Nathalie Baye, César-Winning French Cinema Titan, Dies at 77
Nathalie Baye, a French cinema titan and four-time César winner who was best known in the U.S. for roles in “Downtown Abbey: A New Era” and “Catch Me If You Can,” has died. She was 77 years old.
Baye’s death was confirmed by her family to the French news agency Agence French-Presse. “French multi-César-winning actress Nathalie Baye has died at the age of 77 at her Paris home from Lewy body disease, her family announced to AFP on Saturday,” the organization wrote on X Saturday.
Baye, who began her career in 1970, appearead in more than 80 films. She was nominated for the César Awards 10 times, and won four for her parts in 1980’s “Sauve qui peut (la vie),” 1981’s “Une étrange affaire,” 1982’s “La Balance” and “Le Petit Lieutenant” in 2006.
In a 2011 interview with The Guardian, Baye admitted she often sought parts that presented a challenge of some kind.
“I don’t like smooth,” she said. “One-dimensional, single-note doesn’t interest me. I like contradictions.”
At the time, the actress was promoting “Beautiful Lies,” in which she played a woman named Maddy, the mother of a hair shop owner named Emilie.
“I like acting with other people,” she said of the movie, which co-starred Audrey Tautou. “I like the circulation of other actors, the knowledge that the better they are, the better we all are together, the better the film will be. I’m much, much more interested in a small part in a good project than a big part in a bad one.”
Baye, who was born in Normandy in 1948, began her career as a creative in classical dance; she even worked as an au pair in New York while attending dance school at age 17. She began acting after going to a class with a friend. She was selected by François Truffaut for a role in “Day for Night” while attending classes at the Paris Conservatory, which she told The Guardian was “obviously the great chance of my life.”
“You get maybe two or three like that in a lifetime, and you have to seize them. But it sets the bar high,” Baye said. “Once you’ve worked with a director like that, it makes you want to do it always. I’ve been privileged in that way, certainly. Privileged to be able to choose. And I think the way to perceive an artist is in the observation of their choices.”
Nathalie Baye was born July 6, 1948. She is survived by her daughter, Laura Smet.
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