Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux (born May 1, 1917 in Bordeaux, France) is a French singer and actress.
She is the daughter of a medical doctor who was at the time serving with the French Army during World War I but died when she was seven years old. Raised in Paris she studied the cello at the Conservatoire de Musique. At 13, she won a part in the musical film Le Bal. Her beauty combined with her singing and dancing ability led to numerous other offers.
In 1935, Darrieux married director/screenwriter, Henri Decoin, who encouraged her to try Hollywood. She signed with Universal Studios to star opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in The Rage of Paris.
Under the German occupation of France during World War II, she continued to perform, a decision that was severely criticized by her compatriots, but the manager of the German Continental threatened to deport her brother to Germany. After her divorce, she fell in love with Porfirio Rubirosa, a Dominican Republic diplomat and notorious womanizer. They married on 18 September 1942. His anti-Nazi opinions resulted in his forced residence in Germany. Darrieux accepted a promotional trip in Berlin in exchange for Rubirosa's liberation. They lived in Switzerland until the end of the war, and divorced in 1947. She married script-writer George Mitsikides in 1948, and lived with him until his death in 1991.
She received positive reviews for her performance in the 1951 MGM musical, Rich, Young and Pretty. Joseph L. Mankiewicz lured her back to Hollywood to star opposite James Mason in 5 Fingers. Back home, she appeared in Le Rouge et le noir opposite GĂ©rard Philipe. The next year she starred in L'Amant de lady Chatterley. Due to its content, the film was banned by the Catholic censors in the United States.
Approaching 40, she played a supporting role in United Artists' epic Alexander the Great starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom; it was her last American film. In 1961 she went to England at the request of director Lewis Gilbert to star opposite Kenneth More in The Greengage Summer. In 1963, she starred in the romantic comedy "La Robe Mauve de Valentine" at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. The play was adapted from the novel by Francoise Sagan.
Darrieux replaced Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway musical, Coco, based on the life of Coco Chanel, and also appeared in the short-lived Ambassador. She has continued to work, her career now spanning eight decades.
