Micheline Presle (born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922 – 21 February 2024) was a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting her career in 1937, she starred or appeared in over 150 films appearing first in productions in her native France and also in Hollywood during the era of Classical Hollywood Cinema, before returning again to Europe, especially French films from the mid-1960s until 2014.

Biography

Early life

Born in Paris on the left bank on 22 August 1922, Presle wanted to be an actress from an early age. She took acting classes in her early teens. She was the daughter of Robert Chassagne, a French banker (who fled to the United States amid a finance scandal) and artist Julie Bachelier. She received early education in a convent school, but took acting classes with the Belgian actor Raymond Rouleau. She reprised the relationship by appearing with him in Falbalas, a/k/a Paris Frills (1945).

Early French cinema (1937–1950)

Presle made her film debut at the age of 15 in the 1937 production of La Fessée. In 1938, she was awarded the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti as the most promising young actress in French cinema. Her rise to European stardom, in films such as Devil in the Flesh (1947), led to offers in Hollywood. "Exquisite good looks" coupled with a "graceful transition between froth and drama" facilitated her long career, with more than 200 credited roles.

Hollywood cinema

Her role in the Devil in the Flesh led to a Hollywood career, including leading roles opposite Errol Flynn, John Garfield, Paul Newman and Tyrone Power. That film was controversial, even being banned in Britain for years. In 1950, Presle was signed by 20th Century Fox, led by Darryl F. Zanuck. He promised she "could avoid "ooh-la-la" eye-candy roles" with spare time so she could make a biopic about Sarah Bernhardt, a project to which she had obtained the film rights for a biography written by Bernhardt's granddaughter. However, Hollywood's promise soon dimmed. Zanuck changed Presle's last name to Prell, thinking to his American ear that her name was a homonym for 'pretzel.' It was later changed to Prelle after a soap company brought out Prell shampoo. Her first Hollywood production was a starring role opposite John Garfield in the film Under My Skin directed by Jean Negulesco. That same year, director Fritz Lang cast her opposite Tyrone Power in the war drama American Guerrilla in the Philippines. In 1950, she became the second wife of American actor William Marshall with whom she had a daughter, Tonie. William Marshall had teamed up with actor Errol Flynn and his production company, and in 1951 he directed Flynn and her in the film Adventures of Captain Fabian. Disenchanted with Hollywood, since "They gave me uninteresting parts in bad pictures," she went back to work in European film. In 1945, she married tennis player Michel Lefort. She later married William Marshall, an American actor and band leader. She returned to France, divorcing Marshall in 1954. Her career flourished in French films, and in 1957, she was a guest on the American Ed Sullivan Show. In 1959, she performed in the United Kingdom English-language production of Blind Date directed by Joseph Losey. She returned to Hollywood in 1962 for the role of Sandra Dee's mother in the Universal Studios film If a Man Answers, which also featured Dee's husband, singer Bobby Darin. The following year, Presle acted again in English in The Prize starring Paul Newman.

Return to French cinema

Presle did not make another English film, but after performing in more than 50 films in French, in 1989, she appeared in the French-made bilingual production I Want to Go Home, for which she was nominated for the César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 1971, Presle signed the Manifesto of the 343, publicly declaring she had had an illegal abortion. She received an Honorary César in 2004. Tonie Marshall, her daughter, won a César for Venus Beauty Institute in which Presle appeared.

Death

Presle died in Nogent-sur-Marne on 21 February 2024, at the age of 101, at the Maison des Artistes, a retirement home for artists, which receives partial government support. Her death was confirmed by Olivier Bomsel, her son-in-law, without specifying the cause.

Filmography (selected)

A more complete list has been compiled by the British Film Institute with 133 works.

Television

Citations