Michelle Mercier

The legendary French actress Michel Mercier has been an idol and style icon for hundreds of thousands of fashionistas around the world for decades. During her long career, she embodied fifty characters in the cinema, but the actress owes world fame and popularity to this day to the role of Angelica in the film adaptation of the novels of Anna and Serge Golon. Let's remember the most spectacular images of the "Marquise of the Angels" and learn some of the secrets of Mercier's impeccable style.

The future film star was born in Nice. It happened at a very difficult time - January 1, 1939 - shortly before the Second World War broke out. Her dad was French and her mother was Italian. The family was engaged in pharmaceuticals, it was the most ordinary couple, far from bohemia. The couple really wanted a boy, the parents of Mercier were almost sure that the heir and successor of the family business would become their firstborn. But she was born ...

The parents named the girl Jocelyn. She grew up very sweet, charming, sophisticated - a real lady. But from a young age, future Angelica was deeply unhappy. Soon after the birth of their first daughter, the Mercier couple had another child, and Jocelyne had a younger sister, Michelle - she soon became the main favorite of her parents.

In the harmonious Mercier family, everyone was faithful to the pharmaceutical business: to the delight of mom and dad, young Michelle was interested in the family business. And only Jocelyn did not live up to her parental expectations. She dreamed of a creative profession, recognition and fame. The mother was especially categorical about the aspirations of the eldest daughter - she believed that the career that Jocelyn dreamed of was an example of the debauchery and dishonesty of a woman.

On the way to fame and success, the French film star has overcome many obstacles.Young Jocelyn began to conquer the world of artistic art as a ballerina. The future star was passionately fond of dancing since childhood. And so, at the age of 17, she left her father's house, where they did not cease to oppose her dreams and plans for life.

The girl went to Paris and began to work her way to fame little by little. She managed to get a job as a dancer in an entreprise for Roland Petit, a recognized classic among ballet choreographers of the 20th century. And thus showing her talents to experts in ballet, Mercier soon found herself in the famous troupe "Ballet of the Eiffel Tower".

During her work in Paris, Jocelyn made a lot of useful acquaintances. One of the most iconic was her meeting with Charlie Chaplin. He gave Mercier two invaluable advice: learn English and try his hand at acting.

So, Jocelyn decided to follow the slander of the master of cinema. By the way, in addition to her native French, as well as Italian, which the actress knew, since it was her mother's native language, together with English she decided to master German perfectly at the same time. Such a rich knowledge helped the French actress subsequently to get a lot of roles in foreign and international films.

A serious impetus towards the development of cinema for Mercier was the disintegration of both troupes in which she danced. Jocelyn went to London, where she mastered acting. But before a career in cinema was still far away, and finding herself at a crossroads, the girl returned home for a while, to Nice.

For the career of a film actress, Mercier carefully prepared. Having mastered several foreign languages, having comprehended the basics of acting, the girl was determined to take this fortress by storm. But life circumstances forced Jocelyn to wait out the absence of work in the field of cinema in her father's house. Oddly enough, but it was in him that the girl received a ticket to her first film.

It so happened that Mercier's father knew the director Denis de La Patellaire. While visiting his friend, Patteler met his daughter and invited her to audition for his new painting. Mercier passed this test. So, her debut film was "The Turn of the Doorknob".

But the name Jocelyn did not appear in the credits - it seemed dissonant to the producers. Then the girl decided to take a creative pseudonym for herself, which suited everyone - Michel Mercier. Thus, she immortalized the name of her younger sister, who by that time had died of a serious incurable illness.

The first film was immediately followed by new roles in films, including foreign and international films. A year after the beginning of her acting career, Mercier also got into the theater - the first production with her participation was the 1958 play "Here Comes the Brunette!"

Mercier moved from place to place - she worked in the UK, then in Italy. The roles were all the time: detective and comedy, romantic or even in thrillers, but they were all secondary, and even episodic. Real fame came to the actress after she accepted the offer of director Bernard Borderi to play the main role in the pseudo-historical film based on the novels of Anna and Serge Golon "Angelica".

This role became a star for Mercier, but, unfortunately, the only one so successful. Five films have been released about how the heroine - a girl from the cruel 17th century - fights for the right to happiness by all available means. This work brought Michelle worldwide fame: today the total number of viewers who have watched the mini-series about "Angelica" over the entire existence of the film (in films or on television) is approximately 1 billion people.

Having received the central role in the film for the first time, Mercier completely immersed herself in work, forgetting about the theater and ballet. She was greatly helped by a colleague on the set, Jacques Tozha, who played the role of King Louis XIV in that film. As the actress later said, this more experienced actor helped her from the very beginning in everything, they taught and rehearsed the roles together, thanks to which everything worked out for Mercier.

Even in the Soviet press of the 1960s, the film, replete with erotic scenes, received very restrained reviews: "Angelica is not the embodiment of sexual lust, but a pronounced chaste sensuality ...".

It is surprising that it was Michelle who got the role, because she is a burning brunette, and Angelica is the owner of blond curls. For the work of Mercier in the first picture, several dozen blonde wigs were made, and later the actress had to lighten her hair.

