Leslie Caron | |
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 Caron in 1960 | |
| Born | Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (1931-07-01)1 July 1931 (age 94) Boulogne-sur-Seine, Paris, France |
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| Years active | 1951–2020 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Christopher Hall Jennifer Caron Hall |
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (French:[lɛslikaʁɔ̃]; born 1 July 1931) is a French and American actress and dancer. She is the recipient of aGolden Globe Award, twoBAFTA Awards and aPrimetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for twoAcademy Awards.
Caron began her career as a ballerina. She made her film debut in the musicalAn American in Paris (1951), followed by roles inThe Man with a Cloak (1951),Glory Alley (1952) andThe Story of Three Loves (1953), before her role of an orphan inLili (also 1953), which earned her theBAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress and garnered nominations for anAcademy Award and aGolden Globe Award.
As a leading lady, Caron starred in films such asThe Glass Slipper (1955),Daddy Long Legs (1955),Gigi (1958),Fanny (1961),Guns of Darkness (1962),The L-Shaped Room (1962),Father Goose (1964) andA Very Special Favor (1965). For her role as a single pregnant woman inThe L-Shaped Room, Caron, in addition to receiving a second Academy Award nomination, she won theGolden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and a second BAFTA Award.
Caron's other roles includeIs Paris Burning? (1966),The Man Who Loved Women (1977),Valentino (1977),Damage (1992),Funny Bones (1995),Chocolat (2000) andLe Divorce (2003). In 2007, she won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for portraying heiress and rape victim, Lorraine Delmas, inLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Caron was born inBoulogne-sur-Seine,Seine (nowBoulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine), the daughter of Margaret (née Petit), an American dancer onBroadway, and Claude Caron, a French chemist, pharmacist, perfumer and boutique owner[1] who founded the artisanal perfumier Guermantes.[2] While her older brother,Dr Aimery Caron, became a chemist like their father, Leslie was prepared for a performing career from childhood by her mother.[3] Her great-grandfather,Ernest Caron was a distinguished Parisian politician of theBelle Époque and her grandmother Andrée Caron was a grandchild of Armand Savalle, the globalstill maker.
Caron attended an eliteconvent school whose students typically married wealthy men, but her family lost its wealth during World War II and could not provide adowry. "My mother said: 'There's only one profession that leads you to marrying money and becoming a princess or duchess, and that's ballet.'", Caron recalled. "My grandfather whispered heavily: 'Margaret, you want your daughter to be a whore?' I heard it. This has always followed me".[4]
"My mother died of" the lost fortune, Caron said. Having grown up poor, Margaret Caron became depressed and an alcoholic from being no longer wealthy, and committed suicide in her 60s.[4]
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Caron was initially a ballerina. Gene Kelly discovered her in theRoland Petit company "Ballet des Champs Elysées" and cast her to appear opposite him in the musicalAn American in Paris (1951), a role for which a pregnantCyd Charisse was originally cast. The prosperity, sunshine and abundance of California was a cultural shock to Caron. She had lived in Paris during theGerman occupation, which left hermalnourished andanemic. She later remarked how nice people were in comparison to wartime Paris, in which poverty and deprivation had caused people to be bitter and violent. She had a friendly relationship with Kelly, who nicknamed her "Lester the Pester"[5] and "kid". Kelly helped the inexperienced Caron—who had never spoken on stage—adjust to filmmaking.[4].
Her role led to a seven-yearMGM contract.[4] The films which followed included the musicalThe Glass Slipper (1955) and the dramaThe Man with a Cloak (1951), withJoseph Cotten andBarbara Stanwyck. Still, Caron has said of herself: "Unfortunately, Hollywood considers musical dancers as hoofers. Regrettable expression."[citation needed] She also starred in the musicalsLili (1953, receiving anAcademy Award for Best Actress nomination), withMel Ferrer;Daddy Long Legs (1955), withFred Astaire; andGigi (1958) withLouis Jourdan andMaurice Chevalier.
