Michèle Morgan obit

Michele Morgan, French Actress in ‘The Fallen Idol,’ Dies at 96

Known as having "the most beautiful eyes in cinema," she won the first-ever best actress award at Cannes in 1946. 

She was not on the list.

Michele Morgan, famous for her role in The Fallen Idol, died Tuesday at her home in Paris. “The most beautiful eyes in cinema were permanently closed this morning,” the family said in a statement. She was 96.

Considered one of the greatest actresses of French cinema, Morgan is best known as the girlfriend of an unhappily married butler (Ralph Richardson) whose wife dies accidentally in the 1948 film The Fallen Idol. It was nominated for two Oscars.

Morgan was born Feb. 29, 1920, in Neuilly-sur-Seine as Simone Renee Roussel. She left home when she was 15 to pursue acting and took lessons from Rene Simon, the founder of the Cours Simon drama school in Paris.

Her breakthrough role was in Marc Allegret’s 1937 film Heart of Paris, in which she starred opposite Raimu. Allegret also cast her in his 1938 film Storm, but she became a well-known actress when she starred in Marcel Carne’s Port of Shadows (1938) with French star Jean Gabin. In Shadows, Gabin tells Morgan, “You have beautiful eyes, you know.” To which she replies, “Kiss me.” As a result, she became known as the actress with “the most beautiful eyes in cinema.” Her 1977 autobiography was entitled With These Eyes.

When Germany invaded France in 1940 during World War II, Morgan fled to the U.S., where she was cast in several Hollywood films, including Robert Stevenson’s Joan of Paris (1942), Higher and Higher (1943) with Frank Sinatra and Passage to Marseille (1944) with Humphrey Bogart. In 1941, she built a house in Los Angeles at 10050 Cielo Drive, which became famous as the site of the Manson family murders in 1969.

Returning to France after the war, Morgan continued to work for the next two decades. In 1946, she starred in Jean Delannoy’s religious drama Pastoral Symphony, a film about a minister and his son who both fall in love with a blind woman, played by Morgan. For her role, she won the best actress award at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946.

Her career continued with such highlights as The Fallen Idol; Fabiola (1949); The Glass Castle (1950); The Proud and the Beautiful (1953); Shadow of the Guillotine (1956), in which she stars as Marie Antoinette; and Lost Command (1966).

Morgan received many awards during her career, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, France’s Legion of Honor in 1969 and an honorary Cesar for her contributions to French cinema in 1992. She also won the Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1996. She was voted as the most popular French actress 10 times.

Morgan spent her later years painting and had a solo exhibit in Paris in 2009. “I find calm, I have always liked to be alone and I have never been happier than with my painting,” she said.

Of her long, successful acting career, in which she starred in nearly 70 films, Morgan said: “I have never had the opportunity to play sexy women. I must believe that my charm was not in my ass.”

 

Actress

La rivale

TV Movie

Judith Legrand

1999

 

Des gens si bien élevés (1997)

Des gens si bien élevés

6.2

TV Movie

Geneviève

1997

 

Michèle Morgan in La veuve de l'architecte (1995)

La veuve de l'architecte

6.2

TV Movie

Helena Kramp

1995

 

Everybody's Fine (1990)

Everybody's Fine

7.7

Woman in train

1990

 

Daniel Gélin and Michèle Morgan in Le tiroir secret (1986)

Le tiroir secret

6.9

TV Mini Series

Colette Lemarchand

1986

6 episodes

 

Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant in A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later (1986)

A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later

5.8

Une spectatrice de '40 ans déjà' (uncredited)

1986

 

Anny Duperey in La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu (1982)

Emmenez-moi au théâtre

TV Series

Léa de Lonval

1984

1 episode

 

Le tout pour le tout

TV Movie

Roxane Aubertin

1981

 

Robert et Robert (1978)

Robert et Robert

6.5

Cameo appearance (uncredited)

1978

 

Cat and Mouse (1975)

Cat and Mouse

6.6

Madame Richard

1975

 

The Diary of an Innocent Boy (1968)

