Marie-Christine Barrault (born 21 March 1944) is a French actress. She is best known for her performance in Cousin Cousine (1975) for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2010, she released her autobiography, titled This Long Way to Get to You.
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Life and career
Marie-Christine Barrault was born in Paris, France, the daughter of Martha (née Valmier) and Max-Henri Barrault. Her parents later divorced. Barrault's father, who worked in the theatre, died while she was a teenager. With no support, her mother was unable to care for her and her brother, Alain. Barrault was raised by her grandmother, Felicite. She was mentored in acting by her aunt and uncle, French performers Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud. They initially did not support her dreams of becoming an actress. She performed in plays in secondary school and then enrolled in an acting conservatory.
Barrault got her start on television in L'oeuvre (1967). She made her feature film debut in Éric Rohmer's My Night at Maud's (1969). In 1970 Barrault was featured along with Pierre Richard in the comedy film Le Distrait. In 1975 Barrault starred in Cousin Cousine, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She worked with Rohmer once again in 1978, in the role of Guinevere in Perceval le Gallois and she also has a cameo in his Love in the Afternoon.
Barrault is not fluent in English and therefore has generally turned down offers to appear in English-language films. However, in 1980 she accepted an offer from Woody Allen to appear in his film Stardust Memories. In 1988 she was nominated for a Genie Award for her performance in No Blame. In 1991 she portrayed Marie Curie in a television mini-series. In her later career, she has preferred acting on the stage in France. In 2015, she came to Los Angeles on tour to perform in the play Les Yeux Ouverts, in which she portrays French author Marguerite Yourcenar.
Barrault's first husband was producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier, whom she married in 1965. With him, she had two children, David and Ariane. Barrault was married to director Roger Vadim from 1990 until his death from cancer in 2000. She herself is a survivor of breast cancer.
In 2024, she returned to the silver screen in an Italian film, Per il mio bene, the debut feature by Mimmo Verdesca, in which she plays the complex role of “Anna”, a mother wounded and tormented by a disturbing past.
Select filmography
Per il mio bene (2024) Anna
A Woman's Life (2026)