Actress. Appearing in more than 150 feature films over a career of half a century, she received three Cesar Awards, France's equivalent of the Oscar. Raised in a broken home, she originally studied at Caen to be a nurse midwife (as was her mother) but decided instead on a career in theatre. Following her graduation from the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts she joined the acting troupe Comedie Francaise in 1954 and was to remain with them until 1957. Annie made her silver screen bow in the forgetable 1955 "Thirteen at Table" but did not see major success until her turn as an abused prostitute in Luchino Visconti's 1960 "Rocco and His Brothers", on the set of which she met her future husband Rocco Salvatore. Working steadily until her final illness she earned laughs co-starring with Brigitte Bardot in "The Novices", a 1970 comedy of nun-meets-prostitute, and praise for 1971's "Dying to Love" in which she was a teacher attracted to one of her male students. Annie captured her first Cesar as Best Actress for the title lead of Jean-Louis Bertuccelli's 1977 "Doctor Francoise Gailland" and was to follow with two more, both as Best Supporting Actress; she was honored in 1996 for her portrayal of a farmer's wife in Claude Lelouch's "Les Miserables" and for her portrayal of Isabelle Huppert's unpleasantly possessive mother in Michael Haneke's 2001 "The Piano Teacher". She earned her final credit with "Christian" (2006) and died after living in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease since 2008. Many of her films remain in print.
Actress. Appearing in more than 150 feature films over a career of half a century, she received three Cesar Awards, France's equivalent of the Oscar. Raised in a broken home, she originally studied at Caen to be a nurse midwife (as was her mother) but decided instead on a career in theatre. Following her graduation from the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts she joined the acting troupe Comedie Francaise in 1954 and was to remain with them until 1957. Annie made her silver screen bow in the forgetable 1955 "Thirteen at Table" but did not see major success until her turn as an abused prostitute in Luchino Visconti's 1960 "Rocco and His Brothers", on the set of which she met her future husband Rocco Salvatore. Working steadily until her final illness she earned laughs co-starring with Brigitte Bardot in "The Novices", a 1970 comedy of nun-meets-prostitute, and praise for 1971's "Dying to Love" in which she was a teacher attracted to one of her male students. Annie captured her first Cesar as Best Actress for the title lead of Jean-Louis Bertuccelli's 1977 "Doctor Francoise Gailland" and was to follow with two more, both as Best Supporting Actress; she was honored in 1996 for her portrayal of a farmer's wife in Claude Lelouch's "Les Miserables" and for her portrayal of Isabelle Huppert's unpleasantly possessive mother in Michael Haneke's 2001 "The Piano Teacher". She earned her final credit with "Christian" (2006) and died after living in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease since 2008. Many of her films remain in print.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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