Arlette Marchal(1902-1984)
- Actress
Brunette, exotic Lucienne Marie Marchal overcame her affliction with
shyness by enrolling in, and ultimately winning, a beauty contest. One
of the judges was the director
Léonce Perret, who promptly helped her get
her first role in motion pictures. After that, her face was sufficient
to keep her in constant demand for both leading and supporting roles in
Hollywood silent films (with MGM and Paramount), as well as in French
and German-speaking productions. She hit her highs in such popular fare
as Madame Sans-Gêne (1925) (as
Napoleon Bonaparte's sister),
Diplomacy (1926) (as rival to
Blanche Sweet) and
La blonde ou la brune (1927) (as
the
'brunette' love interest to Adolphe Menjou).
Arlette was not just a pretty face, however, as American critics
consistently rated her performances from at least 'satisfactory', to
'excellent'. Back on the European continent from 1928, she had a few
more successes before appearances in front of the camera became more
widely spaced. By 1951, she had given up acting and concentrated on
running her chain of fashion houses in France.
