Who Are Those Gals? Mylène Demongeot

 

Marie-Hélène Demongeot was born in Nice, France on September 29, 1935. She was the daughter and only child of Alfred Jean Demongeot, a high-ranking civil servant, born on January 30, 1897, in Nice (himself the son of Commandant Marie Joseph Marcel Demongeot and Clotilde Faussonne di Clavesana, an Italian aristocrat) and Claudia Troubnikova, born on May 17,1904 in Kharkiv (Ukraine, Russian Empire). Her parents, both actors themselves, had met in Shanghai, China, where her half-brother, Léonid Ivantov, from the first marriage of her mother, was born, in Harbin on 17 December 1923.

Like hundreds of other major European figures of stage and screen, she trained at the 'Cours Simon' in Paris where her classmates included Jean-Pierre Cassel, Claude Berri and Guy Bedos. She was a classically trained pianist, and her first ambition was of becoming a professional.

She was a French film, television and theatre actress and author with a career spanning seven decades and more than 100 credits in French, Italian, English and Japanese productions.

Demongeot became a star at age 21 with her portrayal of Abigail Williams in “The Crucible” (1957) which garnered her a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles nomination and the best actress prize at the socialist Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Some other notable film roles include Elsa in Otto Preminger's “Bonjour Tristesse” (1958), alongside Deborah Kerr and David Niven, and as Milady de Winter in “Les Trois Mousquetaires” (1961). Mylene became a well-respected film, television and theatre actress and author with a career spanning seven decades and more than 100 credits in French, Italian, English and Japanese productions.

Mylène began her career as one of the blond sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, she managed to avoid typecasting by exploring many film genres including thrillers, westerns, comedies, swashbucklers, period films and even peplum, such as “Romulus and the Sabines” (1961) opposite Roger Moore or “Gold for the Caesars” (1963).

She was twice nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the César Awards for “36 Quai des Orfèvres” (2004) and “French California” (2006).

Mylène remained popular until her passing from peritoneal cancer on December 1, 2022. At the time of her death, she was starring in Thomas Gilou's film Maison de retraite (2022) alongside Gérard Depardieu, one of the biggest box office hits of 2022 in France.

Mylène appeared in two Euro-westerns: as Locha/Linda DeCortinez in 1961’s “The Singer Not the Song” starring Dirk Bogarge and John Mills and the 1995 TV series “The Adventures of Smoke Bellew”.

DEMONGEOT, Mylène (aka M.H. Demongeot, Marielle Demongeot, Mylene Demongeot, Mylène-Nicole Demongeot, Mylene Nicole, Mylène Nicole) (Marie-Hélène Demongeot) [9/29/1935, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France – 12/1/2022, France (primary peritoneal carcinoma)] – producer, film actress, singer, married to photographer Henri Coste [1926-2011] (1958-1966), married to producer, director, assistant director, writer Marc Simenon [1939–1999] (1968-1999).

The Singer Not the Song – 1961 (Locha/Linda DeCortinez)

Cassy – 1975 (Harriet)

The Adventures of Smoke Bellew (TV) – 1995