“France is orphaned by its beloved saint”: French cinema pays tribute to Micheline Presle

French cinema mourns its oldest member. Born in Paris in August 1922, Micheline Presle “passed away peacefully around 6 p.m. at the National House of Artists in Nogent-sur-Marne” (Val-de-Marne), her son-in-law Olivier Bomsel announced to AFP, specifying that the funeral will take place in privacy. The actress will have accompanied generations of spectators and rubbed shoulders with the greatest figures of the 7th art in the 20th century. And his disappearance sparked a storm of reactions.

Micheline Presle, elegant and fashion lover, will remain for many Marthe, Gérard Philipe's playmate in Le Diable au corps, in 1947 by Claude Autant-Lara, adapted from the novel by Raymond Radiguet. Or the star of Saturday evenings in the TV series Les Saintes Chéries, an ORTF institution from the 1960s.

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Far beyond, with his death, a page in cinema turns: his career includes a total of more than 150 films, including a few in Hollywood, letting himself be carried away by his encounters, from George Pabst to Alain Resnais via Abel Gance, Jacques Demy or Joseph Losey. Long one of the three favorite stars of the French, with Danielle Darrieux and Michèle Morgan, she was one of the rare established actresses who gave a lot to beginning filmmakers.

“Infinite sadness. France is orphaned by its beloved saint. At 101 years old, Micheline was beautiful, simple, lively, curious about everything, singing to delight, laughing, with a lively eye. Loving to love,” responded the former president of the Cannes Film Festival Gilles Jacob to AFP.

“Micheline Presle was an emblematic figure of French cinema,” greeted the Académie des Césars, two days before its 49th ceremony and twenty years after giving her an honorary César. “Cinema is without a doubt the most beautiful story of my life,” the actress launched on stage at the time, after paying tribute to the “young filmmakers” to whom she said she owed her “survival” and “a lot of its joys. With a special mention to Jacques Becker, who made him famous with Falbalas, just after the war, just like Boule de suif by Christian-Jaque.

Her daughter Tonie Marshall, the only director to have ever received a César, for Venus Beauté (institut), in 1999, in which Micheline Presle appeared, died in March 2020.

The president of the national cinema center (CNC), Dominique Boutonnat, also paid tribute to the actress. “It was from the 1940s that Micheline Presle imposed her mystery, her elegance and her fantasy,” we can read on the CNC networks. Through an exceptional filmography of 150 works, [...] she continued to tour until the 2010s.

Micheline Presle's last appearance in front of the camera dates back to 2018, for the show Fashion Freak Show, directed by Tonie Marshall and Jean Paul Gaultier. The latter had called on her to play his grandmother in a video sequence, herself at the origin of the couturier's passion for fashion when he was a child.

Outside of cinema, Micheline Presle was a member of the honorary committee of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity. “We are losing a fervent activist (...) and a friend,” the association reacted on social networks.