Marie-France Pisier

Born in Indochina to a French official, Marie-France Pisier began her film career in Paris at age 17. While appearing in such films as Love at Twenty, she completed her law and political science degrees at the University of Paris. After working in a string of comparatively obscure, experimental feature films, Ms. Pisier scored an international success with Cousin Cousine (1975), for which she won a Cesar award. Her Hollywood career began and ended with the disappointing The Other Side of Midnight (1977), but she continued to flourish in European films; among her better film roles were Charlotte Brontë in Le Soeurs Brontë (1979) and Coco Chanel in Chanel Solitaire (1981). An accomplished writer, Pisier produced the best-selling novel The Governor's Party, going on to direct the 1990 screen version of that book. Marie-France Pisier's later films include Pourquoi Maman Est Dans Mort Lit? (1993) and Tous les Jours Dimanche (1994).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide