Denise Benoit

Denise Benoit

Born: September 10, 1919
Died: May 29, 1973
in Paris, France
Denise Benoît (10 September 1919 – 29 May 1973) was a French actress and singer, active across a wide range of genres on the stage, radio and television. Other members of her family were musicians.

From a family of musicians, she was a daughter, grand-daughter and great-grand-daughter of musicians. Her mother (Léontine Benoît-Granier, died 1957) was a musician and composer who won prizes at the Paris Conservatoire, while her father Henri Benoît was a notable viola player in Paris, who was a member of the Capet Quartet in the 1920s, participating in several of their recordings during that period. Her brother, Jean-Christophe Benoît (born 1925) was a popular and much recorded baritone. Born Denise Marie Armande Frédérique Benoît in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, Denise spent the bulk of her career there, and died in the same city while still active.

Denise Benoît began learning the violin at the age of three from her father, later continuing with her mother. As a young woman, she began her professional life playing in Parisian theatre orchestras; while at the Théâtre Marigny a man looked into the pit and asked her whether she would not prefer to be playing on stage rather below it. Through several theatrical contacts she became the student of Jean Meyer, spent a year the Conservatoire and began her acting career in 1942. Her break-through came with an "unforgettable" portrayal of Natalia Stepenovna in A Marriage Proposal by Tchekhov. Her first role, in Sixième étage, was as a cleaning lady, and this debut tended to type-cast her for some time as servants, concierges and domestics. On screen she became restricted to being a secretary, a domestic and a waitress, and so began to refuse this type of role.

In 1945 while a student of André Brunot at the Conservatoire d'art dramatique in Paris she took part in a televised play by Courteline; at the time she was only recognized as an actress, with her singing career yet to begin. In the 1950s, living in the Boulevard Malesherbes, Paris, already well-known on disc, she had facilities for recording at her apartment.

Léontine, Jean-Christophe and Denise appeared together on record in some of the 'Chants de France' folksong series on Ducretet-Thomson. The extensive series of records of folk songs from around France was the brain-child of her mother Léontine, so it was natural that the family were at the centre of these recordings.

In the 1950s she began a long association with radio broadcasting, which at the time she expressed a preference for, including for ten years on the regular programme of Louis Ducreux. While taking a respite for the birth of her first child in the early 1950s, Joseph Kosma guided her in broadening her song repertoire and wrote a few for her. After this, a career in cabaret began, with appearances at L'Écluse on the Left Bank, and she sang at other venues until the birth of a daughter in 1957.

Source: Article "Denise Benoît" from Wikipedia in english, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Denise Benoit...

Clock Head
Title: Clock Head
Character: Amèlie
Released: April 11, 1970
Type: Movie
One night in Paris all the clocks and watches of the whole world stopped except that of a small professor.
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The Boss of Champignol
Title: The Boss of Champignol
Released: March 16, 1966
Type: Movie
Claudius finds a foal and takes it home to his boss. The men who stole the animal are looking for him. Claudius names him Champignol and trains him for racing. When he grows up, Champignol wins a regional race. But the thieves return, and Claudius is forced to do odd jobs to keep his horse.
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Circle of Love
Title: Circle of Love
Character: Yvette Guilbert
Released: October 16, 1964
Type: Movie
In a chain reaction of romantic adventures, various people play musical beds in a remake of Max Ophul's "La Ronde."
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Title: Discorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1959
Type: TV
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Le violon de l'orphéon
Title: Le violon de l'orphéon
Released: March 23, 1957
Type: Movie
Antoine is a violinist in love with sweet Sophie. Problem: his sweetheart is the daughter of the master of the municipal harmony, a stubborn man who swears only by the brass. Never mind: Antoine decides to ask him for his daughter's hand and to win his place at the orpheon. Will the two men be able to get in tune?
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The Secret of Mayerling
Title: The Secret of Mayerling
Character: Anna Vetsera
Released: May 7, 1949
Type: Movie
On the morning of January 30, 1889, the Archduke Rodolphe de Habsbourg and his mistress Marie Vetsera were found dead. The remains of Rodolphe are discreetly repatriated to Hofburg, while that of Mary is hastily thrown into the depths of a tomb.
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Devil and the Angel
Title: Devil and the Angel
Released: October 30, 1946
Type: Movie
The Director of an international banknote printing institute, mutilated by the face of the Great War, Frank Davres, falls in love with a young woman, Jeanne, admirably beautiful, but blind. He marries her. For her, he ruins himself and comes to issue counterfeit banknotes. The young woman does everything to make people forget her infirmity. One day, following an operation, she recovers her sight and notices the physical and moral ugliness of her husband. She hides her cure until the day when Frank, taken by the police, kills one of his accomplices and commits suicide. Jeanne leaves to join a friend with whom she was performing in a circus.
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Blind Desire
Title: Blind Desire
Released: December 7, 1945
Type: Movie
A violinist passes on to his daughter three rings which represent three passions of his romantic past, and urges her to save each for men who truly deserve one.She squanders them all on one man who is undeserving.
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Alone in the Night
Title: Alone in the Night
Released: November 21, 1945
Type: Movie
A series of crimes is being perpetrated around a famous singer. Strangely, during each of the crimes, the artist's voice is heard humming his favorite song. Suspicions lead to a chase through a nocturnal Paris, ending in a disused theater where the assassin has lured his final victim.
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L'aventure est au coin de la rue
Title: L'aventure est au coin de la rue
Character: Jeanne
Released: February 18, 1944
Type: Movie
A rich young man, Pierre Trévoux, has a desire for adventure and boasts of his courage. While he is staying with friends in the countryside, his hosts, to play a trick on him, organize a fake burglary, but he discovers the hoax. When he returns home, he finds his house broken into. Convinced that the game continues, he does not understand that he is dealing with real gangsters. His recklessness allows him to rout the criminals.
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I Am with You
Title: I Am with You
Character: Irma
Released: December 22, 1943
Type: Movie
A young woman has doubts about her husband's fidelity. She pretends a trip, but settles in a hotel where her husband must pass. He meets her and, disturbed by the one he believes to be his wife's double, becomes her lover. Little by little the truth breaks through. The husband takes leave of the mistress and returns to the wife whose return has been announced.