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WP's Anny Duperey Biography

Short info

Anny Duperey - Lady in Red

Enchanting Anny Duperey (»Ani Dyperε:« in real Annie Legras; after her grandfather Duperray) is equipped with a clear look, with a mischievous snub nose, with a long elegant silhouette and with a suspicion of coolness which she knows how to moderate to a point of cheeky humor. Although the beautiful »tall brunette« with the striking blue eyes owns a real talent of dramatic art, the roles in which she is confined, in cinema as on television, do not always allow her to state all the extent of her abilities. One has to experience her on stage once.

Her sharp signed face, her imposing height of 1.74 m (5 feet 8.5 inches), her model figure (60 kg; 132.5 lbs) and last but not least her appearance and her beauty predestinate her for the role as show-mistress in many movies - or as princess often on stage.

Although she seems very sensitive and thoughtful in her books due to her family history, nevertheless often her pleasure of life becomes evident. And one is hardly able to evade her natural behavior, her disarming frankness and her charm. At first sight mysterious or even dangerous beauty in real she is more some kind of natural mate.
So she answered a question, whether she has a foible for conspicuous nail enamel, that it is easier by that to hide away her fingernails dirty from gardening.
In press one has made her the following compliments among others: Anny Duperey has a charming intelligence and an intelligent charm. Or: Everything is in her expression. Two bright eyes framed by dropping eyelids, full of an undefinable sorrow. With a piercing view inside you. (Frédérique Jourdaa).

For about 15 years the actor Bernard Giraudeau like her very well-known was Anny Duperey's life companion and she has two children, Gaël (* '82) and Sara (* '85), with him. Until 2004 she lived 13 years with Cris Campion. An actor, too. In 2006 Sara Giraudeau continues the family tradition starting her own theater career.

Anny Duperey lives in Paris, Montparnasse (14th Arrondissement) and owns a cottage in Châtelus-Malvaleix upon the Creuse (Limousin).
Address for autographs and info: CINEART (www.cineart.fr), 36, rue de Ponthieu, 75008 PARIS, France.
Current filmography e.g. at Internet Movie Database (IMDb); search for duperey.

Curriculum vitae

Extraordinary beautiful Anny Duperey is born in Rouen on June 28th 1947 as first child of Ginette and Lucien Legras. At the age of eight and a half she and her sister Patricia eight years younger than her loose their parents, who die of suffocation caused by a wrong installed bathroom oven. For some minutes too late Anny, who sleeps next door, discovers the death bodies. Both orphans are divided up in their parents' families and live their own lives.

Anny is attracted very young by dance and even more by theater. With special permission she is allowed to leave the College Camille St Saens two years earlier as usual to exchange to the academy of arts of her hometown. After two years of studies she wins a First Price of Comedy and at the age of seventeen she leaves Rouen with destination Paris with the firm intention to attend the academy of arts in the capital.

Sparkling and glittering Anny Duperey

Anny Duperey starts by following René Simon's courses of dramatic art, while earning her money in parallel as model for mode and magazines. Then she enters finally to the Academy. And it is just in her first year in the establishment that she is noticed by Jean Meyer, who engages her with the Théâtre Michel for The three marriages of Melanie. Anny Duperey plays then in Mamma, at the sides of Elvire Popesco. About the same time - so the story goes - Jean-Luc Godard discovers her face on the cover of a magazine and wants her by all means for a bigger role in his Nouvelle Vague movie Two or three things that I know of her. So she has her movie debut in 1966.

