
Marie-José Nat
Biography
Marie-José Benhalassa (22 April 1940 – 10 October 2019), known professionally as Marie-José Nat, was a French actress. Among her notable works in cinema were the sequel films Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc and Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Françoise (1963), directed by André Cayatte. In 1974, she received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film Violins at the Ball.
Benhalassa was born in Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, to a Kabyle Berber father, Abdelkader Benhalassa, and a Corsican mother, Vincentine (Biancarelli).
In 1960, she married the actor Roger Dumas and divorced him in 1962. She then married French director Michel Drach with whom she had three sons, David, Julien and Aurélien. They divorced in 1981. She had a relationship of several years with the actor Victor Lanoux. On 30 September 2005 she married the painter, writer and songwriter Serge Rezvani in her third marriage.
She died in Paris of cancer at age 79.
After secondary studies at the Ajaccio high school, Benhalassa entered the cours Simon in Paris.
Benhalassa began her career as a cover-girl and haute-couture model. In 1955, she won a competition from the magazine Femmes d'aujourd'hui which allowed her to become Jean-Claude Pascal's partner in a photo comics entitled L'amour est un songe.
Denys de La Patellière offered her her first major role in 1959 in Rue des prairies alongside Jean Gabin, in which she played his daughter. The following year, she performed in a comedy sketch by René Clair alongside Claude Rich and Yves Robert, and obtained a major role in La Vérité by Henri-Georges Clouzot, playing Brigitte Bardot's rival opposite Sami Frey.
In 1965, she married filmmaker Michel Drach; they had three children and divorced in 1981. She starred in several of her husband's films: Amelie or The Time to Love (1961), Elise, or Real Life (1970) and Les violons du bal (1974), inspired by his childhood experiences during World War II. She was also known for Train of Life (1998), Litan (1982) and The Dacians (1966) with Jean Sorel, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Victor Lanoux and Bernadette Lafont as acting partners.
In 2001, Nat was a member of the jury at the 36th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2001, and at the 24th Cabourg Film Festival in 2010.
She was the very first person to appear on the front cover of Télé 7 Jours in its current name on March 26, 1960.
Nat was awarded Best Actress at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Violins at the Ball, and the film was nominated for the Golden Palm award.
She was made a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur on 31 December 2004, chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite on 18 November 2002 and promoted to the rank of officer on 14 November 2011, commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres as a member of the conseil de l'ordre of which she was a member from 1 March 2001 until April 2012.
Source: Article "Marie-José Nat" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Acting (46 movies)

Ceux qui aiment ne meurent jamais
2004

The Truth
1960

Opium and the Stick
1970

Litan
1982

Rue de Paris
1959

La colère
1962

The Seven Deadly Sins
1962

You Have Nothing to Declare?
1959

Disobedience
1981

La Nuit de Tom Brown
1959

Replay
1977

Sentimental Education
1962

A Woman in White
1965

The Marriage of Figaro
1961

Elise, or Real Life
1970

Elena's Gift
2004

Violins at the Ball
1974

Train of Life
1998

Love and the Frenchwoman
1960

Le nombril du monde
1993

Les Rosenberg ne doivent pas mourir
1975

Happy Arenas
1958

Black River
1992

Embassy
1972

Tell Me You Love Me
1974

Secret professionnel
1959

Long Live the Duke!
1960

The Real Bargain
1965

The Dacians
1967

Diamond Safari
1966

The Year when I Was Seven
2003

Winnetou darf nicht sterben
2007

The Menace
1961

Amelie or The Time to Love
1961

Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Jean-Marc
1964

6 Calvary Street
1973

Diamond Rush
1969

Murder in Batz
2015

Anatomy of a Marriage: My Days with Françoise
1964

Give Me My Chance
1957

A Mother, a Daughter
1981

Deux mamans pour Noël
1998

Crime and Punishment
1956

Un coup dans l'aile
1963

Urgent ou à quoi bon exécuter des projets puisque le projet est en lui-même une jouissance suffisante
1977

6 Calvary Street
1973
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