The Diary of an Innocent Boy

6.4

La comtesse Gabrielle de Valandry

1968

 

La bien-aimée

5.6

TV Movie

Fanny Dréal

1967

 

Anthony Quinn, Alain Delon, and Michèle Morgan in Lost Command (1966)

Lost Command

6.3

Countess Nathalie de Clairefons (as Michele Morgan)

1966

 

Michèle Morgan in Dis-moi qui tuer (1965)

Dis-moi qui tuer

4.0

Geneviève Monthannet

1965

 

Les yeux cernés (1964)

Les yeux cernés

6.3

Florence

1964

 

Les pas perdus (1964)

Les pas perdus

6.2

Yolande Simonnet

1964

 

Web of Fear (1964)

Web of Fear

6.1

Constance

1964

 

Méfiez-vous, mesdames! (1963)

Méfiez-vous, mesdames!

5.6

Gisèle Duparc

1963

 

Il fornaretto di Venezia (1963)

Il fornaretto di Venezia

6.5

Contessa Sofia Zeno

1963

 

Stéphane Audran, Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux, Charles Denner, Hildegard Knef, Mary Marquet, Juliette Mayniel, and Catherine Rouvel in Bluebeard (1963)

Bluebeard

6.4

Célestine Buisson

1963

 

Crime Does Not Pay (1962)

Crime Does Not Pay

6.3

Jeanne Hugues (segment "L'affaire Hugues")

1962

 

Rencontres (1962)

Rencontres

6.1

Bella Krasner

1962

 

The Lions Are Loose (1961)

The Lions Are Loose

5.8

Cécile

1961

 

Le puits aux trois vérités (1961)

Le puits aux trois vérités

5.8

Renée Plèges

1961

 

Michèle Morgan and Bourvil in Fortunat (1960)

Fortunat

7.1

Juliette Valcourt

1960

 

Les scélérats (1960)

Les scélérats

6.4

Thelma Rooland

1960

 

Grand Hotel (1959)

Grand Hotel

6.1

Madame Grusinskaja

1959

 

Vacanze d'inverno (1959)

Vacanze d'inverno

6.2

Steffa Tardier

1959

 

Too Late to Love (1959)

Too Late to Love

6.0

Maître Catherine Ferrer

1959

 

Love on the Riviera (1958)

Love on the Riviera

6.0

Micheline

1958

 

Maxime (1958)

Maxime

6.4

Jacqueline Monneron

1958

 

The Mirror Has Two Faces (1958)

The Mirror Has Two Faces

6.6

Marie-José Vauzange-Tardivet

1958

 

Retour de manivelle (1957)

Retour de manivelle

6.8

Hélène Fréminger

1957

 

The Vintage (1957)

The Vintage

5.6

Léone Morel (as Michele Morgan)

1957

 

Shadow of the Guillotine (1956)

Shadow of the Guillotine

6.2

Marie Antoinette

1956

 

Si Paris nous était conté (1956)

Si Paris nous était conté

6.3

Gabrielle d'Estrées

1956

 

Marguerite de la nuit (1955)

Marguerite de la nuit

6.5

Marguerite

1955

 

The Grand Maneuver (1955)

The Grand Maneuver

6.7

Marie-Louise Rivière

1955

 

Napoleon (1955)

Napoleon

6.0

Joséphine de Beauharnais

1955

 

Michèle Morgan and Cornell Borchers in Oasis (1955)

Oasis

5.1

Françoise Lignières

1955

 

Michèle Morgan and Raf Vallone in Obsession (1954)

Obsession

6.6

Hélène Giovanni

1954

 

Daughters of Destiny (1954)

Daughters of Destiny

5.3

Jeanne d'Arc

Joan of Arc (segment "Jeanne")

1954

 

Studio One (1948)

Studio One

7.6

TV Series

1953

2 episodes

 

Michèle Morgan and Gérard Philipe in The Proud and the Beautiful (1953)

The Proud and the Beautiful

7.2

Nellie, Tom's Wife

1953

 

Jeanne

Short

Jeanne d'Arc

1952

 