Dissatisfied with her career despite her success ("I thought musicals were futile and silly", she said in 2021; "I appreciate them better now"), Caron studied theStanislavski method.[4] In the 1960s and thereafter, Caron worked in European films as well. For her performance in the British dramaThe L-Shaped Room (1962), she won theBAFTA Award for Best British Actress and theGolden Globe, and was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar.[6] Her other film assignments in this period includedFather Goose (1964) withCary Grant;Ken Russell'sValentino (1977), in the role of silent-screen legendAlla Nazimova; andLouis Malle'sDamage (1992). Sometime in 1970, Caron was one of the many actresses considered for the lead role of Eglantine Price in Disney'sBedknobs and Broomsticks, losing the role to British actressAngela Lansbury.
In 1967, Caron was a member of the jury of the5th Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF).[7] In 1989, she was a member of the jury at the39th Berlin International Film Festival.[8] Caron returned to France in the early 1970s, which she later said was a mistake. "They adore someone who's really British or really American", Caron said, "but somebody who's French and has made it in Hollywood – and I was the only one who had really made it in a big way – they can't forgive".[4]
During the 1980s, she appeared in several episodes of the soap operaFalcon Crest as Nicole Sauguet. Caron is one of the few actresses from the classic era of MGM musicals who are still active[when?] in film — a group that includesRita Moreno,Margaret O'Brien andJune Lockhart. Caron's later credits includeFunny Bones (1995) withJerry Lewis andOliver Platt;The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000) withJudi Dench andCleo Laine;Chocolat (2000) andLe Divorce (2003), directed byJames Ivory, withKate Hudson andNaomi Watts. On June 30, 2003, Caron travelled to San Francisco to appear as the special guest star inThe Songs of Alan Jay Lerner: I Remember It Well, a retrospective concert staged by San Francisco's42nd Street Moon Company.
In 2007, her guest appearance onLaw and Order: Special Victims Unit earned her aPrimetime Emmy Award. On April 27, 2009, Caron travelled to New York as an honoured guest at a tribute toAlan Jay Lerner andFrederick Loewe atthe Paley Center for Media.[9] For her contributions to the film industry, Caron was inducted into theHollywood Walk of Fame on December 8, 2009, with amotion pictures star located at 6153Hollywood Boulevard.[10] In February 2010, she played Madame Armfeldt inA Little Night Music at theThéâtre du Châtelet in Paris, which also featuredGreta Scacchi andLambert Wilson.[11] In 2016, Caron appeared in theITV television seriesThe Durrells (produced by her son Christopher Hall) as the Countess Mavrodaki. Veteran documentarian Larry Weinstein'sLeslie Caron: The Reluctant Star premiered at theToronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on June 28, 2016.[12]
In September 1951, Caron married AmericanGeorge Hormel II, a grandson ofGeorge A. Hormel, the founder of theHormel meat-packing company. They divorced in 1954.[13][14] During that period, while under contract to MGM, she lived in Laurel Canyon in a Normandie style 1927 mansion near the country store on Laurel Canyon Blvd. One bedroom was all mirrored for her dancing rehearsals.[citation needed]
Her second husband was British theatre directorPeter Hall. They married in 1956 and had two children:Christopher John Hall, a television drama producer, andJennifer Caron Hall, a writer, painter and actress. Her son-in-law, married to Jennifer, isGlenn Wilhide, a producer and screenwriter.[citation needed] Caron had an affair withWarren Beatty in 1961. When she and Hall divorced in 1965, Beatty was named as aco-respondent and was ordered by the London court to pay the costs of the case.[15] In 1969, Caron marriedMichael Laughlin, the producer of the filmTwo-Lane Blacktop; the couple divorced in 1980.[citation needed] Caron was also romantically linked to Dutch television actorRobert Wolders from 1994 to 1995.[16]
From 1981, she rented and lived for a few years in a mill (the "Moulin Neuf") in the French village ofChaumot, Yonne, which had belonged toPrince Francis Xavier of Saxony in the late 18th century and which depended on his princely castle.[17] From June 1993 until September 2009, Caron owned and operated the hotel and restaurantAuberge la Lucarne aux Chouettes (The Owls' Nest), inVilleneuve-sur-Yonne, about 130 km (80 mi) south of Paris.[18] Caron's mother had committed suicide in her 60s; suffering from a lifetime of depression, Caron also considered doing so in 1995. She was hospitalized for a month and began attendingAlcoholics Anonymous.[4] Unhappy with the lack of acting opportunities in France, she returned to England in 2013.
