Biography

Claude Jade, the daughter of English-teachers, was a student at the "Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique" in Dijon. In 1966, she won a Prize for best actress on stage (Agnès in Molière's "L'école des femmes"). She was also a student on the Academy in Paris (teacher: Jean-Laurent Cochet), appeared in a TV series, and on stage in Paris, and made her first movie, Baisers volés (1968) ("Stolen Kisses") directed by François Truffaut. He proposed to marry her in the Spring of 1968, but she later married Bernard Coste (son Pierre was born in 1976), a diplomat with whom she also lived for some years in Russia.

- IMDb mini biography by: Cisnadie

Claude Jade was born the daughter of a Protestant university-couple and visited during her childhood and her study (philosophy) the Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Dijon. Claude won the Prize as best actress (Agnès in Molière's "L'école des femmes") and moved to Paris. She worked at the theatre with Jean-Laurent Cochet and was engaged by Sacha Pitoëff to the Théatre Moderne (as "Frida" in Luigi Pirandello's "Henri IV"). Claude was discovered on stage by François Truffaut and she played the female heroine in Baisers volés (1968). The part of "Christine" beside Jean-Pierre Léaud as her lover and husband "Antoine Doinel", she played also in the sequels Domicile conjugal (1970) and L'amour en fuite (1979). Truffaut proposed to her in the Spring of 1968 but, later, she married the diplomat Bernard Coste, with whom she also lived for some years in Russia, having a short Soviet career. Claude Jade worked with famous directors like: Alfred Hitchcock, Édouard Molinaro and Jean-Pierre Mocky. She also appeared on stage and in many television films. Her most popular role was as "Véronique d'Hergemont" in L'île aux trente cercueils (1979). Since 1998, she is a female "Chevalier de la legion d'honneur".

- IMDb mini biography by: Al

An internationally acclaimed French actress. Born Claude Marcelle Jorré, in Dijon, France, the daughter of English professors - Marcel Jorré and Marcelle Schneider - Claude Jade spent three years at the Dijon Conservatory of Dramatic Art - like years before Edwige Feuillère and Marlène Jobert. She subsequently moved to Paris, working at the Theatre Edouard with teachers like Jean-Laurent Cochet or Mary Marquet and in the class with Gérard Depardieu. During that time, she began acting in television productions and on stage. It was while she was performing at the Theatre Moderne in Sacha Pitoëff's production of "Henri IV", that she was discovered by François Truffaut, who cast her in the role of "Christine Darbon", the girlfriend of his alter-ego "Antoine Doinel", played by Jean-Pierre Léaud, in his film Baisers volés (1968). Jade's screen debut earned her great acclaim and placed her in the international spotlight. She reprised her most noted role as "Christine" in Truffaut's Domicile conjugal (1970) and L'amour en fuite (1979). Claude Jade was at that time romantically involved to Truffaut. Some years later, in 1972, she married French diplomat, Bernard Coste, and a son, Pierre, was born in 1976. After her screen-debut, Claude Jade gained fame and adulation, catching the attention of Alfred Hitchcock, who cast her as the worried agent's daughter "Michèle Picard" in L'étau (1969), and went on to enjoy a prolific international career. In French cinema, her most memorable roles were "Manette" in Édouard Molinaro's romantic comedy Mon oncle Benjamin (1969), her innocent "Cécile" in Le témoin (1969), the unscrupulous "Eleanore" in Le bateau sur l'herbe (1971) by Gérard Brach and the courageous "Françoise Bernardeau" in Denys de La Patellière's drama Prêtres interdits (1973). One of her most honored roles is the nurse "Claire" in Home Sweet Home (1973). Claude also played "Tiffany" in the police drama filmed in Rome Meurtres à Rome (1973). Of her later roles in the 80s, there is the double-role in Lise et Laura (1982), then "Marielle" in Une petite fille dans les tournesols (1984) and "Alice" with director 'René Feret' in his L'homme qui n'était pas là (1987). Her rare leading roles on screen in the 90s were the lovely mother "Gabrielle Martin" in Tableau d'honneur (1992), the shy lesbian heiress "Caroline" with Michel Serrault in Bonsoir (1994) by Jean-Pierre Mocky and the governor's wife "Reine Schmaltz" in Le radeau de la Méduse (1990). Claude Jade also continued to perform on stage and television, where she had her most popular role as "Véronique d'Hergemont", heroine of famous mini-series L'île aux trente cercueils (1979).

Her many contributions to French Culture were recognised in 1998, when she was named a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. In 2000, she received the New Wave Award at the Palm Beach International Film Festival for the "trend-setting role in the world cinema and the unique style she has set for generations of actresses".

- IMDb mini biography by: Denner