Mylène Demongeot

{{short description|French actress and author (1935–2022)}}

{{expand French|Mylène Demongeot|date=November 2022|topic=gov}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Mylène Demongeot

| image = File:DEMONGEOT Mylene-24x30-2008b.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Demongeot in 2008.

| birth_name = Marie-Hélène Demongeot

| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|09|29|df=y}}

| birth_place = Nice, France

| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|12|01|1935|09|29|df=y}}

| death_place = Paris, France

| occupation = Actress

| yearsactive = 1953–2022

| spouse = {{plainlist|

• {{marriage|Henri Coste|1958|1968|reason=divorced}}
• {{marriage|Marc Simenon|1968|1999|reason=his death}}

}}

}}

Mylène Demongeot ({{IPA|fr|milɛn dəmɔ̃ʒo}}; born Marie-Hélène Demongeot {{IPA|fr|maʁi elɛn|}}; 29 September 1935 – 1 December 2022) was a French film, television and theatre actress and author{{Cite book|last=Lombard|first=Philippe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2DVCEAAAQBAJ|title=Les grandes gueules du cinéma français|date=21 October 2021|publisher=Hugo Publishing|isbn=978-2-7556-9311-9|language=fr}} with a career spanning seven decades and more than 100 credits in French, Italian, English and Japanese{{Cite book |last=Galbraith |first=Stuart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=62UcAQAAIAAJ |title=The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6004-9 |language=en}} speaking productions.{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f986160|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722205239/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9f986160|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 July 2012|title=Mylène Demongeot|website=Explore.bfi.org.uk|accessdate=7 October 2017}}{{Cite web|last=Média|first=Prisma|title=Mylène Demongeot - La biographie de Mylène Demongeot avec Gala.fr|url=https://www.gala.fr/stars_et_gotha/mylene_demongeot|access-date=23 October 2021|website=Gala.fr|language=fr}}

Demongeot became a star at age 21 with her portrayal of Abigail Williams in The Crucible (1957) which garnered her a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles nomination and the best actress prize at the socialist Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Some other notable film roles include Elsa in Otto Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse (1958), alongside Deborah Kerr and David Niven, and as Milady de Winter in Les Trois Mousquetaires (1961).{{Cite book|last1=Calic|first1=Marie-Janine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPkEFdSDqqEC|title=The Crisis of Socialist Modernity: The Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in the 1970s|last2=Neutatz|first2=Dietmar|last3=Obertreis|first3=Julia|date=2011|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3-525-31042-7|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Santa|first=Àngels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=roJVDwAAQBAJ|title=L'art de l'adaptation: féminité et roman populaire. Peut-on voyager à son insu?|date=15 December 2016|publisher=Universitat de Lleida|isbn=978-84-9144-095-6|language=fr}}{{Cite book|last=Lemonier|first=Marc|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abncDwAAQBAJ|title=Dictionnaire désolant du cinéma francophone: Dictionnaire|date=10 April 2020|publisher=Jourdan|isbn=978-2-39009-497-5|language=en}}

A "veteran of cinema"{{Cite web|last=Talk|first=Film|date=4 April 2017|title=Mylène Demongeot: "I haven't achieved my ultimate goal yet, which is absolute perfection. But I'm still working on it"|url=https://filmtalk.org/2017/04/04/mylene-demongeot-i-havent-achieved-my-ultimate-goal-yet-which-is-absolute-perfection-but-im-still-working-on-it/|access-date=23 October 2021|website=FILM TALK|language=en}} who started as one of the blond sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s,{{Cite book|last=Choulant|first=Dominique|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tn9Op7dglT4C|title=CinéMarilyn, ou, l'âge d'or des sex-symbols d'Hollywood et d'ailleurs|date=2006|publisher=Editions Publibook|isbn=978-2-7483-3284-1|language=fr}}{{Cite book|last=BERNETT|first=Sam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5giEAAAQBAJ|title=Vieilles canailles - Un fabuleux destin|date=1 April 2021|publisher=Cherche Midi|isbn=978-2-7491-6606-3|language=fr}}{{Cite book|last=Serceau|first=Michel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vSVDwAAQBAJ|title=Le mythe, le miroir et le divan: Pour lire le cinéma|date=26 April 2019|publisher=Presses Universitaires du Septentrion|isbn=978-2-7574-2137-6|language=fr}} she managed to avoid typecasting by exploring many film genres including thrillers, westerns, comedies, swashbucklers, period films and even pepla, such as Romulus and the Sabines (1961) opposite Roger Moore or Gold for the Caesars (1963).