Just consequently she plays more or less extended roles in movies of many various respected directors like e.g. Francis Rigaud Jerk à Istambul (1967), Michel Boisrond L'homme qui valait des milliards (1968) [English title: The Man who was worth Millions], André Hunebelle Sous le signe de Monte-Cristo (1968) [English title: Under the Sign of Monte-Cristo], Roger Vadim Spirits of the Dead / Metzengerstein (1968), Jean Aurel Les femmes (1969) [English title: Women or The Vixen], Pierre Richard Les malheurs d'Alfred (1971) [English title: The Troubles of Alfred], Jean Delannoy Pas folle la guêpe (1972) [English title: Not Dumb, the Bird], Jean-Claude Brialy L' Oiseau rare (1973) [English title: A rare Bird] and George Lautner Pas de problème (1974) [English title: No Problem].
At least in the beginning of her career Alain Resnais allows her in Stavisky (1974) to escape from these mostly light comedies »à la française« and cock-and-bull stories.

She, however, writes movie history in Yves Robert's Un éléphant ça trompe énormément (1976) [English title: Pardon mon affaire], where she cheerfully dances as dream woman dressed in red on a ventilator outlet like Marilyn Monroe in the The Seven Year Itch upskirt scene. Prompt she is nominated for the César.
Worth seeing she is also as single mother in Michael Schock's family movie Trocadero bleu citron (1978) [English title: Little Love]. Movie enthusiasts will notice her role in Claude Mulots La Rose Ecorchee (1969) [English title: The Blood Rose] - it is said to be the first horror movie with erotic touch or vice versa. [(Sorry, I'm not a pro herein, and I really don't want to become one ;-) By the way - believe it or not - she is responsible for the creeps.]

Anny Duperey, TV shooting star 1971

In the 80s she appears as star or guest star, e.g. in Philippe de Broca's Psy (1980), in Alexandre Arcady's Le grand pardon (1982) [English title: Grand Pardon] and in Henri Verneuil's Mille milliards de dollars (1982). She can give a proof of the full bandwidth of her abilities in the leading part of Marc Lobet's crime comedy Meurtres a domicile (1982). Maybe her most impressive leading part is in Francis Leroi's suspense thriller Le Démon dans l'île (1983) [English title: Demon of the Island]. At the Avoriaz movie festival she is awarded best actress.

Also in several European and international movies and TV productions she is to see, e.g. at the sides of Al Pacino and Marthe Keller in Sydney Pollack's US movie Bobby Deerfield (1978). (Quotation of the director »The wonderful, wonderful French actress«.) She even appears in two German movies, Umarmungen und andere Sachen with Synde Rome and Jean-Pierre Leaud (1975) [English title: Embraces] and Car Napping - Bestellt, geklaut, geliefert (1979) [English title: Carnapping or Escapade].
But she regrets a little bit that, in general, for too long time one confined her in roles of »tall cold and sophisticated women«.
After Les comperes (1983) [English title: Com Dads] of Francis Veber and La Triche (1984) [English title: The Cheat] of Yannick Bellon she has her next movie appearance not until Germinal (1993) of Claude Berri and Tôt ou tard (1999) [English title: Sooner or later] of Anne-Marie Etienne. In 2007 she is back again in cinema in Valerié Guigabodet's Danse avec lui [English title: Dance with him] and in 2009 one can watch her in De l'autre côté du lit [English title: Changing Sides] of Pascale Pouzadoux, in Eden Is West of Constantin Costa-Gavras and in Bambou of Didier Bourdon as well.

Anny Duperey (en VOGUE ;-)

But she is partial to the theater, perhaps because here she is able to show all her talent. For instance in particular as a singer and dancer in the musical Attention fragile (1978) she plays successfully at the sides of Bernard Giraudeau her life partner in these days.
Already at the age of 23 she remembers her roots and returns to academy and theater. She didn't want to see herself just as acting photo model or cover girl. In the 70s and 80s she has big stage successes especially under the directors Jean Mercure and her mentor Jean-Louis Barrault (»Anny Duperey is my daughter on the stage«) also at the French State Theater. She plays in Isabelle, three caravels, one charlatan of Dario Fo, in Love of the love and in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. For almost a decade she impersonates Helen of Troy in Giraudoux's Tiger at the Gates and even during a tour through the USA, Canada and the USSR she attracts attention.
Until now one can attend her play on stage. So she very successfully acts in Oscar Wilde's An ideal husband (1995/6), in an adaptation of John Murrell's Sarah (2003/4) and in the one-character play Oscar et la dame rose (2005-8) by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt. Several Molière nominations state their talent. Mother and daughter stage 2010 in Colombe.

