Marie Laforêt, whose real name is Maïtena Marie Brigitte Douménach, was born on October 5, 1939 in Soulac-sur-Mer (Gironde).
A singer and actress, “the girl with the green eyes” has lived in Geneva since 1978, and also holds Swiss nationality.
Her first name, Maïtena, is of Basque origin, while her father's surname, Douménach, is of Catalan origin (corresponding to Domenech in Catalan). She sometimes calls herself “Ariègeoise”.
Her father's family, the industrialist Jean Douménach, came from Olette, a village in the Pyrénées-Orientales on the banks of the Têt river. His great-grandfather on his father's side, Louis Douménach, ran a textile business in Lavelanet, Ariège, and his grandfather built sheds in Soulac in 1865.
During the war, the Douménachs found refuge in Cahors and in the commune of their ancestors, Lavelanet. After the war and the father's return in May 1945, the family lived in Valenciennes.
After becoming close to religion and pondering the idea of a convent for a while, she studied at the Lycée Jean-de-La Fontaine in Paris.
Her career began after she won the “Birth of a Star” competition organized by Europe n° 1 in 1959. She was said to have replaced her sister at short notice... She landed a role in Louis Malle's film Liberté. This was followed by René Clément's “Plein Soleil”, starring Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet.
In 1961, she married director Jean-Gabriel Albicocco (1936-2001), who cast her in two of his films: “La Fille aux yeux d'or”, based on the novel by Honoré de Balzac, and “Le Rat d'Amérique”, based on the novel by Jacques Lanzmann, with another singer-actor, Charles Aznavour.
In February 1963, “Les Vendanges de l'amour” (The Harvest of Love), written by Danyel Gérard, consecrated her as a singing star. Other hits such as “Frantz”, “Les vendeanges de l'amour” and “Manchester et Liverpool” ensured her a place at the top of the charts.
Another important man in her life was Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr, auctioneer, writer and art collector, who introduced her to the art market in the late 1970s. She moved to Geneva in 1978, where she ran an art gallery until 1981.
In 1980, she married Pierre Meyer.
On September 7, 1990, she married stockbroker Éric (Georges Just) de Lavandeyra, from whom she separated in 1994.
In 2001, she published “Mes petites magies”, a book of recipes for becoming young, and a book of beauty recipes. In 2002, she published “Panier de crabes : les vrais maîtres du monde”, a committed book in which she denounced the excesses of finance, a world she had come into contact with through her husband Éric de Lavandeyra.
Marie Laforêt returns to the stage from July 14 to 16, 2005, as part of the Montreal “Just for Laughs” Festival. Laurent Ruquier will produce a few recitals for her in Paris.
Marie Laforêt, married five times, is the mother of three children: Lisa Azuelos (b. 1965), director of the film LOL, Jean-Mehdi-Abraham Azuelos (b. 1967) (children of Judas Azuelos) and Ève-Marie-Deborah (b. 1974, daughter of Alain Kahn-Sriber).
Her daughter Lisa Azuelos is the director of the film “Dalisa” released in early 2017.
Goodbye Marie Laforet.
Marie Laforêt passed away on Sunday, November 3, 2019 in Switzerland.
In August she remembered Radio Andorre and Sud Radio with a beautiful dedication.
“Radio Andorre is 80 years old, like me. Thank you”. Signed Marie Laforet
http://www.fans-de-marie-laforet.com/
Translated with DeepL.com
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