Demongeot also has a cult following{{Cite book|last=Audureau|first=Annabel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpQeDQAAQBAJ|title=Fantômas: Un mythe moderne au croisement des arts|date=19 September 2016|publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes|isbn=978-2-7535-4702-5|language=fr}}{{Cite book|last1=Vion-Dury|first1=Juliette|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVLnKwBV4iUC&pg=PA127|title=Dictionnaire des mythes du fantastique|last2=Brunel|first2=Pierre|date=2003|publisher=Presses Univ. Limoges|isbn=978-2-84287-276-2|language=fr}} based on the Fantomas trilogy, as Hélène Gurn opposite Louis de Funès and Jean Marais: Fantômas (1964), Fantômas Unleashed (1965) and Fantômas Against Scotland Yard (1967).{{Cite book|last=Migozzi|first=Jacques|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SCX_o6vuq58C|title=De l'écrit à l'ecran: littératures populaires : mutations génériques, mutations médiatiques|date=2000|publisher=Presses Univ. Limoges|isbn=978-2-84287-142-0|language=fr}}{{Cite web|title=1964, sur le tournage de "Fantômas" {{!}} INA|url=https://www.ina.fr/ina-eclaire-actu/1964-sur-le-tournage-de-fantomas|access-date=23 October 2021|website=ina.fr|language=fr}} Thirty years later, she starred again in another one of France's most successful comedy trilogies{{Cite web |last=Média |first=Prisma |title=Mort de Mylène Demongeot : Franck Dubosc rend hommage à sa partenaire de Camping - Voici |url=https://www.voici.fr/news-people/mort-de-mylene-demongeot-franck-dubosc-rend-hommage-a-sa-partenaire-de-camping-744228 |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Voici.fr |language=fr}} as Madame Pic in Fabien Onteniente's Camping (2006), Camping 2 (2010) and Camping 3 (2016).{{Cite web |date=2022-12-05 |title=Les obsèques de Mylène Demongeot auront lieu samedi à Paris |url=https://www.laprovence.com/actu/en-direct/64488821377219/les-obseques-de-mylene-demongeot-auront-lieu-samedi-a-paris |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=LaProvence.com |language=fr}}

She was twice nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the César Awards for 36 Quai des Orfèvres (2004){{Cite book|last=DURANT|first=Philippe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0I0nBQAAQBAJ|title=Gabin, Ventura, Delon... Les légendes du Polar|date=6 November 2014|publisher=Sonatine|isbn=978-2-35584-324-2|language=fr}} and French California (2006).

In 2007, she was made a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et de Lettres of the French Republic.{{Cite web|date=15 July 2015|title=Profil de Mylène Demongeot|url=https://www.valeursactuelles.com/culture/profil-de-mylene-demongeot/|access-date=23 October 2021|website=Valeurs actuelles|language=fr-FR}}

In 2017, she was inducted into the Légion d'Honneur by ethologist and neurologist Boris Cyrulnik, with the rank of Chevalier.{{Cite web|date=16 December 2017|title=Mylène Demongeot reçoit la Légion d'honneur des mains de Boris Cyrulnik|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/cinema/2017/12/16/03002-20171216ARTFIG00065-mylene-demongeot-recoit-la-legion-d-honneur-des-mains-de-boris-cyrulnik.php|access-date=23 October 2021|website=LEFIGARO|language=fr}}

She remained popular until her death from peritoneal cancer.{{Cite web |title=Mylène Demongeot : de quoi est morte la comédienne à l'âge de 87 ans |url=https://www.femmeactuelle.fr/actu/news-actu/mylene-demongeot-de-quoi-est-morte-la-comedienne-a-lage-de-87-ans-2145779 |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Femme Actuelle |language=fr}} At the time of her death, she was starring in Thomas Gilou's film Maison de retraite (2022) alongside Gérard Depardieu, one of the biggest box office hits of 2022 in France.{{Cite web |last=Haring |first=Bruce |date=2022-12-02 |title=Mylene Demongeot Dies: French Film Actress Known For Comedy Was 87 |url=https://deadline.com/2022/12/mylene-demongeot-dies-french-film-actress-known-comedy-87-obituary-1235186847/ |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=France's Mylene Demongeot dies after 70 years of screen stardom |url=https://news.yahoo.com/frances-mylene-demongeot-dies-70-163337691.html |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=news.yahoo.com |language=en-US}} Through an Élysée Palace official tribune, President Emmanuel Macron paid a long tribute to her which included : "we salute the career of a great figure in the French Seventh Art, who knew how to shine in all its genres to move all French people".{{Cite web |date=2022-12-02 |title=Décès de Mylène Demongeot. |url=https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2022/12/02/deces-de-mylene-demongeot |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=elysee.fr |language=fr}}