---
name: "Jeanne Moreau"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jeanne-moreau"
fi1m_id: "jeanne-moreau"
imdb_id: "nm0603402"
tmdb_id: 14812
wikidata_id: "Q106099"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "23 January 1928"
died: "31 July 2017"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 83
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-07T11:55:19.794579+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jeanne Moreau

## Identity

Jeanne Moreau

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jeanne-moreau
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jeanne-moreau
- **IMDb ID:** nm0603402
- **TMDB ID:** 14812
- **Wikidata ID:** Q106099
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Moreau, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106099, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0603402/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14812

Actor. Born 23 January 1928 in Paris, France. Died 31 July 2017.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 23 January 1928, Paris, France
- **Died:** 31 July 2017
- **Active:** 1959–1993
- **Also known as:** 잔느 모로, Жанна Моро
- **BAFTA Film Awards:** 2 BAFTAs (2 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 83, as actor, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 91 (1), 1960s 88 (2), 1990s 75 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 86 to 82 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 2 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Action 1, Comedy 1, History 1, Romance 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $5m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Moreau, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106099, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0603402/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14812

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Chimes at Midnight*](https://film.one/film/chimes-at-midnight.md) (88), [*Jules and Jim*](https://film.one/film/jules-and-jim.md) (88)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Clothes in the Wardrobe*](https://film.one/film/the-clothes-in-the-wardrobe.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jeanne Moreau

> Moreau lets the camera watch her think and does not tell it what she is thinking, which is why the men in her films keep getting her wrong. For a decade from 1958, Malle, Antonioni, Truffaut and Welles all wanted that face.

Twenty minutes into *Jules and Jim* (1962), Catherine puts on a cap, paints on a moustache, marches the two men to a footbridge and shouts go before the count is finished. It is a cheat, and the film is hers from that moment. Moreau's face does most of the work: the mouth turned slightly down even when she is winning, the low, gravelled voice. Critics have spent decades describing that mouth and that voice, and they are right to.

She trained for the stage and joined the Comédie-Française at twenty, then spent the 1950s in supporting film parts. Louis Malle changed that, shooting her in ordinary light with little make-up in *Elevator to the Gallows* (1958), so that she looked like a woman rather than a poster; *The Lovers* (1959) made her known abroad. Then came ten years in which the directors who mattered kept asking: Antonioni for *La Notte* (1961), Buñuel for *Diary of a Chambermaid* (1964), Truffaut again for *The Bride Wore Black* (1968), Welles four times, among them *Chimes at Midnight* (1965). She said she had no special technique, only habits she changed to suit each director, and that list suggests she meant it.

What she does is decline to explain herself and trust the camera to keep watching. *La Notte* is built almost entirely on her being looked at, and she carries it. In *Jules and Jim* the scene we remember is the song: Catherine sings a small tune about a whirlwind while the men sit and listen, and Moreau's singing is thin, a little flat and completely unguarded. It moved us more than we expected, because for once nobody is performing. When Jim first looks at her properly, Claudine Bouché's cutting stops on her face several times as if the film cannot choose an expression. The men then talk about Catherine as though she were weather. Moreau keeps stepping out of the frame they have built and being a person: funny, cruel, bored, alert to any slight.

The case against her is a case against the parts. Her reputation outside France rests on the decade from 1958 to 1968; after it the offers thinned into older-woman roles in productions that ranged from decent to forgettable, and critics found the parts restricting. She answered by directing, beginning with *Lumière* (1976), a film about actresses. *Nikita* (1990) is the one we have reviewed: as Armande, a mentor to Anne Parillaud's assassin, with Anglade and Karyo she stops Besson's emphatically styled thriller from leaning on its lead alone.

Start with *Jules and Jim*, then *Elevator to the Gallows*, then the Welles. Watch *Jules and Jim* twice, and the second time watch the men instead of her. Nearly everything they say about Catherine turns out to be wrong, and Moreau hardly has to move to prove it.

## Biography

Jeanne Moreau was a French actress. She was born on 23 January 1928 in Paris and died on 31 July 2017.

She trained at the Paris Conservatory of Dramatic Art and joined the Comédie-Française in 1947, becoming one of its youngest members. She made her film debut in 1949 and gained prominence with roles in *Elevator to the Gallows* (1958) and *Jules and Jim* (1962). She appeared as Armande in *Nikita* (1990).

Moreau also worked as a director and singer. She received a César Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress and a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award.

