Suzanne Flon(1918-2005)
- Actress
Opulent French actress Suzanne Flon, who came from humble beginnings,
evolved into a luminous stage and film star whose career lasted five
decades. She was born near Paris, the daughter of a railway worker and
a seamstress and at school developed an interest in writing poetry.
Following high school she worked as an English interpreter at Au
Printemps, a large Parisian department store, before finding a position
with the famed songbird Édith Piaf as her personal secretary. Ms. Flon's
first performance was as a mistress of ceremonies in a musical revue.
She continued on stage and eventually developed an association with the
noted playwright Jean Anouilh in the early 1940s; she played his heroine
Ismene in "Antigone" and played Joan of Arc to great acclaim in "The
Lark" in 1953. She also dabbled in avant garde works by Marguerite Duras as well
as Shakespeare, Pirandello, Chekhov and Molliere and won a number of
stage awards for her efforts. In 1959, she became a member of the
Theatre National Populaire and appeared in several plays under the
direction of René Clair.
Ms. Flon began in films with Capitaine Blomet (1947) before branching out internationally in the 1950s. She was an elegant standout as a free-spirited couture model who became the object of fascination and desire for the crippled painter Toulouse-Lautrec played by José Ferrer in John Huston's film Moulin Rouge (1952). She also impressed in friend Orson Welles' comedy-thriller Monsieur Arkadin - Dossier secret (1955) as a listless patrician, and later played Miss Pittl for him in Le procès (1962) [The Trial]. War themes were prominent in her 1960s work. In Tu ne tueras point (1961) [Thou Shalt Not Kill], she won the Venice Film Festival award for her resolute mother whose son resists the World War I draft. In Le train (1964) starring Burt Lancaster, Jeanne Moreau and Paul Scofield she had some excellent scenes as an art curator who becomes a detrimental figure in the Nazi's plans to secretly export masterpieces out of France during the French Resistance.
Awards continued to come her way with a number of stylish and sensitive "grande dame" roles. She won bookend César awards for L'été meurtrier (1983) [One Deadly Summer] as Isabelle Adjani's deaf but highly sensitized aunt, and as the mother of Lambert Wilson in La vouivre (1989) [The Dragon]. Her rich and soothing voice was also used frequently for French narratives in numerous documentaries. Ms. Flon continued to appear on stage, film and TV right up until her death of a stomach ailment at age 87 in 2005.
Ms. Flon began in films with Capitaine Blomet (1947) before branching out internationally in the 1950s. She was an elegant standout as a free-spirited couture model who became the object of fascination and desire for the crippled painter Toulouse-Lautrec played by José Ferrer in John Huston's film Moulin Rouge (1952). She also impressed in friend Orson Welles' comedy-thriller Monsieur Arkadin - Dossier secret (1955) as a listless patrician, and later played Miss Pittl for him in Le procès (1962) [The Trial]. War themes were prominent in her 1960s work. In Tu ne tueras point (1961) [Thou Shalt Not Kill], she won the Venice Film Festival award for her resolute mother whose son resists the World War I draft. In Le train (1964) starring Burt Lancaster, Jeanne Moreau and Paul Scofield she had some excellent scenes as an art curator who becomes a detrimental figure in the Nazi's plans to secretly export masterpieces out of France during the French Resistance.
Awards continued to come her way with a number of stylish and sensitive "grande dame" roles. She won bookend César awards for L'été meurtrier (1983) [One Deadly Summer] as Isabelle Adjani's deaf but highly sensitized aunt, and as the mother of Lambert Wilson in La vouivre (1989) [The Dragon]. Her rich and soothing voice was also used frequently for French narratives in numerous documentaries. Ms. Flon continued to appear on stage, film and TV right up until her death of a stomach ailment at age 87 in 2005.