When the last film in this series was filmed, Mercier began a new path - looking for other roles and desperate attempts to get away from the role with which many still associate her. Continuing to act almost to this day, Mercier was never able to achieve significant success in the acting field.

• 1957 - "Turning the Doorknob" - Michelle Mercier's first film role, played by a girl named Jeanne
• 1959 - "Nights of Lucrezia Borgia" - in the Italian-French film Michelle played a girl who found herself in a love triangle (Diana De Alva).
• 1963 - "Doll" - embodied the image of the Doll.
• 1964 - "Angelica - the Marquis of the Angels"
• 1965 - "Angelica in Anger"
• 1966 - "Angelica and the King"
• 1967 - The oldest profession in the world is Brie (one of the first, but, unfortunately, far from the last roles of Mercier in the same role after Angelica).
• 1967 - "Indomitable Angelica"
• 1968 - "Angelica and the Sultan"
• 1968 - "The Lovers of Lady Hamilton: The Path to the High World" - Emma Hamilton
• 2011 - “Those who loved Richard Wagner” - played by Brigitte, this is the last role of Michel Mercier in the cinema for today.

The main role of his entire life brought Mercier not only world fame, but also a faithful friend and companion on the set. Robert Hossein was her partner not only in five films about Angelica, but also in other films - "The Second Truth", "Heavenly Thunder", "Cemetery without Crosses". The fact that the actors so often portrayed love on the silver screen kept the fans thinking that there was something in life between Mercier and Hossein, however, this was never true. In all the years of joint filming, nothing flared up between them. As the actress herself later admitted on this matter, she "absolutely did not like Robert Hossein."

In some ways, Michelle's fate is similar to the problems of her Angelica. She has not been able to build a family hearth to this day. There are no children, and husbands, passing through her life, replacing each other, each time left Mercier with a broken heart.

The first love of the film star is the actor Jani Esposito. After a long romantic relationship, the couple broke up on religious grounds - their beliefs began to diverge sharply, and further relationship was impossible.

Michelle later met Andre Smaggi, an assistant director. He became her first husband. The marriage turned out to be fragile, and therefore short-lived - constant travels at work, in which both spouses were, led to a divorce.

Mercier's second husband, Claude Burilo, is a racing driver and a pharmacist in combination. He was madly in love with Michelle long before her divorce from her first husband, and as soon as she was free, he began to actively seek her hand and heart. But it turned out that Claude was very jealous and unnecessarily cruel on this basis towards his wife. Therefore, this marriage was short-lived.

The last marriage for Michel Mercier was an alliance with Henri Renault, a politician.He broke up when the actress caught her husband of treason.

Between these small islands of family everyday life, Michelle, of course, had more romances. There were them after, but in the end the actress realized that she would no longer put a stamp in her passport.

After all that has been experienced, Michel Mercier does not lose heart. If she gets into the lenses of annoying cameras at film screenings or social events, she invariably sparkles and smiles. Today, when she is at a respectable age (in 2017, Mercier turned 78 years old), it is difficult to say about her "an actress in old age."

She has published two biographical books: "I am not Angelica" and "The Marquis of Angels, or Angelica's Broken Heart". There, Michelle describes in detail many important events in her life. Mercier herself has repeatedly said and still says that she is happy and contented with her fate. And her wonderful talents were recognized - in 2006, the incomparable Michelle Mercier received the Order of Arts and Letters as a token of gratitude from the government of her native country.

There are a few simple ingredients that guarantee a flawless appearance for any woman. Michelle Mercier has always had reference volumes: until the 1990s, the actress kept within 92-60-90. With growth in the region of 170 cm, she always had a weight of 50-52 kg. Of course, today Michelle has slightly different body parameters, but she remains radiant and charming. And all thanks to simple, but very effective rules, which the irresistible Angelica always adheres to:

• Healthy lifestyle. No bad habits, and then the skin, hair, nails - the whole body will maintain youth and health.

• Proper nutrition. You can't starve or torment yourself with diets. Only balanced nutrition and competent selection of products.

• Physical activity. This does not have to be a visit to the fitness center. Long walks are available to everyone, no less effective.

• Maintaining natural beauty. Michelle is a supporter of natural makeup. She advises using decorative cosmetics to a minimum, and spending more time and effort on proper skin care, maintaining her health, and therefore beauty.

• Feminine wardrobe. Michelle Mercier can rightfully be called an icon of the classic women's clothing style. She has always adhered to femininity in her outfits, both on screen and in life.

The sparkling silver dress follows all the curves of the luxurious body of Mercier, emphasizing the dignity of the chiseled figure. A graceful neckline and a scarf chastely covering the shoulders are a very bright image, but at the same time not defiant, built on the verge of coquetry and modesty.

A very relevant image today is a wide-brimmed hat, translucent fabrics, geometric patterns. A luxurious outfit for a real lady, it will be appropriate at any social event.

And again geometry and translucent fabrics. This time the dress is made in white and complemented by muted shades of fashionable and today bright colors - lilac, emerald, lavender, turquoise.

Another great example that proves that fashion always comes back. In such an outfit, it would be quite appropriate to appear on the beach in the coming swimming season!