*Sources: imdb.com, britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, jeannemoreau.fr.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *The Clothes in the Wardrobe* (1993), Fi1m 74, as Lili — [page](https://film.one/film/the-clothes-in-the-wardrobe.md)
- *Nikita* (1990), Fi1m 76, as Armande — [page](https://film.one/film/nikita.md)
- *Chimes at Midnight* (1965), Fi1m 88, as Doll Tearsheet — [page](https://film.one/film/chimes-at-midnight.md)
- *Jules and Jim* (1962), Fi1m 88, as Catherine — [page](https://film.one/film/jules-and-jim.md)
- *The 400 Blows* (1959), Fi1m 91, as La Femme avec le chien — [page](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows.md)

## Complete filmography (154)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Road to Jericho* (2026), Actor
- *The Life of Mirrors* (2025), Actor
- *Belmondo: The Incorrigible* (2022), Actor
- *Morceaux de Cannes* (2021), Actor
- *Baden Baden* (2016), Thanks
- *L'Habit ne fait pas le moine* (2013), as Madeleine
- *Venice 70: Future Reloaded* (2013), as (voice)
- *Salvo* (2013), Thanks
- *A Lady in Paris* (2012), as Frida
- *Lullaby to my Father* (2012), as Narrator (voice)
- *Gebo and the Shadow* (2012), as Candidinha
- *The Bardot mystery* (2012), Actor
- *A Bad Encounter* (2011), as Gaby
- *Bouquet final* (2011), as Marie
- *Eleanor's Secret* (2009), as Aunt Eléonore (voice)
- *Visage* (2009), as Jeanne
- *Carmel* (2009), as Narrator
- *Château en Suède* (2008), as Agathe Falsen
- *Sous les vents de Neptune* (2008), series, as Josette
- *One Day You'll Understand* (2008), as Rivka
- *To Each His Own Cinema* (2007), as The old woman / Self (segment "Trois Minutes")
- *Disengagement* (2007), as Françoise
- *The Deep* (2007), as Ruth Warriner
- *Roméo et Juliette* (2006), as Laurence
- *The Countess of Castiglione* (2006), series, as Principessa Sisi Altieri
- *The Accursed Kings* (2005), series, as Mahaut d'Artois
- *Go West* (2005), as Novinar · Associate Producer
- *A Cursed Monarchy* (2005), as Mahaut d'Artois
- *Time to Leave* (2005), as Laura
- *Akoibon* (2005), as Madame Paule
- *Ashes and Snow* (2005), as French Narrator (voice)
- *Autogram* (2005), as Jeanne Moreau
- *Hot House* (2003), as Léo
- *Love Actually* (2003), as Taxi Passenger at Marseille Airport (uncredited) — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/love-actually.md)
- *The Birch-Tree Meadow* (2003), Writer
- *Cet amour-là* (2001), as Marguerite Duras
- *Bride of Trailer Camp* (2001), as (archive footage)
- *Zaïde, un petit air de vengeance* (2001), as Anna Shermann
- *Lisa* (2001), as Lisa (old), Songs
- *Les Misérables* (2000), series, as Mère Innocente
- *The Prince's Manuscript* (2000), as Alessandra Wolf (Licy)
- *Balzac: A Life of Passion* (1999), as Charlotte-Laure
- *Balzac* (1999), series, as Charlotte-Laure
- *EverAfter* (1998), as Grande Dame
- *A Witch's Way of Love* (1997), as Eglantine
- *Love & Confusions* (1997), as Libra
- *The Proprietor* (1996), as Adrienne Mark
- *I Love You, I Love You Not* (1996), as Nana
- *Catherine the Great* (1996), as Elizabeth
- *Beyond the Clouds* (1995), as Friend
- *One Hundred and One Nights* (1995), as Mr. Cinéma's First Ex-wife
- *Belle Époque* (1995), series, as Récitante
- *The Clothes in the Wardrobe* (1993), as Lili — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-clothes-in-the-wardrobe.md)
- *A Foreign Field* (1993), as Angelique
- *Map of the Human Heart* (1993), as Sister Banville
- *My Name is Victor* (1993), as Rose
- *The Absence* (1993), as Writer's Wife
- *See You Tomorrow* (1992), as Tete
- *La nuit de l'océan* (1992), as Hélène Sauveterre
- *The Lover* (1992), as Narrator (voice)
- *The Suspended Step of the Stork* (1991), as The Woman
- *The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea* (1991), as Lady M
- *Until the End of the World* (1991), as Edith Farber
- *Anna Karamazoff* (1991), as Woman
- *La Femme fardée* (1990), as La Doria
- *Alberto Express* (1990), as The Baroness
- *Nikita* (1990), as Armande — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/nikita.md)
- *The Architecture of Doom* (1989), as French narrator (voice)
- *Screen One* (1989), series, as Angelique
- *Miracle Healing* (1987), as Sabine
- *Le Tiroir secret* (1986), series, as Vivi
- *Agatha Christie’s The Last Seance* (1986), as Madame Exe
- *Sauve-toi, Lola* (1986), as Marie-Aude Schneider
- *The Nonentity* (1986), as Barbesitzerin
- *Vivement Truffaut* (1985), as Narrator / Self / Catherine
- *Vicious Circle* (1985), as Ines
- *Screen Two* (1985), series, as Lili
- *Lillian Gish* (1984), Producer, Director
- *L'Intoxe* (1983), as Marie-Pierre
- *The Trout* (1982), as Lou
- *Querelle* (1982), as Lysiane
- *A Thousand Billion Dollars* (1982), as Madame Benoît-Lambert
- *Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid* (1981), as Lili Marlene
- *Heat of Desire* (1981), as Hélène
- *The Adolescent* (1979), as La narratrice (voice) (uncredited) · Director, Writer
- *The Last Tycoon* (1976), as Didi
- *Mr. Klein* (1976), as Florence
- *Lumière* (1976), as Sarah · Director, Writer
- *Hu-Man* (1975), as Sylvana
- *French Provincial* (1975), as Berthe
- *The Garden That Tilts* (1975), as Maria
- *The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir* (1974), as The Singer (segment "Quand l'amour meurt")
- *Creezy* (1974), as Renee Vibert
- *Going Places* (1974), as Jeanne Pirolle
- *Joanna Francesa* (1973), as Joana
- *Nathalie Granger* (1973), as L'autre femme
- *Repeated Absences* (1972), as La voix de la nostalgie (voice)
- *Dear Louise* (1972), as Louise
- *Vagabond Humor* (1972), as Myriam Bingeot
- *Côté cour, côté champs* (1971), as Lady with Little Dog (uncredited)
- *Monte Walsh* (1970), as Martine Bernard
- *Countdown to Vengeance* (1970), as Madeleine
- *Diane's Body* (1969), as Diane Vallier
- *Great Catherine* (1968), as Catherine
- *The Immortal Story* (1968), as Virginie Ducrot
- *The Bride Wore Black* (1968), as Julie Kohler
- *The Oldest Profession* (1967), as Mimi Guillotine (segment "Mademoiselle Mimi")
- *The Sailor from Gibraltar* (1967), as Anna
- *Mademoiselle* (1966), as Mademoiselle
- *Chimes at Midnight* (1965), as Doll Tearsheet — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/chimes-at-midnight.md)
- *Viva Maria!* (1965), as Maria II
- *The Car That Became a Star* (1965), as The Marchioness of Frinton (archive footage)
- *The Yellow Rolls-Royce* (1964), as The Marchioness of Frinton
- *The Train* (1964), as Christine
- *Diary of a Chambermaid* (1964), as Céléstine
- *Mata Hari, Agent H21* (1964), as Mata Hari
- *The Victors* (1963), as French Woman
- *The Fire Within* (1963), as Eva
- *Bay of Angels* (1963), as Jacqueline 'Jackie' Demaistre
- *Banana Peel* (1963), as Cathy / Mme Volney
- *Eva* (1962), as Eva Olivier
- *The Trial* (1962), as Marika Burstner
- *Jules and Jim* (1962), as Catherine — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/jules-and-jim.md)
- *La Notte* (1961), as Lidia
- *The Dialogue of the Carmelites* (1960), as Mother Marie of the Incarnation
- *Seven Days… Seven Nights* (1960), as Anne Desbarèdes
- *Five Branded Women* (1960), as Ljuba
- *Matisse ou Le talent de bonheur* (1960), as Narrator (voice)
- *Dangerous Love Affairs* (1959), as Juliette Valmont
- *The 400 Blows* (1959), as La Femme avec le chien · Thanks — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows.md)
- *The Lovers* (1958), as Jeanne Tournier
- *Three Days to Live* (1958), as Jeanne Fortin
- *Back to the Wall* (1958), as Gloria Decrey
- *Elevator to the Gallows* (1958), as Florence Carala
- *Not Delivered* (1958), as Jacqueline Tourieu
- *The Strange Mr. Steve* (1957), as Florence
- *Demoniac* (1957), as Agnès Vanaux
- *Until the Last One* (1957), as Gina
- *The Wages of Sin* (1956), as Angèle Ribot
- *Hi-Jack Highway* (1955), as Alice
- *M'sieur la Caille* (1955), as Fernande
- *Les Hommes en blanc* (1955), as Marianne Déjazet
- *Queen Margot* (1954), as Marguerite de Valois, "La Reine Margot"
- *The Secrets of the Bed* (1954), as Jeanne Plisson (segment "Billet de logement, Le")
- *The Scheming Women* (1954), as Mona Rémi, la femme de Paul
- *Touchez Pas au Grisbi* (1954), as Josy
- *Inside a Girls' Dormitory* (1953), as Julie, la serveuse
- *Julietta* (1953), as Rosie Facibey
- *Dr. Schweitzer* (1952), as Marie Winter
- *La Joie de vivre* (1952), series, as Marianne
- *The Man in My Life* (1952), as Suzanne Dubreuil
- *Pigalle-Saint-Germain-des-Prés* (1950), as La môme Pâquerette
- *Three Sinners* (1950), as Martine Annequin
- *Last Love* (1949), as Michèle

## Gallery

- ![Jeanne Moreau](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-8cc6ba9b6f48.jpg) Jeanne Moreau — Movie_Juliette_Binoche_dans_les_Yeux_17.jpg: nicolas genin
derivative work: César (talk), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Jeanne_Moreau_%282009%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Jeanette Theater, American advertisements for the films Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958) under its English title Frantic and À double tour (1959) under its Engl (1962)](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-53354f9111a7.jpg) Jeanette Theater, American advertisements for the films Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958) under its English title Frantic and À double tour (1959) under its Engl (1962) — Times Film Corporation (U.S. distributor for both films), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/1962_-_Jeanette_Theater_-_26_Oct_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Jeanette Theater advertisement for the Italian film La Notte (English tile: The Night) (1961) - 26 Oct. 1963 Morning Call, Allentown PA](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-4558530cb4a4.jpg) Jeanette Theater advertisement for the Italian film La Notte (English tile: The Night) (1961) - 26 Oct. 1963 Morning Call, Allentown PA — Nepi Film / Lopert Pictures (U.S. distributor), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/1963_-_Jeanette_Theater_Ad_-_26_Oct_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Aero Theatre on Montana, Santa Monica, California (2023)](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-7f3ab6ed8062.jpg) Aero Theatre on Montana, Santa Monica, California (2023) — Jengod, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Aero_Theatre_on_Montana%2C_Santa_Monica%2C_California.jpg/1280px-Aero_Theatre_on_Montana%2C_Santa_Monica%2C_California.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jeanne Moreau](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-970c7ab045f6.jpg) Jeanne Moreau — Image via TMDB
- ![Jeanne Moreau](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-39970652a903.jpg) Jeanne Moreau — Image via TMDB
- ![Jeanne Moreau](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-3d7c836cd48f.jpg) Jeanne Moreau — Image via TMDB
- ![Façade du cinéma Mac Mahon, 5 de l'avenue Mac-Mahon (Paris, 17e). "Hommage à Jeanne Moreau" en devanture", quelques semaines après sa mort. (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-1ee1f0787147.jpg) Façade du cinéma Mac Mahon, 5 de l'avenue Mac-Mahon (Paris, 17e). "Hommage à Jeanne Moreau" en devanture", quelques semaines après sa mort. (2017) — Celette, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Cin%C3%A9ma_Mac_Mahon_Paris.jpg/1280px-Cin%C3%A9ma_Mac_Mahon_Paris.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Dupont Theater advertisement for the film, The Night. 1 June 1962.](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-9a2880fff7c1.png) Dupont Theater advertisement for the film, The Night. 1 June 1962. — Lopert Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Dupont_Theater_Ad_-_1_June_1962%2C_NW%2C_Washington%2C_D.C.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Jeanne Moreau](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-e82e32699c7f.jpg) Jeanne Moreau — Image via TMDB
- ![Jeanne Moreau](https://film.one/media/person/77630/gallery-7c9925ff2fbc.jpg) Jeanne Moreau — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### BAFTA Film Awards — 2 won

- 1996: BAFTA Fellowship (won)
- 1967: Best Actress in a Leading Role (won), for *Viva Maria!*

### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won

- 1960: Best Actress (won), for *Seven Days... Seven Nights*

### Venice Film Festival — 1 won

- 1992: Lifetime Achievement (won)

### Berlin International Film Festival — 1 won

- 2000: Golden Bear (won)

### Other awards — 10 won, 3 nominated

- Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit 2012: Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit (won)
- Honorary César 2008: Honorary César (won)
- Stanislavsky Award 2005: Stanislavsky Award (won)
- Honorary Palme d'Or 2003: Honorary Palme d'Or (won)
- Donostia Award 1998: Donostia Award (won)
- European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award 1997: European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (won)
- Honorary César 1995: Honorary César (won)
- César Award for Best Actress 1992: César Award for Best Actress (won), for *The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea*
- César Award for Best Actress 1988: César Award for Best Actress (nominated), for *The Miracle*
- Molière Award for Best Actress 1988: Molière Award for Best Actress (won)
- Officer of Arts and Letters 1988: Officer of Arts and Letters (won)
- César Award for Best Supporting Actress 1987: César Award for Best Supporting Actress (nominated), for *The Patoquet*
- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song 1984: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song (nominated), for *Young and Joyful Bandit*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jeanne-moreau