at the Apollo.{{Cite journal |date=February 1933 |title=An Errant Coward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5tXAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA158&dq=Jane+Marnac&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjajc2JkryMAxW7EUQIHZ7YIL8Q6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false |journal=Hearst's International |volume=94 |pages=158}} "Mlle. Marnac excels in the role of those heroines who, beginning life in the first act amid humble surroundings, manage to appear before the end of the last wreathed in pearls", Vanity Fair noted in 1922.{{Cite journal |date=September 1922 |title=Mlle. Jane Marnac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UsE-AQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=RA11-PA57#v=onepage&q&f=false |journal=Vanity Fair |volume=19 |pages=57}}

Marnac was considered a stylish stage beauty,{{Cite journal |date=24 August 1910 |title=Dainties from France and Russia--Piquant and Sweet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EkxAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=RA2-PA224#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Marnac&f=false |journal=The Sketch |volume=71 |pages=8}}{{Cite journal |last=de Linares |first=Antonio G. |date=16 November 1923 |title=La escuela de los empresarios, ó el abrigo de Jane Marnac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQkwaIlK4L0C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=PP372#v=onepage&q&f=false |journal=Nuevo mundo |volume=30}}{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Robert Forrest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vuMAAAAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=PA56#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Marnac&f=false |title=Paris on Parade |date=1925 |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill Company |pages=56 |language=en}} with "the wonderful voice and the equally wonderful eyes."{{Cite journal |date=20 August 1919 |title=Mlle. Jane Marnac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NRyab__TL8kC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=RA2-PA234#v=onepage&q&f=false |journal=Tatler |volume=73 |pages=234}} She was "said to possess the prettiest legs in all Paris."{{Cite journal |date=3 February 1919 |title=Priscilla in Paris: Mlle. Jane Marnac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QxwJZQfMr8C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=RA3-PA152#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Marnac&f=false |journal=The Tatler |volume=71 |pages=152}} Her gowns and hats were described in fashion magazines.{{Cite journal |date=August 1920 |title=The Paris Stage: Personalities of the New Plays and Revues |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ok0tAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Jeanne%20Marnac&pg=RA2-PA124#v=onepage&q=Jeanne%20Marnac&f=false |journal=La France |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=124}}{{Cite journal |date=14 July 1909 |title=Simply Pleasing: Mlle. Jeanne Marnac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o4E4AQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Jeanne%20Marnac&pg=RA1-PA8#v=onepage&q=Jeanne%20Marnac&f=false |journal=The Sketch |volume=67 |pages=8}} Her image was printed on postcards, posters, and other souvenirs.{{Cite book |last=Aubenas |first=Sylvie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4rpmVb2ZrkC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA195&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=PA195#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Marnac&f=false |title=Elegance: The Seeberger Brothers and the Birth of Fashion Photography |last2=Chardin |first2=Virginie |last3=Demange |first3=Xavier |date=2007 |publisher=Chronicle Books |isbn=978-0-8118-5942-4 |pages=195 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Merrill |first=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5tt8DwAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA180&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=PA180#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Marnac&f=false |title=The Showgirl Costume: An Illustrated History |date=2018 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-3433-3 |pages=180 |language=en}} Her regimen for maintaining her complexion and figure was reported to be ice, rest, and exercise.{{Cite news |last=Muir |first=Hugh |date=31 January 1932 |title=Her Beauty Secret is Just Ice |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-dispatch-her-beauty-secret-is-jus/169489044/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=Sunday Dispatch |pages=15 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Jane Marnac appeared in films, including The Darling of Paris with Jean Gabin,{{Cite news |last=Cameron |first=Kate |date=30 December 1932 |title='Paris-Beguin', French Musical, Runs Too Long |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-paris-beguin-french-musica/169489410/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=Daily News |pages=71 |via=Newspapers.com}} and made musical recordings for the Columbia label in 1930.{{Cite book |last=Snelson |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8gTEEAAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA31&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Marnac&f=false |title=Reviewing the Situation: The British Musical from Noël Coward to Lionel Bart |date=2023 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-27961-2 |pages=31 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Jane Marnac |url=https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/362977/Marnac_Jane |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=Discography of American Historical Recordings}} Josephine Baker performed a parasol dance imitating Marnac's appearance in Somerset Maugham's Rain.{{Cite book |last=Udall |first=Sharyn R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYuZwHTkIjgC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA85&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=PA85#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Marnac&f=false |title=Dance and American Art: A Long Embrace |date=2012 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Pres |isbn=978-0-299-28803-7 |pages=85 |language=en}} Marnac and her husband owned racehorses, and ran a production company together.{{Cite news |date=25 September 1929 |title=French Actress in 'Bitter Sweet' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard-french-actress-in-bitt/169489596/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=Evening Standard |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Personal life

In 1927,{{Cite news |date=26 May 1927 |title=Major Keith Trevor Weds Paris Actress; Englishman, Well Known in Racing Circles, Marries Mlle. Jane Marnac |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/05/26/104219574.html?pageNumber=17 |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |pages=17 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}} Marnac married an English aviator, sportsman, and World War I veteran, Major Keith Trevor, as his second wife.{{Cite news |date=4 September 1927 |title=Won the French Beauty by Losing His Bet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-won-the-frenc/169488615/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |pages=83 |via=Newspapers.com}} He became the chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in Paris, and he died in 1956.{{Cite news |date=15 April 1958 |title=Widow Robbed of Gems |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-widow-robbed-of-gems/169489839/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=The Daily Telegraph |pages=16 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=10 December 1956 |title=Letter from Paris |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-letter-from-paris/169490092/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=The Daily Telegraph |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was the victim of a robbery in 1958, at her home in the Bois de Boulogne. She died in 1976, at the age of 84, in Paris.{{Cite web |title=Jane Marnac (1892-1976) |url=https://data.bnf.fr/en/ark:/12148/cb14203543f |access-date=3 April 2025 |website=BnF Data |language=en}}

Theatre

Filmography

  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Albert Capellani (1911, short)
  • La Goualeuse by Alexandre Deverennes (1914)
  • Le baromètre de la fidélité by Georges Monca (1915, short){{Cite book |last=Moules |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AErYDwAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA70&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=PA70#v=onepage&q=Jane%20Marnac&f=false |title=The 9.5mm Vintage Film Encyclopaedia |date=2020 |publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-83859-269-1 |pages=70, 71 |language=en}}
  • Notre pauvre cœur by Louis Feuillade (1916)
  • Paris pendant la guerre by Henri Diamant-Berger (1916)
  • The Darling of Paris by Augusto Genina (1931){{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=Phil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agfHUakbj5kC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA253&dq=Jane%20Marnac&pg=PA253#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The BFI Companion to Crime |date=1997 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-304-33215-1 |pages=253 |language=en}}
  • Le bal de petits lits blancs (1934)

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons}}

  • {{IMDb name|id=0549406}}
  • A recording of the operetta Azore (1932) featuring Marnac, at Internet Archive
  • [https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/874686/jane-marnac-in-kleid-von-maison-dukes A photograph of Marnac from about 1914], in the collection of the State Museums of Berlin, Art Library

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marnac, Jane}}

Category:Belgian stage actresses

Category:Belgian film actresses

Category:Belgian silent film actresses

Category:20th-century Belgian actresses

Category:Actresses from Brussels

Category:1892 births

Category:1976 deaths

Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery