Marpessa Dawn

Marpessa Dawn

Born: January 3, 1934
Died: August 25, 2008
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Marpessa Dawn (January 3, 1934 — August 25, 2008), also known as Gypsy Marpessa Dawn Menor was an American-born French actress, singer, and dancer. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of African-American and Filipino heritage, she is best-remembered for her role as "Eurydice" in the film Black Orpheus. She and her fellow lead from that film, Brazilian actor Breno Mello, died just 42 days apart in 2008, both from heart attacks.

Movies for Marpessa Dawn...

Private Collections
Title: Private Collections
Character: a siren
Released: June 27, 1979
Type: Movie
Three stories. A solitary sailor falls from his boat and washes ashore on a tropical island. While seeking rescue, he's found by a nearly naked woman who is playful and compliant. He decides to erase his signs of distress and remain on the island. What awaits? In the second, an adolescent searches for the words of a nursery rime he remembers bits of. His journey takes him into dreams, sexual awakening, and Oedipal fantasy. Third, a man of wealth in late-nineteenth century Paris hires a prostitute for the night. She's also cabaret performer and takes him to her room. He fears he's about to be robbed. What's her secret?
bee
Sweet Movie
Title: Sweet Movie
Character: Mama Communa
Released: June 12, 1974
Type: Movie
The winner of the Miss World Virginity contest marries, escapes from her masochistic husband and ends up involved in a world of debauchery.
bee
Boubou cravate
Title: Boubou cravate
Released: January 2, 1972
Type: Movie
An African diplomat who has returned to his native country after a long stay in Europe realizes that perhaps he has assimilated too much white culture.
bee
Le Bal du comte d'Orgel
Title: Le Bal du comte d'Orgel
Character: Marie
Released: June 30, 1970
Type: Movie
Nobles try desperately to cling to the crumbling aristocracy in the days following World War I. The Count (Jean-Claude Brialy) and his Countess Mahe (Sylvia Fennec) delight in throwing lavish costume balls. The couple develops a friendship with a young boy who delights in the parties thrown by the noble couple. Love soon blooms between the Countess and the boy as she searches for something more than a string of endless parties and social affairs. The masquerades are an attempt to freeze time and hold on to the nostalgia of a bygone era. For fear of losing her, the Count allows the Countess to continue her love affair.
bee
Chérie Noire
Title: Chérie Noire
Character: Chérie
Released: October 27, 1966
Type: Movie
bee
Title: At Theatre Tonight
Character: Chérie
Released: July 21, 1966
Type: TV
At Theater tonight is a TV show broadcasted from 25th August 1966 to 21st September 1985. The show is broadcast plays recorded in two or three days, during public performances at the Théâtre Marigny on the Champs-Élysées, or sometimes Edouard VII theater.
bee
38-24-36
Title: 38-24-36
Character: Self
Released: March 31, 1963
Type: Movie
The film is a rundown of the songs sung by the stars of the time, chained to various shows such as strip and comic caricatures.
bee
The Secret of the Blue Men
Title: The Secret of the Blue Men
Character: Malika
Released: August 11, 1961
Type: Movie
An adventurer intends to seize the fabulous treasure of the Tuaregs. But when he falls in love with a beautiful Indian woman, he ends up defending the booty from other adventurers with less scruples.
bee
Black Orpheus
Title: Black Orpheus
Character: Eurydice
Released: June 12, 1959
Type: Movie
Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death and Orfeu's vengeful fiancée Mira and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
bee
Title: Discorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1959
Type: TV
bee
Womaneater
Title: Womaneater
Character: Native Girl
Released: April 1, 1958
Type: Movie
A mad scientist captures women and feeds them to a flesh-eating tree, which in turn gives him a serum that helps bring the dead back to life.
bee
Élisa
Title: Élisa
Released: March 8, 1957
Type: Movie
Recently released from reform school, Élisa works at Madame Irma's before moving to Paris, where her success is growing. On a trip to the provinces, she meets Bernard, a blind man. They soon fall in love, but Élisa hides her activities from him. When he finds out, he hits her. The situation quickly degenerates.
bee
Title: Cinépanorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1956
Type: TV
bee
Africa on the Seine
Title: Africa on the Seine
Released: January 2, 1955
Type: Movie
This film is widely regarded as the first film made by an African south of the Sahara. Labelled an “ethnological documentary in reverse,” it shows 1950s Paris from the cinematic perspective of a group of African immigrants. (Mubi)