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- Yvonne Thérèse Marie Camille Bedat de Monlaur was born in France, the daughter of a French poet and a Russian ballerina and pianist. As a youngster she was trained for ballet and in her late teens worked as a model for Elle fashion magazine. By the mid-1950's, she also began appearing in French and Italian films. Her good looks and some positive reviews paved the way to bigger roles towards the end of the decade. With this came increased publicity. In June 1959, she was featured on the cover of the weekly Milanese news publication Tempo. Another Italian paper heralded her as the year's 'most promising actress'.
There are two conflicting accounts as to how Yvonne first came to the attention of Hammer Studio's Head of Production Anthony Hinds: according to one, it was after watching her performance in Avventura a Capri (1959); another claimed that he saw an article of her in a French magazine. Either way, Hinds contacted her in Paris two days later and invited her to England where she was cast in a little-seen television drama, Women in Love (1958). A writer for the Daily Mail described this -- her first credited part in an English language production -- "as bubbly as a glass of champagne".
Yvonne's introduction to the horror genre came via Circus of Horrors (1960), made by Anglo-Amalgamated. She still had some difficulties with English but recalled receiving some benevolent mentoring from her co-star Anton Diffring (who, on screen, specialised in rather non-philanthropic types). Next came the role for which she is perhaps best remembered: that of French teacher Marianne Danielle, the heroine and potential 'tasty morsel' of The Brides of Dracula (1960). Filmed at Hammer's Bray Studio, director Terence Fisher did his best to provide suspense since the plot lacked any genuine semblance to originality. Indeed, Christopher Lee had refused to play the vampire for fear of being typecast and the role of Dracula descendant Baron Meinster fell instead to little-known David Peel, while Peter Cushing returned in the familiar guise of Van Helsing.
The Terror of the Tongs (1961) provided the finale of Yvonne's brief sojourn in Britain. First-billed Christopher Lee was particularly effective as Chung King, evil head of a Hong Kong-based Red Dragon crime gang. So much so, that he managed afterwards to secure the lucrative part of supervillain Fu Manchu in a series of four pictures made from 1965 to 1968. Yvonne was cast as a Eurasian girl (ironically named Lee), and had invisible adhesive strips mounted either side of her face to give her eyes an Asian appearance. Michael R. Pitts, in his book "Columbia Pictures, Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928-1982", regards both Lee and Monlaur as the picture's highlights.
At the end of 1961, Yvonne returned to the continent and went on to appear for the rest of the decade in an assortment of Italian and French films of varying merit: some comedies, a swashbuckler, even a couple of the ever-popular crime potboilers, featuring Eddie Constantine as Lemmy Caution or Nick Carter. Her last outing was in a 1969 made-for-television homage to French music hall, doing a rendition of grand chanteuse Mistinguett's hit 'C'est vrais'. The following year she retired from the screen 'for personal reasons' and lived most of her remaining life in Paris, occasionally attending film festivals and conventions. - Though best known to cult film fans for his roles in Italian B-movies, Donald O'Brien hailed from Pau, in the Pyrenees mountains of France. His Irish father was a former US Army Calvary officer who fought in the Spanish-American war, and his mother was an English governess. When World War II broke out and France came under Nazi occupation, the O'Briens fled back to Ireland, where Donald would spend his formative years. He studied acting under the Irish theatre legend Micheál MacLiammóir, and later moved back to France, where he worked several oddjobs including prizefighter and office worker.
In 1953, the 23-year-old O'Brien made his first appearance in a feature film, Anatole Litvak's war drama Act of Love (1953). A chance meeting with director John Frankenheimer saw him cast as a Nazi officer in The Train (1964), which so impressed the director that he cast him in a supporting role in Grand Prix (1966). In 1967, O'Brien was brought to Italy to star in Sergio Sollima's cult Spaghetti Western Run, Man, Run (1968). His portrayal of ex-American lawman turned soldier of fortune Nathaniel Cassidy led to future leading roles in the genre for a number of years, during which he changed his name from "Donal" to "Donald" due to contracts frequently misspelling it.
O'Brien quickly became a staple of Italian B-movies, appearing in everything from Spaghetti Westerns, to horror films, to Sexploitation pictures. In 1981, he starred in Zombie Holocaust (1980) (retitled 'Doctor Butcher, M.D.' for its US release), which earned him a strong cult following among horror and exploitation film fans for his portrayal of the eponymous mad scientist. However, that same year he sustained a brain injury that paralyzed half his body, and significantly reduced the number of roles he could play even after he recovered. He appeared in several films for the notorious Joe D'Amato, and had a supporting role as a Franciscan friar opposite Sean Connery in Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose (1986).
