Geneviève Galéa

Tall, slender, and with long brown hair, Geneviève Galéa was born Genviève Guillery to Nelly Nicolaidu and Jules Guillery. Her father was Belgian (of Walloon descent) and her mother's family were Greeks from Turkey. In May 1958, she was spotted while she was having a walk in Cannes during the Film Festival. Her first role was in a fascinating cruel tale by Jacques R. Villa, Les petits chats (1960), filmed in 1959. Unfortunately, the film was blocked by censorship and remained mostly unseen, even if it finally got its visa in 1967. After this false start, Geneviève Galéa made five other films, the most memorable of which being Les carabiniers (1963), in which she played a girl named Venus, a telltale name indeed. A modest career for sure (but Geneviève was also a top model) that ended after this film, but which was prolonged through an intermediary, her own daughter Emmanuelle Béart.