In her autobiography,Thank Heaven, she states that she obtained American citizenship in time to vote forBarack Obama for president.[19] In October 2021, she was chosen to receive the Oldie of the Year Award byThe Oldie magazine.[20] It had been initially offered to QueenElizabeth II, who had declined it on the grounds that she did not meet the criteria, even though she was five years older than Caron.[21]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | An American in Paris | Lise Bouvier | |
| The Man with a Cloak | Madeline Minot | ||
| 1952 | Glory Alley | Angela Evans | |
| 1953 | The Story of Three Loves | Mademoiselle | Segment: "Mademoiselle" |
| Lili | Lili Daurier | ||
| 1955 | The Glass Slipper | Ella | |
| Daddy Long Legs | Julie Andre | ||
| 1956 | Gaby | Gaby | |
| 1958 | Gigi | Gigi | |
| The Doctor's Dilemma | Mrs. Dubedat | ||
| 1959 | The Man Who Understood Women | Ann Garantier | |
| 1960 | Austerlitz | Mlle de Vaudey | |
| The Subterraneans | Mardou Fox | ||
| 1961 | Fanny | Fanny | |
| 1962 | Guns of Darkness | Claire Jordan | |
| The L-Shaped Room | Jane Fosset | ||
| Three Fables of Love | Annie | Segment: "Les deux pigeons" | |
| 1964 | Father Goose | Catherine | |
| 1965 | A Very Special Favor | Dr. Lauren Boullard | |
| Promise Her Anything | Michele O'Brien | ||
| 1966 | Is Paris Burning? | Françoise Labé | |
| 1967 | The Head of the Family | Paola, Marco's wife | |
| 1970 | Madron | Sister Mary | |
| 1971 | Chandler | Katherine Creighton | |
| 1976 | Surreal Estate | Céleste | |
| 1977 | The Man Who Loved Women | Véra | |
| Valentino | Alla Nazimova | ||
| 1978 | Crazed | Nicole | |
| 1979 | Goldengirl | Dr. Sammy Lee | |
| 1980 | All Stars | Lucille Berger | |
| 1981 | Chanel Solitaire | uncredited | |
| 1982 | Imperative | Mother | |
| 1984 | Dangerous Moves | Henia Liebskind | |
| 1990 | Courage Mountain | Jane Hillary | |
| Guns | Waitress | ||
| 1992 | Damage | Elizabeth Prideaux | |
| 1995 | Funny Bones | Katie Parker | |
| Let It Be Me | Marguerite | ||
| 1999 | The Reef | Regine De Chantelle | |
| 2000 | Chocolat | Madame Audel | |
| 2003 | Le Divorce | Suzanne de Persand | |
| 2017 | The Perfect Age | Marguerite | short movie |
| 2020 | A Christmas Carol | TheGhost of Christmas Past (voice) |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | ITV Play of the Week | Thérèse Tarde | Episode: "The Wild Bird" |
| 1968 | Off to See the Wizard | Ella | Episode: "Cinderella's Glass Slipper: Part 1" |
| 1973 | Carola | Carola Janssen | TV film |
| 1974 | QB VII | Angela Kelno | Miniseries |
| 1978 | Docteur Erika Werner | Erika Werner | TV series |
| 1980 | Kontrakt | Penelope | TV film |
| 1981 | Mon meilleur Noël | La Nuit | Episode: "L'oiseau bleu" |
| 1982 | Tales of the Unexpected | Nathalie Vareille | Episode: "Run, Rabbit, Run" |
| 1982 | The Unapproachable [pl] | Klaudia | TV film |
| 1983 | Cinéma 16 | Alice | Episode: "Le château faible" |
| 1984 | Master of the Game | Solange Dunas | |
| 1986 | The Love Boat | Mrs. Duvall | Episode: "The Christmas Cruise" |
| 1987 | Falcon Crest | Nicole Sauget | 3 episodes |
| 1988 | Lenin: The Train | Nadia | TV film |
| 1988 | The Man Who Lived at the Ritz | Coco Chanel | TV film |
| 1994 | Normandy: The Great Crusade | Osmont, Mary-Louise (voice) | |
| 1996 | The Ring | Madame de Saint Marne | |
| 1996 | The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century | CzarinaAleksandra Romanov (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2000 | The Last of the Blonde Bombshells | Madeleine | TV film |
| 2001 | Murder on the Orient Express | Sra. Alvarado | |
| 2006 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Lorraine Delmas | Episode: "Recall" |
| 2013 | Jo | Josette Lenoir | Episode: "Le Marais" |
| 2016–2018 | The Durrells | Countess Mavrodaki | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Written on the Water | Pauline | TV film |