Anny Duperey is very successful as writer, too. Not only in France. Already her first book L'Admiroir (1976) is awarded with the Prix de l'Académie française. She continues with Le Nez de Mazarin (1986) [English title: The Cardinal's Nose (1992)], the very striking autobiography Le voile noir (1992), Je vous écris (1993), Les chats de hasard (1999), the novels Allons plus loin, veux-tu? (2002), Une soirée (2005), the letter dialog with Nina Vidrovitch De la vie dans son art de l'art dans sa vie (2008).
Also she writes scripts for movies.

ELLE - Anny Duperey

Besides she has devoted herself to black-and-white photography like her gifted father and has created a lot of images of her colleagues worth to see. But concerning exhibitions she is reserved. She is also a talented painter.
Temporary she has impressed in circus at trapeze and as rope-dancer. Just to watch on TV e.g. in Circus of the Stars in 1976 and even in 1994 on the occasion of an episode of Une famille formidable.

In addition to acting and writing she intensely commits herself in social field, e.g. as patroness of the French SOS Children's Villages and for Rire Médicine (psychological care for children in hospitals), too. Also she supports SOS-PAPA (fathers' rights in divorce).
Since 1997 she is Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur.
Due to her various engagements and her frank and gentle nature she is an appreciated guest for TV and radio interviews and for festivals as well.

Autograph hunters claim her to be one of the most or even the most kind and likeable French celebrity. It is told she even signs early act photos with a smile.
Because she speaks English fluently even international autograph requests cause no trouble.

Because of her a bit husky, expressive and pleasant warm voice she is a wanted speaker for French audio-books, not only as story teller for Walt Disney's children stories, but also for demanding literature and (better: therefore ;-) for her own business on Les chats de hasard.

Anny Duperey, up-to-date

The actress very well known and popular in France in parallel right from the beginning continues an awarded career on television. Less in series, but in TV-movies and in mini series. For instance in Nina Companeez's Un ours pas comme les autres (1978), in Robert Mazoyer's 5-episode series Un Château au soleil (1988), in Christopher Franck's La seconde (1989), in Clive Donner's trilogy Charlemagne (1994), in Christian Faures L'enfant perdu (1997), in Joël Santoni's trilogy La Vocation d'Adrienne (1997-2000), in Didier Albert's trilogy Marseille (1998), in Michaëla Watteaux's 5-episode series Chère Marianne (1999-2001), in Nina Companeez's Un Pique-Nique chez Osiris (2001), in a double role in Joyce Buñuel's Le voyage de la grande-duchesse (2003), in Daniel Janneau's Une vie en retour (2005), in Nicolas Mercier's Clara Sheller 2nd serial (2008) and in Christian Duguay's Coco Chanel (2008) just to name some.
Most successfully, however, since 1992 in the loose trilogy episodes of Joël Santoni's Une famille formidable in movie length. The sixth season reaches more than 40(!)% rating on French TV in 2006 - just cult status. In the beginning of 2010 the eighth season is broadcast in French TV.
In interviews, however, she likes to describe her career as »zigzag« and remarks that cinema had suddenly »forgotten« her in the mid eighties.

That all has given Anny Duperey the reputation in France to be the most versatile artist, a popular figure, who makes a good figure both on stage as in front of the camera as actress, dancer and singer. In classical and in modern plays, in comedies and in thrillers.
Also she has gained reputation as writer. Extracts of Le voile noir were a part of the test paper in the French exam in 2002 and are to find in the French school reader.
Even a rose (www.meilland.com) is named after her.