Anouk Aimée

Though she never achieved the enduring international popularity of her contemporaries Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve, actress Anouk Aimée nonetheless forged a steady screen career and remained a strong presence in a number of European-based productions. Both sultry and enigmatic, Aimée appeared in a string of melodramas throughout the 1950s until finally breaking into Hollywood with a supporting part in "The Journey" (1959). But it was a turn as a bored nymphomaniac in Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" (1960) that made international audiences sit up and take notice. Following another solid performance as a long-suffering wife in Fellini's "8 1/2" (1963), she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for "A Man and a Woman" (1966), an international hit and one of the most romantic movies ever made. Even though she gained worldwide prominence from the role, Aimée was unable to turn into a true international star. She had a solid turn in "The Model Shop" (1969), but did little of note during the 1970s and 1980s, though she maintained a steady stream of work. Aimée even tried to return to fertile ground with "A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later" (1986), but that did little to boost her profile. After a brief reemergence on the world stage in Robert Altman's "Prêt-à-Porter/Ready to Wear" (1994). Aimée settled into a number of supporting roles in European-made films and television miniseries, yet never once lost the allure she had displayed so vividly in her 1960s heyday.