| Year | Title | Playwright | Director | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Orvet | Jean Renoir | Jean Renoir | Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris | |
| 1955 | Gigi | Anita Loos | Sir Peter Hall | New Theatre, London | |
| 1961 | Ondine | Jean Giraudoux | Peter Hall | Aldwych Theatre, London | [22] |
| 1965 | Carola | Jean Renoir | Norman Lloyd | Los Angeles | |
| 1975–1981 | 13, rue de l'amour (Monsieur Chasse) | Georges Feydeau | Basil Langton | US and Australia Tour | |
| 1978 | Can-Can | Cole Porter &Abe Burrows | John Bishop | US and Canadian tour | |
| 1983 | The rehearsal | Jean Anouilh | Gillian Lynne | English tour | |
| 1984 | On your toes | Rodgers and Hart | George Abbott | US tour | |
| 1985 | One for the Tango (Apprends-moi Céline) | Maria Pacôme | Pierre Epstein | US tour | |
| 1985 | L'inaccessible | Krzysztof Zanussi | Krzysztof Zanussi | Théâtre du Petit Odéon of Paris | |
| 1991 | Grand hotel | Vicki Baum | Tommy Tune | Berlin | |
| 1991 | Le martyre de Saint Sebastien | Claude Debussy andGabriele d'Annunzio | Michael Tilson Thomas | London Symphony Orchestra | |
| 1995 | George Sand et Chopin | Bruno Villien | Greenwich Festival, Great Britain | ||
| 1997 | 'Nocturne for lovers | Gavin Lambert | Kado Kostzer | Chichester Festival Theatre, Great Britain | |
| 1997 | The story of Babar | Jean de Brunhoff | Francis Poulenc | Chichester Festival, Great Britain | |
| 1998 | Apprends-moi Céline | Maria Pacôme | Raymond Acquaviva | French tour | |
| 1999 | Readings from Colette | Roger Hodgeman | Melbourne Festival, Australia | ||
| 1999 | Nocturne for lovers | Roger Hodgeman | Melbourne Festival, Australia | ||
| 2006 | I Remember It Well | Alan Jay Lerner | N/A | Herbst Theatre,San Francisco | |
| 2009 | Thank Heaven | Théâtre National of London | |||
| 2009 | A Little Night Music | Stephen Sondheim | Lee Blakeley | Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris | |
| 2014 | Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks | Richard Alfieri | Michael Arabian, | Laguna Playhouse,Laguna Beach, California |
| Year | Association | Category | Project | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Academy Award | Best Actress | Lili | Nominated | |
| BAFTA Award | Best Foreign Actress | Won | |||
| 1958 | Golden Globe Award | Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical | Gigi | Nominated | |
| Laurel Award | Top Female Musical Performance | Won | |||
| 1961 | Golden Globe Award | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Fanny | Nominated | |
| Laurel Award | Top Female Dramatic Performance | 5th Place | |||
| 1962 | Academy Award | Best Actress | The L-Shaped Room | Nominated | |
| BAFTA Award | Best British Actress | Won | |||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Won | |||
| Laurel Award | Top Female Dramatic Performance | 3rd Place | |||
| New York Film Critics Circle | Best Actress | 2nd Place | |||
| 2000 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture | Chocolat | Nominated | |
| 2006 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit(for "Recall") | Won |
| Organizations | Year | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PresidentFrançois Mitterrand | 1993 | Chevalier de laLégion d'honneur | Honored | |
| Catherine Trautmann,Minister of Culture | 1998 | Ordre National du Mérite | Honored | |
| Prime MinisterJean Pierre Raffarin | 2004 | Officier de la Légion d'Honneur | Honored | |
| Hollywood Walk of Fame | 2009 | Motion Picture Star | Honored | |
| Council of Paris | 2012 | Medaille D'Or De La Ville De Paris | Honored | |
| President of the French Republic | 2013 | Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur | Honored | |
| John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | 2015 | Gold Medal in the Arts | Honored |
