Miou-Miou
- Actress
- Writer
Miou-Miou was born Sylvette Herry on February 22, 1950, in Paris,
France. Her father was a gendarme, her mother was a sales-woman. Young
Miou-Miou was selling strawberries helping out at her mother's fruit
and vegetable stand at a street market. There she was spotted by
actor-director Romain Bouteille, who
invited her to work at Café de la Gare, a popular Parisian theatre,
where Gérard Depardieu and
Patrick Dewaere were principal actors.
There she began as a cleaning lady, then became a dresser, then an
actress. She was nicknamed Miou-Miou by Coluche
because she was always nice, quiet, and clean as a kitty.
In 1971, Miou-Miou made her film debut in
La vie sentimentale de Georges le tueur (1971)
(The Sentimental Life of George Le Tueur 1971). At that time she became
romantically involved with the fellow actor
Patrick Dewaere. Their daughter, Angèle Herry-Leclerc, was born in 1974, but their relationship ended few years later,
after their work in several films. Their relationship was portrayed in
F... comme Fairbanks (1976), and
later was documented in Patrick Dewaere (1992)
(documentary).
Miou-Miou has been an unusual personality in the French cinema. She
once refused to take the Cesar Award for Best Actress, which she won
for the title role in
Memoirs of a French Whore (1979).
She explained that refusal citing her belief that artists should not
compete against each other. Her career was hardly affected by such a
gesture. She was nominated for Cesar nine times. Her better known works
were made with Gérard Depardieu in
Going Places (1974),
Tell Her That I Love Her (1977),
Ménage (1986), and
Germinal (1993), an adaptation of the
eponymous novel by Émile Zola.
France. Her father was a gendarme, her mother was a sales-woman. Young
Miou-Miou was selling strawberries helping out at her mother's fruit
and vegetable stand at a street market. There she was spotted by
actor-director Romain Bouteille, who
invited her to work at Café de la Gare, a popular Parisian theatre,
where Gérard Depardieu and
Patrick Dewaere were principal actors.
There she began as a cleaning lady, then became a dresser, then an
actress. She was nicknamed Miou-Miou by Coluche
because she was always nice, quiet, and clean as a kitty.
In 1971, Miou-Miou made her film debut in
La vie sentimentale de Georges le tueur (1971)
(The Sentimental Life of George Le Tueur 1971). At that time she became
romantically involved with the fellow actor
Patrick Dewaere. Their daughter, Angèle Herry-Leclerc, was born in 1974, but their relationship ended few years later,
after their work in several films. Their relationship was portrayed in
F... comme Fairbanks (1976), and
later was documented in Patrick Dewaere (1992)
(documentary).
Miou-Miou has been an unusual personality in the French cinema. She
once refused to take the Cesar Award for Best Actress, which she won
for the title role in
Memoirs of a French Whore (1979).
She explained that refusal citing her belief that artists should not
compete against each other. Her career was hardly affected by such a
gesture. She was nominated for Cesar nine times. Her better known works
were made with Gérard Depardieu in
Going Places (1974),
Tell Her That I Love Her (1977),
Ménage (1986), and
Germinal (1993), an adaptation of the
eponymous novel by Émile Zola.