Daniel Gélin, Michèle Morgan, and Jean Gabin in The Moment of Truth (1952)

The Moment of Truth

7.0

Madeleine Richard

1952

 

The Seven Deadly Sins (1952)

The Seven Deadly Sins

6.4

Anne-Marie de Pallières (segment "Orgueil, L'

Pride")

1952

 

Michèle Morgan and Henri Vidal in L'étrange Madame X (1951)

L'étrange Madame X

6.7

Irène Voisin-Larive

1951

 

Michèle Morgan and Jean Marais in The Glass Castle (1950)

The Glass Castle

6.1

Evelyne Lorin-Bertal

1950

 

Michèle Morgan and Kieron Moore in The Naked Heart (1950)

The Naked Heart

5.0

Maria Chapdelaine

1950

 

La belle que voilà (1950)

La belle que voilà

4.3

Irène Baranoskaïa

Jeanne Morel

1950

 

Michèle Morgan and Henri Vidal in Fabiola (1949)

Fabiola

6.5

Fabiola

1949

 

Michèle Morgan and Jean Marais in Aux yeux du souvenir (1948)

Aux yeux du souvenir

6.0

Claire Magny

1948

 

Michèle Morgan, Sonia Dresdel, Bobby Henrey, and Ralph Richardson in The Fallen Idol (1948)

The Fallen Idol

7.6

Julie (as Michele Morgan)

1948

 

Michèle Morgan and Robert Cummings in The Chase (1946)

The Chase

6.4

Lorna Roman (as Michele Morgan)

1946

 

Pastoral Symphony (1946)

Pastoral Symphony

6.9

Gertrude

1946

 

Humphrey Bogart in Passage to Marseille (1944)

Passage to Marseille

6.8

Paula Matrac (as Michele Morgan)

1944

 

Frank Sinatra, Michèle Morgan, Leon Errol, Barbara Hale, Jack Haley, Grace Hartman, Paul Hartman, Marcy McGuire, and Dooley Wilson in Higher and Higher (1943)

Higher and Higher

6.0

Millie Pico (as Michele Morgan)

1943

 

Michèle Morgan, Alan Curtis, Barry Fitzgerald, and C. Aubrey Smith in Two Tickets to London (1943)

Two Tickets to London

6.7

Jeanne

1943

 

Michèle Morgan, Louis Jouvet, and Raimu in The Heart of a Nation (1943)

The Heart of a Nation

6.2

Marie Froment-Léonard

1943

 

Paul Henreid and Michèle Morgan in Joan of Paris (1942)

Joan of Paris

6.8

Joan (as Michele Morgan)

1942

 

Remorques (1941)

Remorques

7.2

Catherine

1941

 

Musicians of Heaven (1940)

Musicians of Heaven

5.9

Le lieutenant Saulnier

1940

 

La loi du nord (1939)

La loi du nord

6.1

Jacqueline Bert

1939

 

L'entraîneuse (1939)

L'entraîneuse

6.6

Suzy

1939

 

Coral Reefs (1939)

Coral Reefs

6.1

Lilian White

1939

 

Michèle Morgan and Jean Gabin in Port of Shadows (1938)

Port of Shadows

7.7

Nelly

1938

 

Orage (1938)

Orage

5.7

Françoise Massart

1938

 

Michèle Morgan and Raimu in Heart of Paris (1937)

Heart of Paris

6.6

Natalie Roguin

1937

 

Gigolette (1937)

Gigolette

Une soubrette

1937

 

Mes tantes et moi (1937)

Mes tantes et moi

Michèle (as Simone Morgan)

1937

 

Forty Little Mothers (1936)

Forty Little Mothers

6.2

Une élève (uncredited)

1936

 

Une fille à papa (1936)

Une fille à papa

5.3

Une voyageuse (uncredited)

1936

 

Danielle Darrieux and Pierre Mingand in Meet Miss Mozart (1936)

Meet Miss Mozart

6.1

Extra (uncredited)

1936

 

Robert Siodmak in La vie parisienne (1935)

La vie parisienne

4.9

Extra (uncredited)

1935