Following another accident in 1996, O'Brien all but retired from acting, settling in Paris with his family. - Actor
- Director
- Writer
Nicolas Cazalé was born on 24 April 1977 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He is an actor and director, known for The Great Journey (2004), Three Dancing Slaves (2004) and The Grocer's Son (2007).- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Philippe Rombi was born on 3 April 1968 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He is a composer, known for In the House (2012), Joyeux Noel (2005) and Welcome to the Sticks (2008).- Composer
- Actor
- Writer
Bertrand Cantat was born on 5 March 1964 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He is a composer and actor, known for Big Nothing (2006), The Good Thief (2002) and Holy Motors (2012). He was previously married to Kristina Rady.- Nathalie Cardone was born on 29 March 1967 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. She is an actress, known for Hell (1994), Strange Place for an Encounter (1988) and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992).
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
The brother of cinematographer Harold Rosson, director Richard Rosson and actress Helene Rosson, Arthur Rosson started in films as a stuntman and joined Vitagraph in 1909, later working as an associate director with Cecil B. DeMille for 16 years. By the 1920s he was a full-time director, and from 1929-38 he directed mainly westerns. He was a highly regarded second-unit director, and shot action scenes for such prestigious productions as Viva Villa! (1934), Red River (1948) and The Big Sky (1952), in addition to serving as second-unit director on every DeMille picture from 1939-56.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Sébastien Betbeder was born on 4 January 1975 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He is a director and writer, known for La vie lointaine (2009), 2 Autumns, 3 Winters (2013) and Inupiluk (2014).- Lise Levitzky was born on 5 March 1926 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. She was married to Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Marie Grandjouan. She died on 3 October 2022 in Le Quillio, Côtes-d'Armor, France.
- Costume Designer
- Actor
Often imitated, Andre Courreges now stands as one of the most iconic clothing designers of the twentieth century. He sparked a fashion revolution in the 1960s with his bold and distinct designs, a "mod" look spiked with sci-fi futurism. Original vintage examples of his apparel have become highly sought-after collector's items in recent years.- Composer
- Music Department
Laura Tabourin was born on 8 March 1985 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. She is a composer, known for Hope (2009), La Fête de la musique (1982) and Nouvelle Star (2003).- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Ariane Massenet was born on 9 December 1965 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. She is an actress and director, known for La croisette s'amuse (1997), L'état de Grace (2006) and V comme vengeance (1989).- Visual Effects
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
François Dumoulin was born on 14 July 1974 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He is a director and assistant director, known for Upside Down (2012), The Host (2013) and Dune (2021).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Jean-Pierre Lajournade was born on 19 April 1937 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He was a writer and director, known for La fin des Pyrénées (1970), Le joueur de quilles (1968) and Assommons les pauvres (1969). He was married to Fiammetta Ortega and Jacqueline Wester. He died on 8 November 1976 in Paris, France.- Yves Camdeborde was born in Pau in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. He left school at the age of 14 to become a cooking assistant and continued his training course in Paris at the Hôtel Ritz, the restaurant La Tour d'Argent and the Hôtel de Crillon. He founded in 2005 his restaurant Le Comptoir du Relais Saint-Germain in Paris at the Quartier de l'Odéon. He is a chef specialized in bistro cuisine and is often named by journalists chef of the "bistronomy" (a portmanteau of words "bistro" and "gastronomy"). In addition of being a chef, he has been a member of the jury in the French version of MasterChef (2010) for four seasons, and has also briefly portrayed himself in the French series Fais pas ci, fais pas ça (2007).
- Patricia Pilchard was born on 23 November 1955 in Pau, Oristano, Italy. She is an actress, known for Day of Violence (1977) and Interneige (1965).
- Tony Estanguet was born on 6 May 1978 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
- Michel Philippe was born in 1943 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He is an actor, known for Emmenez-moi au théâtre (1982), Carmen (1980) and Les contes d'Hoffmann (1978).
- Francis Mer was born on 25 May 1939 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He died on 1 November 2023 in France.
- Laura was born on 8 March 1985 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
- Georges Lourau was born on 30 October 1898 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He was a producer, known for Under the Roofs of Paris (1930), My Son, the Hero (1962) and Lucrèce Borgia (1953). He died on 12 October 1974 in Paris, France.
- Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg was born on 17 April 1943 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
- Jean-Paul Picaber was born in 1938 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
- Thomas Peyrounette was born on 9 March 2000 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. He is a composer, known for Au 8ème jour (2023) and La vérité sur les envahisseurs (2023).
- Alexandra Lacrabère was born on 27 April 1987 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.